#appstrackingdata

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮 – 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧? https://ptolemay.com/.../apps-are-tracking-you-whats.../

This topic of apps tracking and collecting users’ data has not arisen in the recent period but has been a rather major debating issue since the technology developed and started reaching the hands of millions around the globe. While using an application on your mobile device its system is mostly programmed to track each move and collect some valuable information about you and your behavior to then use it for different purposes.

Yes, this might sound a bit creepy and even scary but most apps that collect data do not really use it against you or to harm you. On the contrary, your data is collected by apps and mostly sold to third parties by which apps generate income. The third parties might include advertisers to offer you goods and services that you are most likely to purchase but the data is also considered to be sold to the government. Now let’s see how apps collect data, why so, and how you can prevent that!

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚?

Any apps that you install and use on your mobile devices collect some sort of data about you. This is done when you use their apps and interact with what the app has to offer, be it games, educational materials, fitness apps, social media, etc.

The most common way that you are tracked is for example when you see the ‘Cookies’ on a website and you agree to accept them and when companies put special files and algorithms in apps that are doing most of the job for them.

Companies that sell goods for example may track every item you’ve selected, put in your cart, bought/not bought, what goods you searched for, etc. They will track your purchasing pattern and use it to then offer you a more customized user experience that will probably result in more of your purchases and more profit to the brand. Every time you connect to the company and their app you should be aware that all your moves are being gathered. This is very important to companies and it is considered to be working successfully as well.

It is crucial for companies to track their consumers’ data and offer them relevant goods/services. They are also tracking your location through your mobile device that will allow them to, let’s say, recommend stores near you and offer products/services available in your region. Companies are spending a fortune on advertising, while they might be targeting the wrong groups of people. When particular algorithms track and collect users’ data it lets companies save a huge amount on advertising and offer their consumers what they are more likely to purchase.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐃𝐨 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚?

As I see it there are two major reasons why apps are collecting users’ data:

1. To offer a better experience and in some cases increase sales

2. To sell it to third parties.

So, in the first case, apps are gathering your data, behavior, location, information to offer you a better experience while using the app and in a way ‘force’ you to buy or spend more as they offer you a customizable experience. This means that after your data is tracked, algorithms can understand your behavior and make conclusions and predictions about what you are more likely to spend your money on. Consequently, apps will only demonstrate to you those products/services that are most suitable for you (as the algorithms predicted) and there will be a bigger chance that you will give the company more money!

In the second case, apps are tracking and collecting your information to sell it to third parties, such as advertisers, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, etc. As most of the apps in the Apple Apps Store and Google Play are free, they have to find a way to generate profit. Tracking and selling user data is one of the very common ways to do so. Apps will track your purchase history, your interests, preferences, usage durations, location, usage times, and many more. All these data are collected by so many apps and sold to giant companies.

When the bigger companies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple get their hands on the data of millions of users around the globe they use it to offer and recommend targeted ads, friend suggestions, pages, websites, blogs, from which they are making money as well. While they also have access to your location, they will be presenting you ads available near you that will also increase the chance of you spending more money!

𝐏𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Ptolemay takes this issue very seriously and we are taking the following actions to prevent third parties from tracking users’ info, hacking into the app, or even gathering users’ data:

o Ptolemay keeps all data on the servers that were built custom.

o Ptolemay builds servers only on reliable and trusted cloud infrastructure providers (Digital Ocean, AWS).

o Safe Code. Ptolemay does not store critically important data in code that allows the application to be hacked by decompiling.

o Ptolemay uses reliable encryption algorithms.

o Ptolemay uses refresh tokens. We update the keys to reduce the likelihood of hacking.

Securing users’ data is Ptolemay’s priority and our developers are professionals and experienced in ensuring safe storage of valuable data.

𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 (𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭)

According to some statistics, the top three apps that know the most about their users include Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder. The data they collect can be anything like your location, personal data, phone numbers, financial info, biometrics, browsing history, education info, photos, recorded payments, transactions, etc.

These apps collect most of your data and here are the % of users’ personal data they possess: Facebook(70%), Instagram(58.82%), Tinder(55.88%), Grindr(52.94%), Uber(52.94%), Strava(41.18%), Tesco(38.24%), Spotify(35.29%), MyFitnessPal(35.29%), Jet2(35.29%)

𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

There are so many apps that have been tracking users’ data already for a long time but it doesn’t seem that everyone cares about it. I see it as there are two groups of people: those who do not care if apps track data and those who do not want valuable data to be collected by apps and sold to third parties. I believe many people do not show much concern for this as it doesn’t harm them in any way and sometimes even improves user experience. I also believe that as long as apps do not track really valuable data or personal information that may result in court trials, I think it may not bother many users.

However, many want to take action to prevent apps from collecting information about them. Here’s how to prevent apps tracking data on iPhone and Android:

𝐢𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞: When iOS 14.5 came out the biggest hit was the new “App Tracking Transparency” feature that was introduced. This feature allows you to decide if you want apps to track your data or not. This eventually means that if you choose to not allow apps to track data you will not be shown targeted ads based on collected information, your location, e-mail address, phone number, and other data will not be shared with third parties or data brokers.

In order to activate this feature, you can go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking and enable the feature. With this, apps will ask you to allow or not allow tracking, and by clicking ‘don’t allow’ your data will not be shared!

𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝: Android doesn’t yet have such an easy feature of not allowing apps to track data as the new iOS 14.5 but there is still a lot you can do. When you first download an app or open one for the first time, it might ask you permission to allow access to different things on your phone, be it your contacts, camera, microphone, calls, etc. You can easily tap do not allow and your data will be safe. If you want to check if other apps have permission to some data, you can follow these steps (might vary by phone): Settings > Apps (Application Manager) > Choose an app > Permission > Turn off the points you do not want the app to access! Or users can head to Security Settings > App Permissions and see what apps access what data and adjust those!

𝐒𝐨, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧?

So, looking at today’s image, I can tell you for sure that there are tons of apps that gather information about you and use it for different purposes. You might not care about it if this doesn’t actually harm you (which mostly doesn’t), but you might be worried or skeptical and you can in some ways control your data from being accessed. Overall, you might want to look over the permissions that you give to apps that you install so that they do not track some personal data of yours but if you are using apps that Ptolemay has developed, you do not have much to worry about.