Yahoo News Facebook ‘sucks up data’ from apps such as Tinder and Grindr on people’s phones
Some phone apps contain information we’d rather keep to ourselves – like dating apps such as Curvy, Tinder or Grindr, or apps to help with depression such as Moodpath.
But Facebook has been hoovering up data from these apps, according to German security experts MobilSicher.
The researchers found that apps including Pregnancy+ and MigraineBuddy, Bible+ and Muslim Pro were collecting information and transmitting it to Facebook.
The apps all use Facebook’s Software Developer Kit (SDK), which allows developers to use Facebook’s analytics service.
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The researchers tested the Android versions of apps which were available on 29th November 2018 in the Play Store.
The names of users are not transmitted along with the data, but MobileSicher claim that it’s attached to a Facebook advertising ID and used to transmit adverts.
MobileSicher said, ‘Not even half of [these apps] mention Facebook Analytics in their privacy policy. Strictly speaking, none of them is GDPR-compliant, since the transmission starts before any user interaction could indicate informed consent.’
Facebook said in a comment to Buzzfeed that it did not collect data on non-Facebook users.
The researchers suggest that people who use these apps (and perhaps want to keep this private) will see adverts relating to the apps.
