Home Technology Android Apps That Tracks Your Data And Send It To Facebook
Android Apps That Tracks Your Data And Send It To Facebook
Rick Nesser
Image Source: Tech Viral
Some of the popular and favorite mobile applications from companies such as Duolingo and Yelp. Both of them are still, sending users data to Facebook that can be, used for personal identification of you for advertisement tracking directly to Facebook, as quick as you login into it. As per the reports were given by London based UK charity. This data transfer does not depend on the users log in. If the user does not log into the Facebook account on his device and also does not have an active Facebook account, even then it will transfer data.
What Is PI
Privacy International (PI) which take care of the right to users privacy around the world. Founded back in 1990 and it is a non-profit company.
Besides, Yelp and Duolingo, Privacy International (PI) has also discovered, two Muslim prayer apps, Bible app, and as well as a job finding the app named Indeed, these all apps are performing similar activities, they are sending users data to Facebook, which will definatly help Facebook to identify users for advertisements purpose whenever, they browse the social media platform. But till now, we do not know, which kind of information of the users are provided or being sent to Facebook in this matter. In addition to that, a user starts the app at a particular given time, but as per the PI's report, this data transfer might also open custom identifiers that help Facebook track that user, all over the network of services and whenever the user starts the Facebook app on his mobile device.
This report is based on a related investigation of PI last December, which for the first time disclosed that one of the popular Android apps were sending data to Facebook without taking users permission and without revealing proper, policies. This problem also indicated that this issue is applicable to both iOS apps and Android apps. One month ago, The Wall Street Journal disclosed the same activities, done by the group of developer tools that track, all the activities of the users, whenever the user opens a mobile app in his device and what they do is, send it to the Facebook. Even Apple has very strict rules, requirements, and policies to protect users from these fraud apps.
What PI report says, "This is hugely problematic, not just for privacy, but also for competition. The data that apps send to Facebook typically includes information such as the fact that a specific app, such as a Muslim prayer app, was opened or closed," "This sounds fairly basic, but it really isn't. Since the data is sent with a unique identifier, a user's Google advertising ID, it would be easy to link this data into a profile and paint a fine-grained picture of someone's interests, identities, and daily routines."
Image Source: Naked Security – Sophos
After the last year's Cambridge analytics data privacy, shameful activity, privacy practices of Facebook has come under even greater critical observation and examination after-effects of significant unpleasant activities, a beam of light directly on to an arrangement between the popular ads companies and the small app makers that practice those same activities to attract new users and also target the old users with ads. As one of the company has revealed, several leading iOS apps developers take help from Facebook analytics tool named "custom app events" in this particular matter, it also providing data such as health, fitness, and personal information with the social network for advertisement targeting goals.
And if you talk about Android apps, then, since a long time ago, Facebook has been receiving and collecting users data like phone call logs, messages, personal information, and real-time location data, for the reason of providing information to its advertisement targeting and improving features such as friend suggestions.
Nevertheless, practices have created articulation with privacy advocate and users of related Facebook are collecting a lot of data about their personal records and online and offline activities. The company adheres to the reports about using Facebook's own location-tracking capabilities to capture company internal skipping work. Facebook said it would allow Android users to explicitly disable the feature.
In this particular matter, PI is underlining one of the longterm interest data collection rules and policies of Facebook, and the user who depends with full trust on outside party apps or you can say third-party apps give freedom to collect and share user personal data, app usage to the most popular social media network, without taking permission from the user and without informing users about this activity
App Developer Take User Information And Send Directly To Facebook
The PI report says, "Facebook routinely tracks users, non-users, and logged-out users outside its platform through Facebook Business Tools. App developers share data with Facebook through the Facebook Software Development Kit (SDK), a set of software development tools that help developers build apps for a specific operating system," and as per the report, there are 2/3 of the 34 Android apps, PI tested, which also include some of the popular names like Spotify and Kayak and both of the apps have more than 10 million downloads. But both the apps, send users information to Facebook, directly. They do not inform users about this, and without taking any permission from the user.
As PI has informed, several Android apps have stopped performing malicious activities after the PI report has come this December. Furthermore, several iOS app operators have highlighted in the WSJ report and bring to an end of analytics and developer tools of Facebook, to collect users personal data. Despite, there are some apps such as Yelp and Duolingo, even now, they are performing this malicious activity. PI has also mentioned in its contract with Duolingo, and now, the company has agreed to stop this malicious activity and also said this will not happen in the future, but the most worrying this is that how many apps are still performing these activities and how many apps still striking Apple database and Google database collection and user privacy policies to enhance ad targeting tools of Facebook.
After all this action takes place, Facebook has taken responsibility on app developers not to destroy the rules and policies of the platform and also not to misuse its developer tools by gathering users personal information. And the most important, the company has declared that it will not use any users personal information or important data and, in some very important matter such as credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. It will automatically delete those details. And this is not easy to perceive yet, why the user's data is being collected in the foremost place and in what ways it has been kept
But it is not clear why the data is being collected in the first place and in what ways it has been kept in the past unless the app is collecting it or it is collecting by Facebook.
Privacy International (PI) report says, "Apps rely on the Facebook SDK to integrate their product with Facebook services, like Facebook's login and ad tracking tools. However, Facebook places all responsibility on apps to ensure that the data they send to Facebook has been collected lawfully." Facebook not instantly, reply to the comment.
Thanks to Facebook, as it has announced that, it will not use any users personal information or important data.
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Rick Nesser was born and raised in Great Falls. Rick has worked as a freelance journalist for nearly a decade and written for Tribune Media, TODAY and Joystiq. As a journalist for United News Desk, Rick covers health and fitness related news supplements.