Your personal data is one of the most valuable assets you have. Give a lot of information and someone can use it to steal your identity. Most of us are aware of the pitfalls and take steps to avoid any exploitation.
But, sometimes, your information may be disclosed or collected by means that you are unaware of. Have you had time to read the terms and conditions for an online service like Facebook? Tap or click here for the eight apps you need to delete from your phone now.
It may come as a surprise to you that many applications share their data with third parties. Do you know which apps share more of your data? We are about to tell you.
Here is the background story
Apple requires all applications on its App Store to obtain its permission to share data between applications. If the app does not do this, it will be banned from the App Store.
With Apple’s updated privacy policy in mind, pCloud did some research to determine how different applications use their data and where the information goes. While you can revoke an application’s access, it will often require that all of your device’s functions are required to function.
So, which applications require the most access and what happens to the information collected? Unsurprisingly, 52% of tested apps shared their information with third parties for targeted advertising.
Applications that share more data with third parties
It should come as no surprise that social media apps like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube collect most of your information. It should be explained, however, that you voluntarily provide the services with your information in most cases. Here is a list of the applications that share most of the data.
The top 10 apps that share most of your information:
- Instagram (79% of personal data collected)
- the Facebook (57% of personal data collected)
- LinkedIn (50% of personal data collected)
- Uber Eats (50% of personal data collected)
- Train line (43% of personal data collected)
- You Tube (43% of personal data collected)
- Youtube Music (43% of personal data collected)
- Deliveroo (36% of personal data collected)
- Duolingo (36% of personal data collected)
- eBay (36% of personal data collected)
“YouTube is not the worst when it comes to selling your information on. This award goes to Instagram, which shares an incredible 79% of its data with other companies. Including everything from purchase information, personal data and browsing history. It is not for nothing that there is so much content promoted in your feed ”, observed pCloud.
But just because apps share a lot of your data doesn’t mean it’s for nefarious reasons. In most cases, your data is passed on to third parties associated with the application.
Apps that collect data for your own benefit
Speaking of the biggest social media apps, they are also at the top of your information collection list for your own benefit. This is done for several reasons, but the most common is to serve you advertising.
In other cases, the data collected is for your benefit. Think about receiving a discount coupon on your birthday. The app stored this information to send you a code and, hopefully, you made a purchase.
The top 10 apps that collect data for your benefit:
- the Facebook
- Klarna
- Grubhub
- Uber
- Uber Eats
- eBay
- Just eat
Most invasive apps
Taking into account all the data from the study, you are probably eager to find out who the biggest culprits are. Well, would it be a shock if 40% of the top 10 list were social media apps? Probably not.
The 10 most invasive apps:
- Instagram (62% of personal data tracked)
- the Facebook (55% of personal data tracked)
- Uber Eats (50% of personal data tracked)
- Train line (43% of tracked personal data)
- eBay (40% of personal data tracked)
- LinkedIn (40% of personal data tracked)
- Twitter (40% of personal data tracked)
- You Tube (36% of tracked personal data)
- Youtube Music (36% of tracked personal data)
- Grubhub (36% of tracked personal data)
The most secure apps
With apps hungry for personal data out of the way, some of the most secure apps in terms of the amount of data tracked can be surprising. Driven to prominence during the ongoing pandemic, apps like Clubhouse, Netflix and Microsoft Teams are in the top five.
Even with last year’s Zoom video call service failure, he managed to make it into the top 10.
Apps that don’t share your data:
- Signal
- Clubhouse
- Netflix
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Classroom
- Shazam
- Etsy
- Skype
- Telegram
- Boohoo
Applications such as Signal, Telegram and Clubhouse have been extremely active in user privacy and are actively advocating for data protection. Signal and Telegram saw a large influx of users earlier this year, when WhatsApp updated (and later withdrew) its terms of service.
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