We all know that free apps are almost never free since most of them make money from ads within the app itself. But according to security company Bitdefender, these apps are costing too much to those who use them.
In a recent report, Bitdefender says that free apps are “equivalent to spyware” because users unknowingly give away too much information when installing them. Bitdefender conducted tests on over 500,000 free apps for iOS and Android. The research revealed that there is very little difference between the two operating systems when it comes to protecting user privacy. The results are somewhat alarming.
About 45% of the free iOS apps we looked at had location-based features. That compares to 35% of Android apps. And while that may not sound like a bad thing, here’s what’s really scary: 19% of free iOS apps and 8% of free Android apps have the ability to “see” a user’s contact list.
Worrying? read on…
9% of free Android apps have the potential to leak the device's phone number to third-party advertisers, while 15% of them may also leak the device identifier.
Targeting users with ads is nothing new, but Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender, says the process is much more insidious on smartphones.
“On mobile, advertising networks and companies can learn your communication habits, your friends, your friends’ contacts, your location, or all of the above at the same time.”.
Do you have free apps on your phone?
