Whenever we install a new app on the mobile phone, we hope that somehow it respects our privacy and does not collect personal information or track activity, at least in this regard. which concerns the applications of recognized brands.
But far from reality, data has become a bargaining chip for businesses to the point that it’s how they make money, in exchange for being able to use some of their services for free, whether you have a mobile phone. Android or iPhone.
Recently, Apple added privacy labels to all apps managed by their devices, so iPhone or iPad users can see exactly what information is being collected, as well as prevent application tracking with version iOS 14.5.
There are services such as VPN Surfshark In order to protect digital life, they allow each of these applications to be tracked and classified based on their behavior with the data stored on our device.
This way we can get an idea of their intrusion for the user. Unsurprisingly, Google apps top many of these most offending lists. Gmail, Chrome, and even YouTube Kids collect more personal data than similar data.
Social media apps, unsurprisingly, turned out to be the type of app that collects the most private data, as have fast food delivery apps like World, Just eat, Uber eats O Deliveroo.
Image editing and web browsers tend to be the best for ensuring privacy because they don’t ask for personal information. Here are the most popular apps that collect the most personal data:
- Messenger
Many more follow that will surprise you:
- Line
- Pay Pal
- Shopping on Amazon
- By Dash
- Caviar
- Wish
It might not surprise you more to know that they don’t just collect things like your name, email address, and other obvious things that apps usually collect, related to your likes or searches.
Its directory goes further with the collection of financial information, health status, browsing history and search in browsers, items you buy, location, contact list, access to photo albums and other confidential information.
The digital age has led us to increasingly use mobile for more tasks and processes, with the incentive that many of us wear an activity tracker or smart watch to monitor our health. All of this information is very valuable for businesses.
In many cases, this data is sold to third-party companies, who can create a clear profile of you and use it for various purposes, such as sending you advertisements and targeted product advertisements that they know you will be interested in. purchase.
A study conducted in 2018 by the University of Oxford already found that a typical app can share and transfer your private data to an average of 10 companies.
In the table below, you can see which apps are top of each category to collect the most personal information. You can interact and consult on topics like finance, food, social media, and more.
Amazon and Wish are at the top of the list of mobile shopping apps, with 26 and 24 pieces of information respectively.
Should you be worried about private data collection?
Yes and no. On the one hand, this is something that we have become accustomed to every time we install a new application on the mobile, to grant access permissions without reading the conditions. These applications collect personal data such as address and payment details to offer their services.
From now on, you should pay more attention to some privacy policies and find out what happens to all that data. It is also advisable to review the settings that these apps and social networks are considering and not be satisfied with the values they offer by default.
Privacy laws differ and those who live in the United States have a different policy towards the European Union, for example, protected by CCPA and GDPR respectively. These laws establish how private data can be processed.
Of course, you have the freedom not to use these applications and services, but in some cases you will be forced to give up the use of services that are part of our daily lives, such as WhatsApp to communicate with us.
Starting to use another social network or messaging app might be an alternative, but it’s not practical if it turns out that your family and friends aren’t using it.
In our experience, it’s difficult to have complete privacy when we download and use apps and services, but at least we always encourage the option of using some type of VPN service with which to limit this wild collection of confidential data.
You can take a look at these services that will keep your device anonymous:
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