A report by the Financial Times showed that Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter lost approximately $9.85 billion in revenue due to Apple’s privacy changes. Apple last year announced the App Tracking transparency (ATT) policy, which requires that apps ask permission to track users. In April this year, the policy was finally implemented. Apps can no longer...
Category: Privacy
Popular Apps are leaking GPS data to third parties – Without the Consent of Users
Although the systematic recording of movements from smartphones is a multi-billion dollar industry, little information is available about how this data is collected and used. AppCensus’s new research shows that even seemingly innocent apps like barcode scanners and GPS speedometers collect detailed data about users without their consent. AppCensus explained in a blog post that...
Discover how to get zero party customer data from customer experience
After Google has published plans to completely eliminate third-party cookie tracking in the next few years, other browsers followed suit. Add to that Apple’s recent changes in its Identifier for Advertisers, (IDFA), the sweeping privacy legislation: the way marketers communicate with consumers is undergoing a radical transformation. The 2021 Digital Consumer Trends Index polled more...
Clubhouse Data Leak
If you are not on clubhouse, chances are high that your phone number is. The clubhouse app makes use of a wide spread matching technique: upload the contact data of the users to the servers and search for matches. Clubhouse is not alone: messengers like WhatsApp or Signal use the very same approach. This let’s...
Whatsapp doesn’t want to lock users out
After WhatsApp changed its data privacy rules there was a lot of critisism the way Facebook tried to push users to accept them. Those who do not agree to the new terms and conditions would experience a gradually limited service. After a pushback, Facebook changed its approach again. Users who do not agree to the...
Initial IDFA Apocalypse Tidbits
Apple’s iOS 14.5 update requires apps to show users a prompt asking for their consent before tracking them across other apps and websites. It’s called App Tracking Transparency or ATT and has caused a considerable uproar of the online advertising community and juggernauts like Facebook. After the roll-out of Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, initial numbers...
Was bedeutet die neue WhatsApp Datenschutzrichtlinie für mich?
Fast alle Apps aktualisieren regelmäßig ihre Nutzungsbedingungen, aber selten hat eine derartige Änderung für soviel Aufregung wie die neue WhatsApp-Datenschutzrichtlinie gesorgt. Was ist an der Datenschutzrichtlinie bemerkenswert? Facebook gibt zum ersten Mal offen Details über die Erfassung und Speicherung von Benutzerdaten preis. Ihre Chats sind zwar nach wie vor End-to-End verschlüsselt, jedoch wertet Facebook eine...
What does the new WhatsApp privacy policy mean for me?
Almost all apps regularly update their terms of use, but rarely has such a change caused as much excitement as the new WhatsApp privacy policy. What is remarkable about the privacy policy? For the first time, Facebook is openly revealing details about the collection and storage of user data. Your chats are still end-to-end encrypted,...
I know who you are talking to
If you’re a WhatsApp user – like 2 billion others on the planet – your online status can be queried by third parties. This happens without you noticing anything. All that it takes is your phone number. Your online status is a source of information An investigation by Traced shows how online tools can be...
How Location Pings are used to identify People storming the US Capitol
It was shocking when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. In the aftermath of this event, data (mostly pictures and videos) from the social network Parler was used to create timelines for the activities of individuals and ultimately to identify them. But now another data set has emerged from a different source...
