A team of researchers from security firm GuardianApp has found that dozens of popular apps are selling users' location data to third-party revenue-generating companies.
The report suggests that these apps use packaged code provided by these companies to collect precise location histories from millions of devices. Although these apps first ask for explicit permission to function properly, they sell the data in the background to make money.
These applications include popular names such as ASKfm, Photobucket, Homes.com, Tapatalk, NOAA Weather Radar, etc. The companies that purchase the data include Cuebiq, Sense360, Teemo, Fysical, etc.
While app developers claim that this practice is harmless, as it does not take any personal data, security researchers told TechCrunch that latitude and longitude coordinates can easily be used to locate a person with great accuracy.
This revelation has come to light just before October 3.Before this date, iOS app developers must update their privacy policies with detailed information about how they handle user data.
What can I do?
In addition to clearly reading the apps' privacy and data sharing policies, you can limit Ad Tracking by following these steps on your iPhone:
Settings > Privacy > Advertising — Turn on Limit Ad Tracking
Other suggestions offered by the group include choosing “Do not Allow” location access when the dialog box contains “See privacy policy” or similar text. It is also recommended to use the generic SSID name of the WiFi router and disable Bluetooth when not in use.
