Social media apps are more than just a fun distraction — they’ve become a source of news, pop culture, shopping, and a way to keep in close contact with friends and family. Unfortunately, these apps rely on data from its users — lots of it — to create a great experience. If you’ve ever wondered what happens to all of that data, including your contacts, likes and preferences, and locations, the answer isn’t promising.
The majority of popular social media apps are free apps, which sounds great until you realize every company has to make money somehow. If you aren’t paying for a subscription, it’s more than likely that app is using you and your data as their source of profit. In many cases you may have given these apps permission to use your data, but in other instances you could be completely unaware of what they are doing with your data. These three risky social media apps are among those that experts warn are accessing your personal information and selling your data.
1. Instagram
Everyone’s favorite photo and video-sharing platform has a little bit of a privacy problem. Instagram uses cookies and pixels to help track your usage patterns and deliver third-party advertising that it believes will interest you. If you link Instagram to other social media accounts like Facebook, it may access data from those accounts, as well. Instagram tracks your engagement with other accounts on its platform, your GPS data, search queries and history, and even who you interact with on direct messaging and stories.
You can control how much information you share on this platform to an extent by adjusting your privacy settings so that you limits Instagram’s access to your microphone, camera, and location.
2. LinkedIn
LinkedIn doesn’t seem like as big a risk as other social media platforms because its main function is to help users network with other professionals and enhance their career opportunities. But this app has been shown to provide its users’ personal data to third-party advertisers for profit. That data can include your location, IP address, job history, skills, and contacts. LinkedIn can also use your demographic profile and browsing activity through cookies to send you targeted ads.
3. TikTok
TikTok collects your basic personal information, location, and data on all of the videos you watch, how you interact with content, and even your search history. It collects IP addresses to gain access to your location will even ask for permission to access your phone contacts. Much of this data is used by TikTok to deliver you content on its platform that will keep you engaged and coming back for more. But it also uses your data to deliver more targeted ads to you, including sponsored content and interactive ads.
