4/20/2023 0 Comments Perfect365 app iphone![]() The app was briefly pulled after a BuzzFeed News story earlier this year outed the researchers, but returned to the app store days later. Perfect365, an augmented reality beauty app with more than 100 million users, asks for location to “customize your experience based on your location and more,” and refers users to the privacy policy for more - which does state that location data will be used for advertising. The app maker said it used AreaMetrics “for a short period” last year but said the code was deactivated. is a popular app that asks that you switch on your location to help “find nearby homes.” But the code, thought to be old code, still sends precise coordinates to AreaMetrics. A spokesperson for Apalon, which built the app, said it “conducted a limited, brief test with a few of these providers” earlier this year. Access to your location “is used to provide weather info.” But an earlier version of the app from March was sending location data to three firms, Factual, Sense360 and Teemo. NOAA Weather Radar has more than 266,000 reviews and has millions of downloads. When reached, the app maker said it believes its location collection practices “fit industry standards, and are therefore acceptable for our users.” It asks for access to a user’s location that “won’t be shared with anyone.” But the app sends that location data to two data firms, AreaMetrics and Huq. In exchange for data, often these data firms pay app developers to collect data and grow their databases and often to deliver ads based on a person’s location history.īut although many claim they don’t collect personally identifiable information, Strafach said that latitude and longitude coordinates can pin a person to a house or their work.ĪSKfm, a teen-focused anonymous question-and-answer app, has 1,400 ratings on the Apple App Store and touts tens of millions of users. These data monetization firms also collect other device data from the accelerometer, battery charge status and cell network names.ĪccuWeather updates its iOS app to address privacy outcry Using tools to monitor network traffic, the researchers found 24 popular iPhone apps that were collecting location data - like Bluetooth beacons to Wi-Fi network names - to know where a person is and where they visit. “I believe people should be able to use any app they wish on their phone without fear that granting access to sensitive data may mean that this data will be quietly sent off to some entity who they do not know and do not have any desire to do business with,” said Will Strafach, one of the researchers. In many cases, the apps send precise locations and other sensitive, identifiable data “at all times, constantly,” and often with “little to no mention” that location data will be shared with third-parties, say security researchers at the GuardianApp project. ![]() ![]() A group of security researchers say dozens of popular iPhone apps are quietly sharing the location data of “tens of millions of mobile devices” with third-party data monetization firms.Īlmost all require access to a user’s location data to work properly, like weather and fitness apps, but share that data often as a way to generate revenue for free-to-download apps. ![]()
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