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Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

theguardian.com

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Re: Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

#2
I wonder if there is a comparable study for iOS apps? Or are there iOS versions of "Tinder, Spotify, Uber and OKCupid" better than the Android counterparts.

> Both of these trackers have been profiled by Privacy Lab and can be identified by Exodus scans.

I have tried looking up Exodus but can't find any info. Anyone knows what this tool and how does it work?

Re: Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

#5
I don't get it. If you're in IT in any role, you know this is happening. I install zero apps on my iPhone. I don't need them. Banking and other secure things are more properly done on a desktop or laptop running some form of nix with proper security in place.

I would never access my bank or other secure website with crucial information via a mobile phone. Call me an anachronism should you wish, but I've never had the tracking worries or data leak worries others do.

On my nix desktops, I block all ads, all tracking cookies, no third-party cookies, I whitelist my bank and Fastmail account for cookies, and I block coin mining, HTML canvassing, HTTP/S referrer, CSS history lookups, and so much more. In addition, I surf through a VPN. Why risk it?

Re: Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

#7

I don't get it. If you're in IT in any role, you know this is happening. I install zero apps on my iPhone. I don't need them. Banking and other secure things are more properly done on a desktop or laptop running some form of nix with proper security in place. I would never access my bank or other secure website with crucial information via a mobile phone. Call me an anachronism should you wish, but I've never had the…

I'm not sure why you are being downvoted here. I learned a lot from your post! I set up my cookies to stop 3rd party and delete at the end of a session. I also learned about /etc/hosts and blocked a ton of bad stuff at the system level. You are awesome, thank you!

Re: Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

#8
post #2

I wonder if there is a comparable study for iOS apps? Or are there iOS versions of "Tinder, Spotify, Uber and OKCupid" better than the Android counterparts. > Both of these trackers have been profiled by Privacy Lab and can be identified by Exodus scans . I have tried looking up Exodus but can't find any info. Anyone knows what this tool and how does it work?

https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/

https://github.com/exodus-privacy/exodus

https://github.com/YalePrivacyLab/tracker-profiles

Re: Three quarters of Android apps track users with third party tools

#9
post #2

I wonder if there is a comparable study for iOS apps? Or are there iOS versions of "Tinder, Spotify, Uber and OKCupid" better than the Android counterparts. > Both of these trackers have been profiled by Privacy Lab and can be identified by Exodus scans . I have tried looking up Exodus but can't find any info. Anyone knows what this tool and how does it work?

Having worked in a few agencies and departments that do both iOS and Android apps, whenever possible, they want parity between the two. So if the Android app is doing it, odds are better than not that the iOS app is also doing it to the extent allowed by Apple.
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