{"id":401,"date":"2020-03-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.eloqasia.com\/?p=401"},"modified":"2020-03-10T21:07:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T14:07:37","slug":"some-apps-are-still-selling-your-info-to-advertisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.eloqasia.com\/?p=401","title":{"rendered":"Some apps are still selling your info to advertisers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s out of control,\u201d Norwegian Consumer Council warns<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can never be too sure about apps these days. You might think you\u2019re just using them to communicate or play games, but they actually turn out to be gathering your personal data. A new study released by the nonprofit organization Norwegian Consumer Council<\/strong> found that many popular apps were selling info as sensitive as location, sexual orientation, and IP addresses to advertisers, violating the European Union\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation law and fundamental rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n

According to the study, both Tinder and Grindr sent GPS coordinates and gender preferences to advertisers, risking their users\u2019 privacy. \u201cThe dating app Grindr shared detailed user data with a large number of third parties that are involved in advertising and profiling. This data included IP address, Advertising ID, GPS location, age, and gender,\u201d the study noted.<\/p>\n

Your dating life is no longer as private as you think.<\/strong> Moreover, Tinder\u2019s privacy policy stated that the data of users who signed up for its services may be shared by its parent company, Match Group, with at least 45 dating-related businesses including OkCupid, Match.com, and PlentyOfFish\u2014even if they never signed up for these sites. \u201cThe sharing of personal data between Match group subsidiaries is also problematic, and fails to respect the data protection principle of purpose limitation,\u201d the research said.<\/p>\n

Nosy photo editing apps know your location.<\/strong> Perfect365 is a popular app for those who want to look their best for the \u2018gram. But it doesn\u2019t value its users\u2019 safety\u2014it sold people\u2019s GPS coordinates, Wi-Fi access points, and advertising identification without them even knowing. \u201cThe makeup app Perfect365 shared user data with more than 70 third parties. This data included the Advertising ID, IP address, and GPS location. Many of the third parties that were receiving this data are in the business of collecting, using and selling location data for various commercial purposes,\u201d the council warned.<\/p>\n

Kids are vulnerable to inappropriate ads. <\/strong>Sketchy children\u2019s entertainment is one of the greatest fears of many parents in the digital age\u2014for a good reason. The app My Talking Tom 2, where users can care for a virtual pet cat that repeats words they speak into the mic, was found to have shared people\u2019s IP address and location to third parties. \u201cWhen using the app, in-app advertising pops up periodically regardless of the age of the user,\u201d the nonprofit added.<\/p>\n

Despite all these security threats online, taking out the plug and avoiding exposure to apps aren\u2019t fully feasible. The best that you can do is to stay vigilant and take the necessary steps to protect yourself against nosy third parties.<\/p>\n

You should take note of the permissions the app asks for during installation and determine if these are within reason. For instance, if a photo-editing tool requests to access your location, then think twice about using this app. More importantly, make sure to research the app developer so you can check their commitment to their users\u2019 privacy and the extra steps they take to respect and protect their data.<\/p>\n

For a digital experience that\u2019s guaranteed to be safe, use apps that are committed to security and privacy like Viber<\/a>. Every chat here is encrypted end-to-end, meaning that it\u2019s virtually impossible for anyone, even Viber itself, to read or even listen to your exchanges with people. This also means that the app cannot sell your conversational data to third parties and advertisers.<\/p>\n

Unlike the platforms singled out by the Norwegian Consumer Council, Viber proves that it\u2019s possible to provide quality services without compromising and exploiting user privacy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Press release distributed by EloQ Communications<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s out of control,\u201d Norwegian Consumer Council warns You can never be too sure about apps these days. You might think you\u2019re just using them to communicate or play games, but they actually turn out to be gathering your personal Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[201,253,275,276,25,23,252,15],"yoast_head":"\nSome apps are still selling your info to advertisers - EloQ's Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.eloqasia.com\/?p=401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Some apps are still selling your info to advertisers - EloQ's Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s out of control,\u201d Norwegian Consumer Council warns You can never be too sure about apps these days. 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