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Several Popular Apps Share Data With Facebook Without User Consent (ft.com)

Posted by msmash on from the privacy-woes dept.

Some of the most popular apps for Android smartphones, including Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and MyFitnessPal, are transmitting data to Facebook without the consent of users in a potential breach of EU regulations. From a report: In a study of 34 popular Android apps, the campaign group Privacy International found that at least 20 of them send certain data to Facebook the second that they are opened on a phone, before users can be asked for permission. Information sent instantly included the app's name, the user's unique ID with Google, and the number of times the app was opened and closed since being downloaded. Some, such as travel site Kayak, later sent detailed information about people's flight searches to Facebook, including travel dates, whether the user had children and which flights and destinations they had searched for. European law on data-sharing changed in May with the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation and mobile apps are required to have the explicit consent of users before collecting their personal information.

3 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. I doubt anyone really cares by mschaffer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Once people get over their knee-jerk sense of outrage (if there is any), I doubt anyone will even uninstall these apps from their phones.

    1. Re:I doubt anyone really cares by mrwireless · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Give it time. Over the years people will start to understand how the data driven business model really works. That profiling is not just about personalised ads, but equally about handling you as a risk, which often means denying you opportunities such as jobs or cheap insurance. The real businessmodel of these companies is the continuous background check.

      In a few years the 'data is the new oil' narative will backfire on Silicon Valley, as the 'data as a pollutant' metaphor will become all to apt. This comparison will then lead us to ask: what is the data version of global warming?

      It's Social Cooling.

    2. Re:I doubt anyone really cares by ctilsie242 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have already this happen. A few years ago when I was working for a different employer, I had a friend of mine take a picture of me in a store's humidor. The pictures went on Facebook. Less than a week later, I got a demand from my health insurance company to take a physical with bloodwork or pay smoker's rates.

      Already, location data from apps has been uses to spy on Tesla and other firms, tracking where employees are in the building. With tensions getting greater between nations, a person's location can potentially make or break a military initiative.