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Now Apps Can Track You Even After You Uninstall Them (bloomberg.com)
If it seems as though the app you deleted last week is suddenly popping up everywhere, it may not be mere coincidence. From a report: Companies that cater to app makers have found ways to game both iOS and Android, enabling them to figure out which users have uninstalled a given piece of software lately -- and making it easy to pelt the departed with ads aimed at winning them back. Adjust, AppsFlyer, MoEngage, Localytics, and CleverTap are among the companies that offer uninstall trackers, usually as part of a broader set of developer tools. Their customers include T-Mobile US, Spotify Technology, and Yelp. Critics say they're a fresh reason to reassess online privacy rights and limit what companies can do with user data. "Most tech companies are not giving people nuanced privacy choices, if they give them choices at all," says Jeremy Gillula, tech policy director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocate.
Some providers say these tracking tools are meant to measure user reaction to app updates and other changes. Jude McColgan, chief executive officer of Boston's Localytics, says he hasn't seen clients use the technology to target former users with ads. Ehren Maedge, vice president for marketing and sales at MoEngage Inc. in San Francisco, says it's up to the app makers not to do so. "The dialogue is between our customers and their end users," he says. "If they violate users' trust, it's not going to go well for them." Adjust, AppsFlyer, and CleverTap didn't respond to requests for comment, nor did T-Mobile, Spotify, or Yelp.
Uninstall tracking exploits a core element of Apple's and Google's mobile operating systems: push notifications. Developers have always been able to use so-called silent push notifications to ping installed apps at regular intervals without alerting the user -- to refresh an inbox or social media feed while the app is running in the background, for example. But if the app doesn't ping the developer back, the app is logged as uninstalled, and the uninstall tracking tools add those changes to the file associated with the given mobile device's unique advertising ID, details that make it easy to identify just who's holding the phone and advertise the app to them wherever they go.
Some providers say these tracking tools are meant to measure user reaction to app updates and other changes. Jude McColgan, chief executive officer of Boston's Localytics, says he hasn't seen clients use the technology to target former users with ads. Ehren Maedge, vice president for marketing and sales at MoEngage Inc. in San Francisco, says it's up to the app makers not to do so. "The dialogue is between our customers and their end users," he says. "If they violate users' trust, it's not going to go well for them." Adjust, AppsFlyer, and CleverTap didn't respond to requests for comment, nor did T-Mobile, Spotify, or Yelp.
Uninstall tracking exploits a core element of Apple's and Google's mobile operating systems: push notifications. Developers have always been able to use so-called silent push notifications to ping installed apps at regular intervals without alerting the user -- to refresh an inbox or social media feed while the app is running in the background, for example. But if the app doesn't ping the developer back, the app is logged as uninstalled, and the uninstall tracking tools add those changes to the file associated with the given mobile device's unique advertising ID, details that make it easy to identify just who's holding the phone and advertise the app to them wherever they go.
Member when you had some modicum of control of your software and OS.
Member when software main purpose was to do something useful, and not just display ads.
Would really be nice to get rid of my computer/phone completely just not to deal with any of this shit anymore, but that is impossible.
http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
Now my ex-app is just like my ex.
Remarketing. That's what the practice is called. And it's the latest craze among marketing gurus, whom, as usual, do more to drive prospects away than make them convert. You might remember this crowd from such hits as the recursive self propagating pop up window, the pop up overlay, the popup overlay with long form manipulative cancel button, the landing page craze that recently ended (thank god), and various other forms of clickbait nonsense. As with the others, this too will die when the people actually spending money on it realize that there's absolutely no ROI in it for them.
This signature has Super Cow Powers
They're not uninstalled. What gives?
I tend to rant.
You misspelled "jailbreak your phone" up there.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
If I find out your app is doing this I will let everyone know to stop putting bread on your table you evil cunts.
hiding and staying installed. Any corporate store Apple, Google whoever that allows this is just as criminal and unethical as the developers and companies who commit the act.
;)
Any developers and companies caught doing this should have a permanent ban given for any current (even other apps that did not do this but from the same source) or future products.
I know some will say this is to hard. But until there is a price this will continue.
Just my 2 cents
Use Adblock, Ublock, or whatever you have to. DO NOT TOLERATE ADS.
Corporatism != Free Market
Can't you reimage your phone like you can a real computer? Or do the companies restrict you from doing even that?
Might be a way to start fresh so even the trackers wouldn't be around.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1. Are we supposed to believe that there are developers out there that truly believe that someone would uninstall an app by accident?
2. Are we supposed to believe that there are developers out there that truly believe that someone intentionally uninstalled an app, but that they may be talked back into using it, by a push-notification?
No, I feel like this is the first step in some new development to extort any means by which a user can be advertised to. The good news is that it'll end soon, because it's bogus. The push-back will be that everyone turns off push-notifications for everything.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
Time for Congress to clean out Silly Con Valley.
No, the apps aren't responding to pings (which they can do regardless of if they are running.) That's how they know they're uninstalled. The default "listen for background pings" behavior is off. Which usually means the app is uninstalled.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
The iPhone is looking more and more reasonable every day.
The best thing that Google could do for Android at this point is to create a universal unlocker / re-locker that worked with all versions of Android going forward, and legally require that licensees not interfere with it.
If Google is afraid to strip the shit-ware out, then at least publish the tools so that end users can do it themselves.
They can still track you and pelt you with unwanted ads with the knowledge you were dumb enough to install their app at some point in time.
Even if these OSes did not support push notification, they can always make their app call home and update usage stats. When the usage stat is missing for a while they can mark it as uninstalled and pelt you with a different set of ads.
Once you have uninstalled it, the dynamics are different. They have lost you and they can try increasingly difficult and painful techniques and even act maliciously ruining your phone or launch what would be tantamount to denial of service attack. It is like dating a psychopath. Once you get involved there is no way to really get out without serious damage.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
How far do you want to take it?
Should Chrome delete all your downloaded files when you uninstall it?
Constantly pushing their mobile app. The "Continue" button does not let you continue browsing the site but pushes you to download the app. Underneath in a tiny font is "mobile site" which is the correct thing to click if you want to continue browsing. And no matter how often you choose this they keep popping up the ad for their app.