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Since everyone seems to be, or is considering, jumping ship from Whatsapp, I thought I'd just add some of my two cents. Take it or leave it.
For a long time, it was easy to assume Facebook was the reigning champion of data collection. But as it turns out, the truth is far more complicated. There are several apps that harvest tons of data from users, and the worst offenders might not be who you expect.
We all do it - click ‘accept’ on a cookie pop-up without reading any of the information, just so we can see a website sooner. It’s almost become second nature, with those little boxes getting in the way of what we actually want to do. GDPR gone mad.
But what do cookie pop-ups actually give websites access to? What data are we giving up everytime we click ‘accept’, and which businesses use the most of it?
The kind of data companies can collect ranges from the things you might expect to the more obscure. What they do with that data will differ depending on what kind of business they are, but often it will result in targeted advertising and website management.
Top of the list for data collectors is unsurprisingly, Facebook. They depend on you giving them access to all your details so they can recommend friends to you, let people know it’s your birthday, suggest groups for you to join and, most importantly, advertise to you.
Ads are how Facebook makes the most of their money - expected to be around $31.43 billion in 2020, an increase of 4.9% - so the more they know about you, the more they can sell on. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-ad-revenue-growth-2020
On top of your name, location, email address & date of birth, they also collect a whole load of things you might not be aware you gave away.
Out of all the data a business can legally collect about you, Facebook collects 70.59%.
Out of all the data a business can legally collect about you, Facebook collects 70.59%.
Instagram is next. The Facebook-owned app collects 58.82% of all available data, such as your hobbies, height, weight and sexual orientation. Like their owners, they use most of this information for advertising & recommending accounts you should follow.
Tinder collects 55.88% of available data to help match you with your perfect partner. As well as knowing about your age, sexual orientation, height, interests and also if you own a pet! It also stores your bank details, making it easier to upsell you its premium option.
It also tracks how you use different social media platforms if you link your accounts + stores the messages you send to matches, meaning flirty chats can be used to target you with advertisements & products. If you see an ad for a very niche kind of toy pop up, now you know why.
Grindr collects almost as much information, with 52.94% being stored as you look for love.
Last in the top 5 - but clearly not least - Uber. It actually collects the same amount of data as Grinder.
Last in the top 5 - but clearly not least - Uber. It actually collects the same amount of data as Grinder.
In a shocking twist, retail apps collected less information about users than most social networks and dating sites. Amazon doesn’t even crack the top 10.
That’s a astounding amount of data to reckon with. And to make matters worse, most of these programs won’t even let you use them unless you agree to share your data.
Is privacy dead? Well, not exactly.
Is privacy dead? Well, not exactly.
The best thing you can do to keep your data private is simply avoid sharing it. These apps collect data on you, but you still have to provide the data for them to grab it.
This means leaving as many fields blank on your profiles as possible, and avoiding providing as much private information on social media.
It’s also worth giving your smartphone a privacy checkup to make sure apps aren’t collecting data they don’t need. Here’s how to do it:
It’s also worth giving your smartphone a privacy checkup to make sure apps aren’t collecting data they don’t need. Here’s how to do it:
Beyond marketing to you and using your data to manage their website, business can’t do a lot more. You shouldn’t get cold calls from businesses you’ve never spoken to, for example, or find your details are being sold.
Our data is generally protected by the policies companies are forced to sign up for, and if they break these policies they could face big fines.
If you want to make sure you're extra secure, use mobile security softwares that are designed to help protect against viruses, identity theft, even ad-blocking.
AppCensus AppSearch is a web platform that analyzes and reports personal information collected and shared by free Android apps with third parties over the internet.https://search.appcensus.io/
Exodus is another option, and this one searches for embedded trackers that typically collect user data, as well as app usage data. It also checks for various permissions that an app requires for proper functioning in a smartphone.
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/
Engineers at the Google Safety Engineering Center in Europe developed Privacy Checkup as an easy way to review key settings and see (and delete) the data that Google collects to provide you with helpful experiences
https://myaccount.google.com/intro/privacycheckup?pli=1
https://myaccount.google.com/intro/privacycheckup?pli=1
