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Being the victim of a phone hacking may be the most terrifying thing that can happen to you, but it isn’t the only way that your private data and information can get out in the world. The apps you are using are also largely responsible for snatching data and sharing it with third-party advertisers so that they can stay afloat. Generally speaking, if an app is free, you are the product — and your data is the bargaining chip that app uses to appeal to its advertisers. Wondering which apps are most offensively engaging in this practice? We spoke with tech experts who called out the popular iPhone app (and a few others that may not come to mind) that could be sharing your data.
You might have already guessed it, but the number one most popular app sharing your data is the same one that has been in the news for sharing your data: Facebook.
“Facebook is one such popular app that shares your data,” says Tech Expert Katherine Brown of Spyic. “That includes information such as your name, location, email, and IP address. The app also shares your phone number, network provider, and accelerometer data. Recipients of the data are marketers to deliver personalized ads to consumers based on their likes and commonly visited sites. Sharing your data exposes clients to exploitation by fraudsters and breaches their privacy. Currently, iPhone users can go to settings to stop cross-site tracking. However, when the iPhone updates its operating system, applications will first seek users’ permission before tracking their data.”
If you already know the ins and outs of Facebook and its data-sharing dilemma, you might have switched over to a similar, but different app like Instagram to get your social media fix. Olivia Tan, the co-founder of CocoFax, reminds us that Facebook isn’t the only social media using your data. “Instagram shares a daunting amount of 79% of data with other organizations,” Tan says. “Such information includes buying details, browsing history, and personal data. Having more than 1 billion monthly active users, it is a terrifying matter that Instagram is a popular hub for sharing a colossal amount of unknowing user's data.”
According to Tan, Instagram collects your data to provide you a better experience, optimize their seamless work, and identify how you interact with them to correct bugs. “So, these are done by sharing your data with third parties,” Tan says. “Such third parties might be integrated with that company that operates the app or paying an amount to access their user's data. In order to stop Instagram from sharing your data with a third party, you should uninstall the app.”
And even though social media apps are the biggest culprits of data sharing, they've become so commonplace that the practice has pretty much been normalized, says Alina Clark, growth manager and co-founder of CocoDoc. As a result, Clark says there are other apps to keep on your radar, as well.
“If you can't live without social media apps like Facebook and Instagram, then you definitely can do without some e-commerce apps like eBay, Uber eats, and Grubhub,” Clark says. “Such apps have the largest hunger for your data when you remove social media apps from the conversation. For instance, Uber Eats tracks and shares more than 50% of your personal data once installed on your phone. One can see this by simply accessing the App permission settings on your iPhone. Needless to say, such apps absolutely detest the fact that Apple introduced a new privacy policy to curb sharing of personal data to third parties.”
So, the good news is that Apple will attempt to curb some of this data-sharing — but your best bet is still to avoid using those apps that are among the most offensive when it comes to using your data.
