Do Shopping Apps Invade Your Privacy?
Online shopping ranks as one of the most common activities for many people. It’s convenient, easy, and allows us to buy items from the comfort of our homes. However, with the rise of online shopping, concerns about privacy and security rise as well.
Not all shopping apps are created equal. Often, people get excited to buy something, so install an app without checking privacy practices. Apps often collect more data from your smartphone than you realize. Whether you use your phone for personal use, business use, or both, your data can be at risk. So can your privacy.
Shady Data Collection Practices from Popular Shopping App SHEIN
Recently, security experts caught a popular shopping app spying on users’ copy-and-paste activity. This app was tracking users’ keystrokes, screenshots, and even their GPS location. This discovery raises the question: is your online shopping app invading your privacy?
SHEIN is the app in question, a popular shopping app with millions of users. According to reports, researchers found the app collecting data from users’ clipboards. This data included any text that users copied and pasted. If the user copied and pasted sensitive information, the app would have access to it. Sensitive information includes things like usernames, passwords, or credit card numbers.
Not only that, but the app was also found to be tracking users’ GPS location. SHEIN collected data from device sensors, including the accelerometer and gyroscope. The app was able to track users’ movements and collect information about how they were using their device.
The app’s developers claimed that the data collection was for “optimizing user experience.” Well, that’s a very vague explanation often used by other app developers too often. Of course, developers stated that the collected data was only used for internal purposes. This explanation wasn’t enough to please privacy experts who raised concerns about the app’s data collection practices.
Temu Data Collection Practices Questioned
This isn’t the first time people caught an app grabbing data without users’ knowledge or real consent. Many popular apps collect data from their users, usually for targeted advertising purposes.
The popularity of the shopping app Temu exploded recently. Since the app appeared in a Superbowl Ad in 2023, people flocked to it.
But Temu is another shopping app with questionable data collection practices. Some of the data that Temu collects includes:
- Your name, address, phone number
- Details you enter, like birthday, photo, and social profiles
- Your phone’s operating system and version
- Your IPS address and GPS location (if enabled)
- Your browsing data
What can you do to protect your privacy when using online shopping apps? Read on for a few tips.
Tips to Protect Your Privacy When Using Shopping Apps
Know What You’re Getting Into (Read the Privacy Policy)
Yes, we know it’s hard to stop and read a long privacy policy when you just want to use an app. However, if you don’t, you could end up sharing a lot more than you realize.
Before downloading an app, always read its privacy policy. Doing so gives you an idea of what data the app takes and how it’s used. You can try searching keywords like “collect” and “your data” to save time. This can help you jump through the long document to data collection details.
If you do this before you download and install, you may change your mind. After learning how much data the app collects from you, you may decide it just isn’t worth it.
Turn Off Sharing Features
Turn off any data-sharing features you don’t need in your phone’s settings. These include location services. Most smartphones allow you to choose which apps you want to use data sharing features with.
Explore both your phone settings and the app’s settings to restrict data sharing as much as possible.
Remove Apps You Don’t Use
If you’re not using the app regularly, remove it from your phone. Having unused apps on your phone is a big risk. Even if they’re not actively in use, those apps often still collect data. For example, apps often look for browsing activity or your activity in other mobile apps.
Research Apps Before You Download
It’s easy to get caught up in a fad. You hear your friend or co-workers talk about an app, and you want to check it out. It always pays to research before you download. Look up the app’s details and reviews online to check security and data collection keywords. Inform yourself before downloading an app that might be compromising your device data and activity.
Shop on a Website Instead
You can seriously limit the dangerous data collection of shopping apps by using a website instead. Most legitimate companies have an official website where you can buy the same things as you can buy using the app.
Improve Your Mobile Device Security
Mobile devices are regularly used more than computers these days. Unfortunately they often lack the same type of security. Look for mobile device security from known companies with good ratings to improve your smartphone’s security.
Why Is This Published By A Business Phone Company?
Here at NoContractVoIP, we believe that your success creates our success. And, since we specialize in business communication, we work to help you communicate better while staying safe. We create the cutting edge communication systems that modern companies need. And we geek out on tech stuff, so we study it for you.
To talk to a business phone system specialist and never worry about any of this again, call 866-550-0005 or contact us today.
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This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.