Report: 80% of popular mobile apps collect data about your messages

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A new study by TechShielder called Hacker Hotspots: The Apps Most Vulnerable to Cybercrime, examined how much personal information popular apps collect. According to the survey, 60% of the world’s most used mobile apps store information from users’ private conversations, 80% collect data about messages you send or receive, and all apps collect basic user information such as phone numbers and email addresses.

The study also found that almost all apps store sensitive information that users may not be aware of, such as their cookies. Cookies are small files that store user information, such as login details, which can be useful when logging into your account if you have forgotten your password, but they also keep track of a user’s online habits. This means that apps can have a worryingly in-depth understanding of a person’s online life and what they’re doing on their device.

Inevitably, people will start to question their safety online, especially knowing that 100% of all mobile apps considered in the study share the data they collect and store with third parties. This means that your data remains vulnerable and run the risk of being picked up by hackers through many entry points.

Image source: TechShielder

The survey also found that 60% of apps store data about the content users create and 50% of popular apps access photos and videos from users’ camera rolls.

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In short, it is important to be vigilant when online as users may be able to share a lot of personal information with the developers behind their favorite apps. Knowing which apps and platforms are most targeted, as well as the types of data most at risk, can encourage users to take more precautions and make better decisions when online.

Methodology

The survey determined the most popular mobile apps based on the number of app store downloads from 2021 privacy The policies of these apps were then analyzed to reveal how much information they store about their users and what the most collected personal data is about popular apps.

Read the full report from TechShielder.

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