[Ghostnyc]

(Below is courtesy of Gizmodo)
These Apps Are Rampantly Stealing Your Info Without Permission



I love Pandora. I really couldn't do without it. But I could do without its sending my demographic information, phone ID, and location to eight trackers across six companies. And Pandora's far from the worst offender, the WSJ shows us.

The Journal's report lays bare much of what we already suspected, or outright knew but didn't bother thinking about: iOS and Android apps are having a field day with your personal info. More than half of the 101 popular apps they tested sent your UDID to companies without your awareness or consent. Nearly as many sent your location, and a handful even sent along demographic info and other personal details to advertisers.

It's a small sample size given the hundreds of thousands of apps out there, but it's hard to imagine that the most prominent names just happen to be the most aberrant. And the list of worst offenders also reads like a roll-call of must haves: Pandora. Angry Birds. Netflix. Shazam. Et tu, Yelp?

iOS apps shared more data than Android apps, on the whole—somewhat surprising given the rigidity of the App Store approval process compared to Android's looser environment. And there's really nothing you can do to stop it.

There's something Apple and Google could do, though: create privacy policies. Make it abundantly clear to users what information apps are going to take, who they're going to send it to. And if you're feeling really generous this holiday season, give us a chance to opt out.

For the full chart—and to get educated about who's spreading your info—head over to the Journal's daming interactive graphic. Then start sending some angry emails. [WSJ]

Full Article from Wall Street Journal- "Your Apps are watching you"


Does anyone here use any of the apps mentioned in the WSJ article? Do you take the time to customize your permission levels? What are your thoughts on the subject?

[weblou]

i don't think they could really do much with the UDID. And most of the information sent is not to serious.
maybe age, Male or female, where your located.... nothing that is to personal.
If they share your contacts and have access to you r email and passwords that would be a different story.
Im not really worried about this..... not even surprised.

[Rootbrian]

As long as my phone number isn't leaked, shared or called by advertisers, I'll use most apps without worrying much. Also as long as my location isn't used to actually spam me with junk mail, I don't give a crap.

That's my thoughts. RIM should review these locations like they ddi with Kik.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CASH]

I saw this article Saturday and wasn't really surprised. It should be noted that the WSJ only investigated a few of the top iOS/Android apps and not BlackBerry apps. But this should be the case across most, if not all, mobile platforms. This is the price you pay for awesome, free apps. For me this price is very small. I have no problem with advertisers knowing my age/gender/general location (Milwaukee or Wisconsin) etc as I ignore ALL in-app ads anyway.

[Ghostnyc]

As long as my phone number isn't leaked, shared or called by advertisers, I'll use most apps without worrying much. Also as long as my location isn't used to actually spam me with junk mail, I don't give a crap.

That's my thoughts. RIM should review these locations like they ddi with Kik.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

My concern is that this is just the first step.

[TheScionicMan]

It's the tip of the iceberg. If well-known companies are doing this, who knows what some other apps might be digging for....

[diffused]

I see no mention of BlackBerry being a problem.

[syb0rg]

This was posted yesterday, you can see some other comments there if you want

http://forums.crackberry.com/f2/your...ng-you-568469/

[Ghostnyc]

This was posted yesterday, you can see some other comments there if you want

http://forums.crackberry.com/f2/your...ng-you-568469/

Apologies for the repost.

[Seijuro]

OH MY GOD, IS IT TRUE? OH NOOO
ok, sarcasm

i dont care.

[syb0rg]

Apologies for the repost.

Hey, no problems in my book. It's new as well as general information. I could care less if it's posted in every forum on here. It's GOOD information to know, esp if you would a security sensitive field.

[Ghostnyc]

Hey, no problems in my book. It's new as well as general information. I could care less if it's posted in every forum on here. It's GOOD information to know, esp if you would a security sensitive field.

excellent point- Im not in a security sensitive field per say, but I am very security conscious. If you have ever had your Identity stolen and personal information compromised you would be much more cautious than the average person. It is uncomfortable to know that these apps are doing this behind the scenes at the very least there should be some system notification informing you of this action(s). While Blackberry was not named directly, its still something to be aware of. Seriously how many of us go thru our app permissions on a regular basis?

[syb0rg]

excellent point- Im not in a security sensitive field per say, but I am very security conscious. If you have ever had your Identity stolen and personal information compromised you would be much more cautious than the average person. It is uncomfortable to know that these apps are doing this behind the scenes at the very least there should be some system notification informing you of this action(s). While Blackberry was not named directly, its still something to be aware of. Seriously how many of us go thru our app permissions on a regular basis?

zip to none.

Well i guess that answers one question. "Why are my data transmitter icons going off and i am not doing anything but looking at my phone."

[CASH]

zip to none.

Well i guess that answers one question. "Why are my data transmitter icons going off and i am not doing anything but looking at my phone."

Sometimes it's synching (Google Sync, updated versions of apps from App World etc) etc etc etc...

[syb0rg]

Sometimes it's synching (Google Sync, updated versions of apps from App World etc)

True, and i am well aware of that, but there have been many of times i seen a thread that begins with something like "Why are my data transmitter icons going off and i haven't touched a thing, and no i have no auto sync features turned on"

[CASH]

True, and i am well aware of that, but there have been many of times i seen a thread that begins with something like "Why are my data transmitter icons going off and i haven't touched a thing, and no i have no auto sync features turned on"

True.

I can haz 10 char?

EDIT: Just realized you said "true."

[JRSCCivic98]

True, and i am well aware of that, but there have been many of times i seen a thread that begins with something like "Why are my data transmitter icons going off and i haven't touched a thing, and no i have no auto sync features turned on"

Contrary be belief, a Blackberry does communicate with the server base and network via self-triggered instances itself for data refresh and checks and heartbeat signaling. This is more then likely what you're seeing from time to time. A BB is never 100% dormant from signaling until something gets Pushed to it. That's just what people mistakenly infer.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com