I get nervous about privacy and its abuse. Particularly following reports exposing of the activities of companies such as Google and Rapleaf.
Now what is interesting is that if you think that cookies can be abused, then wait till you understand about those fun iPhone and Google Android applets.
The word "leak" and its derivations have had new meaning added since the Wikileaks scandals of late. But it seems that there is so much data leaking out about us that we should really start paying attention. Just because you are lazy, does not necessarily mean you should not care.
The good news is that it seems companies do care – well, at least they think about it. Check out this chart from eMarketer - it shows that, at least in the US, companies think that it will limit spending.
However, when we get into small aperture devices such third party services on iPhones and Android phones, companies are not so concerned and, in many cases, outright abusive.
They roften rarely even bother with pesky things such as privacy policies and implied consent.
The Wall Street Journal did a study of 100 apps from iPhone and Android. The results are very worrying.
The majority have little or no privacy policy. The majority are also leaking your data overtly to others.
How do they do it?
In both devices there is a specific cookie-like element called a PhoneID. This phone ID is unique to the device and attached to your personal data such as your phone number and your personal details from the phone company. However, UNLIKE cookies, you CANNOT delete the PhoneID - it is hardcoded.
And companies such as Groupon, according to the WSJ story, are taking advantage of this and transmitting the information they know about you freely to partners without your express permission. I would hazard a guess that fewer than 5% of the population knows this exists and even less consider its impact.
Some innocuous apps are giving very explicit data about you – for example Text+4 pushes out your phone number, age, sex and zipcode. Another (gay-targeted app) Grinder also puts out personal information.
So next time you think that nice new iPhone is innocuous. Think again.
Here is the WSJ clip: