Top 20+ apps you share your data with without second thought
No one should be surprised that Facebook shares our data, but the extent is definitely shocking. A 2024 Consumer Reports study revealed each participant had their personal data sent to Facebook by 2,230 companies. It also found significant issues with parent company Meta’s transparency tools.
Instagram has been at or near the top of many “most invasive apps” for years. It tracks the posts, accounts and ads you interact with and can also track your location and preferences, which it shares with third parties for targeted advertising, as well as to curate your feed.
Messenger
The third straight Meta app on this list, Messenger collects a staggering amount of personal data, including purchase history, location and search history. Pro tip: use Signal if you need a messaging app.
Gmail
Given Google’s dominance of the search engine market (sorry, Bing), it stands to reason that all of its various apps, including Gmail, collect a pile of personal data. Whether it’s location, browsing history, payment info or literally every email you’ve ever sent, Google’s got it.
Spotify
We all love finding or creating the perfect playlist, and Spotify uses that to its advantage. It tracks what you’re listening to, the time of day you’re listening, and your musical preferences and sells the info to third-party advertisers. And yes, that includes your annual Spotify Wrapped.
Whenever LinkedIn isn’t telling you about your friend’s new job, it’s using member data for targeted advertising. It can (and does) share that with its parent company Microsoft, as well as third parties. LinkedIn was already burned with a lawsuit in 2015 for similar practices.
PayPal
How many of us read the privacy policy of the apps we download? Be honest. If you did, you’d know that PayPal clearly says it can use personal data for marketing purposes. It also collects GPS and IP address location data, which can reveal a lot about where you spend your money.
YouTube
When watching one or two YouTube videos on a topic results in a barrage of similar suggested videos, that should be a clear sign of what’s going on here. Google collects a wide range of data based on your usage, so it’s key to have a look at your settings to control what is shared.
eBay
The April 2024 update of eBay’s Privacy & Data Sharing Policy includes that it may disclose buyer and seller data to both third-party affiliates as well as other users to facilitate transactions. It claims that all the data it collects is publicly available online, but that’s tough to prove.
Amazon
Amazon’s data track record is shaky at best. In 2021, it was given an US$888-million penalty for breaking data privacy laws. Amazon collects a ton of users’ purchase information, and can access everything from click history to product reviews to wishlists to even Alexa conversations.
Temu
The Chinese-owned digital marketplace Temu has a number of red flags that users should be aware of. First of all, it’s only got single-layer security. Moreover, Temu shares your personal data with shipping affiliates, marketing providers, and consumer research companies.
TikTok
On the surface, TikTok is much like any other app in terms of the data it collects: contact info, browsing history and clipboard contents, as well as possibly keylogging and tracking pixel activities. But the chance that the Chinese government could abuse that is what is worrisome.
DoorDash
DoorDash has already been caught with its hand in the cookie jar regarding shady practices with personal data. In 2024, the food delivery service paid a US$375,000 civil penalty in California for selling user info to other companies without notice or providing a chance to opt out.
Airbnb
Airbnb guests have to follow a lot of rules, but it doesn’t seem the company is too interested in following data-sharing protocols, especially involving China. A 2020 SEC filing revealed it has shared info with Chinese authorities since 2016, and a top exec resigned in 2019 as a result.
MyFitnessPal
Popular health app MyFitnessPal has some questionable sections to its privacy policy. It states that they obtain data from third-party sources for marketing and advertising, and that almost certainly means data aggregators creating user profiles out of that information.
Duolingo
How do you say “data-hungry” in another language? Not only did 2.6 million Duolingo users get their info exposed in a 2023 hacking incident, but it was revealed that Duolingo uses 13 of 19 collected data points for tracking, four times the average of any other language learning app.
Robinhood
Investment platform Robinhood apparently has little interest in “stealing from the rich and giving to the poor” when it comes to personal data. While it doesn’t charge a commission for stock trades, it does sell customer transaction information to third parties, executing the trades in exchange for the data.
Tinder
You might have a preferred dating app, but did you know you’re essentially giving almost all of them your data? Match Group is the parent company of at least 45 different dating sites, so whatever user data is collected and sold to advertisers on one is done so on all the others.
AccuWeather
Even a simple weather app is after your data. AccuWeather got busted in 2017 for tracking and sharing user data, even after users opted out. AccuWeather claimed innocence, but it was hard to believe since its CEO had lobbied to gain a competitive edge over national weather services.
Square
A 2022 study revealed that payment processing app Square is second only to PayPal in the finance and accounting sector in terms of personal data collection. Square tracks a whopping 22 data segments, including financial info, user content, and general contact information.
