A report from Motherboard reveals that some popular email apps for iOS and Android, which claim to be “focused on security,” are extracting data from users’ inboxes and selling it to make money.
One such popular email service is Edison Email, a free cross-platform app with millions of downloads. It was found that it sells anonymous data and analytics it extracts from various users' inboxes to advertising agencies, travel agencies, and e-commerce companies.
This information is purchased by these companies for marketing campaigns and product development.
Motherboard found that in the case of Edison Email, users didn't even know what was happening.
Edison ranks as the 58th most popular app in the App Store with an average rating of 4.6/5 stars.
Typically, email companies gain the right to access and scan users' inboxes through "personalized" features.
Edison's privacy policies provide users with the ability to opt out of this data collection without affecting their experience with the service. However, not all users are aware of this.
Following the publication of Motherboard's investigation, Edison released a post explaining the company's efforts to be more transparent about what it does with user data.
According to Motherboard's report, two more major email apps were found to be collecting user data in questionable ways – CleanFox and Rakuten Slice
CleanFox allows users to unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters with a single click. While Rakuten Slice identifies e-receipts from inboxes and extracts data from each purchase, which can be used by companies for marketing. In return, Rakuten Slice gives users a personalized online shopping experience.
Regardless, users should avoid third-party email apps like Edison and CleanFox.
To close a third-party email app you use, go to your email provider's settings page and remove access. In Gmail, go to Security > Manage third-party access.
