We all enjoy using apps – most of us use them every day, but do you know how much information the top apps are gathering about you?
The reasons that apps gather your data are as follows:
- To connect you to the right people
- To develop their services to make them better for every user
- So they can send relevant advertising and information to you directly
- To keep things secure. For instance, they are able to verify that it’s really you that’s using your device
- To deliver a more tailored experience, making sure you see things that are relevant to you and your lifestyle
Here’s a quick breakdown of what each app is gathering:
- Your email address, phone number and date of birth
- Information you disclose in your snaps and chats with your friends
- Information on the devices you use, like the model of your phone or tablet
- Your photos and camera
- You can also choose to give Snapchat your location – and this can let others know where you are too
- Your email address, phone number and any other personal information you provide when you sign up
- Any information you share in your photos
- If you’ve chosen the ‘Find Friends’ feature, Instagram has access to your contacts list
- Information about what websites you’re visiting
- Your email address, phone number and date of birth
- Any information you share in your posts, chats with friends or photos you upload
- Your location
- Information about the people you are in contact with the most
- If you use Facebook to make purchases in a game or make a donation, Facebook has your credit card details stored
- Information on the devices you use, like the model of your phone or tablet, how much battery you have, and your IP address
- Facebook Messenger and any 3rd party apps you sign into via Facebook will gather this info too
- Your name, email addresses, date of birth, gender, telephone number, and country you live in
- Things you search for
- Websites you visit
- Videos you watch
- Ads that you click or tap
- Information about the device you’re using, like the make and model of your phone or tablet
- IP address
- Calendars, contacts, emails and documents if you use Google apps like Gmail
- 70% of the apps we download are deleted in less than 72 hours
- Apple’s App Store now was over 2 million apps to choose from
- The average iOS device has around 80 apps installed during its lifetime
- The total number of mobile apps predicted to be downloaded in 2017 is 187 billion
- The most popular app of all time is Facebook
