When we think privacy concerns what usually comes to mind is either Facebook with their messy and ever-changing privacy policies or Google with their vast amounts of user data from the many services they offer. However, a recent study by Wall Street Journal revealed that mobile apps pose a bigger threat than previously thought. Out of 101 most popular mobile apps tested, about half sent unsolicited private data, like your location, email, gender, age, your phones identifiers and  in some cases even ethnicity and sexual orientation to outsiders, usually ad networks. Those networks are in the business of passing on that data to advertisers who can target more and more precisely their potential demographic. (Un)surprisingly, the biggest online ad networks are Google, Facebook and Apple - the very same companies that provide platforms for the apps.

So what do the industry giants have to say about that? According to the Journal article, even though Apple and Google swore having impeccable privacy control systems, many of their official rules are being broken by the very apps on their platforms. The applications in the study not only tracked your behaviour inside the app but could also identify a user's name, address, email and phone ID number. Unlike on your computer, deleting your search history on a mobile phone is virtually impossible. Thus, that data is also apparently app for grabs.

So what do app makers make of it? Some claim they release data according to their privacy policy (that most users never read). Others feel pressured to release some of the data since it brings in targeted ads, which in return bring in 2-5 times more revenue. Still others lack privacy policy altogether and refused to comment. However, some developers responded to the study. At least four app makers posted privacy policy after the findings were published, Rovio Mobile being one of them. That is still less that 1% of tested apps that were found leaking private data.

Those who release private data to outsiders claim that little harm is done to the user since nothing is connected to his/her real ID number or name.  That is a fair point, though it would be easier to believe if the process was transparent and clearly explained to the user. It's the principle that matters here most.

Despite the apparent mess, there are no signs of action to regulate data sharing or prevent it from happenning. On the contraty, Apple, for instance, showed signs of targeting people more closely based on their search history, content of their media library and even based on the content of their friend's media library. Perhaps this calls for new start-ups helping users control their data sharing?

Image by charlesfettinger