Don’t be too confident in those privacy controls. Our test of 80 apps in Apple’s App Store reveals most apps are tracking you in ways you cannot avoid
Why You Can't Win at Privacy Whac-A-Mole
Despite new initiatives from Google and Facebook, messing with privacy controls is like playing a carnival game. Knock out one way for advertisers to track you, and they quickly find another way to do it. WSJ's Joanna Stern heads to Coney Island to explain. Photo: Kenny Wassus
By
Joanna Stern
May 31, 2019 11:26 a.m. ET
Uhhh, Curious George? You got a little too curious this time.
There’s a kids’ iOS app called Curious World that, not surprisingly, stars the cute little pants-less monkey. Turns out, the app was collecting my son’s age, name and every book he tapped, and sending that data to Facebook Inc.
The company’s response? Whoopsies!
“There was some rogue code in the app that was mistakenly sending this data,” said Abhi Arya, the chief executive of Curious World. He says this info was not used by the company or Facebook. In response to this reporting, the company is updating the software.
Sharing information businesses know about children under 13 is prohibited by Facebook’s Terms of Service, a Facebook spokesman said. Apple says it is investigating the situation.
Congratulations! You’ve bought an iPhone! You made one of the best privacy-conscious decisions... until you download an app from Apple’s App Store. Most are littered with secret trackers, slurping up your personal data and sending it to more places than you can count.
Over the last few weeks, my colleague Mark Secada and I tested 80 apps, most of which are promoted in Apple’s App Store as “Apps We Love.” All but one used third-party trackers for marketing, ads or analytics. The apps averaged four trackers apiece.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iphone...shareToken=st5737bc5c0830497f8f24ad47b3870f12
Why You Can't Win at Privacy Whac-A-Mole
Despite new initiatives from Google and Facebook, messing with privacy controls is like playing a carnival game. Knock out one way for advertisers to track you, and they quickly find another way to do it. WSJ's Joanna Stern heads to Coney Island to explain. Photo: Kenny Wassus
By
Joanna Stern
May 31, 2019 11:26 a.m. ET
Uhhh, Curious George? You got a little too curious this time.
There’s a kids’ iOS app called Curious World that, not surprisingly, stars the cute little pants-less monkey. Turns out, the app was collecting my son’s age, name and every book he tapped, and sending that data to Facebook Inc.
The company’s response? Whoopsies!
“There was some rogue code in the app that was mistakenly sending this data,” said Abhi Arya, the chief executive of Curious World. He says this info was not used by the company or Facebook. In response to this reporting, the company is updating the software.
Sharing information businesses know about children under 13 is prohibited by Facebook’s Terms of Service, a Facebook spokesman said. Apple says it is investigating the situation.
Congratulations! You’ve bought an iPhone! You made one of the best privacy-conscious decisions... until you download an app from Apple’s App Store. Most are littered with secret trackers, slurping up your personal data and sending it to more places than you can count.
Over the last few weeks, my colleague Mark Secada and I tested 80 apps, most of which are promoted in Apple’s App Store as “Apps We Love.” All but one used third-party trackers for marketing, ads or analytics. The apps averaged four trackers apiece.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iphone...shareToken=st5737bc5c0830497f8f24ad47b3870f12
