Did you know Privacy Concerns Rise as Hackers Threaten to Expose Data from Top Apps Used by Millions

 

We’re all well aware of the fact that different apps collect user data. However, have you imagined what it is that these platforms do with the data collected?

Well, most use it for targeted advertising purposes while others use it to assist you in connecting with others. But wait, that’s not all. There are a host of other ways to use your personal information for some not-so-great reasons.

Some end up selling the information and in nightmare situations, they take sensitive data from a platform that was hacked. A new alarming finding shares how these apps are now threatening to publicly release all the material. The data in question will feature lists of clients, data about the industry, or any kind of history data from smartphone devices.

As published by 404Media, we can confirm that hackers are now confirming that data belonging to millions are affected. They threatened Gravy Analytics with a one-day deadline to reply or the information would be leaked. We know that they mean business after selling data belonging to kids to the American government. This was used to facilitate immigration operations across the American border.

Wired shared more details on how many notable apps were involved here and you’ll be amazed that amongst the list, you’ve certainly used more than one. The apps are found on both iOS and Android. Some of the more popular ones include Goat Simulator, Candy Crush, Bloons TD Battles, Tinder, Microsoft Outlook, MyFitnessPal, and Grindr.

For now, it’s not clear why or if all the information was sourced by the likes of Gravy alone or if any other firm purchased some of the material from other data collectors in this domain. The information appears to have come about through bidding done in real-time.

This includes those from the industry who can put out real-time bids for ads and see the devices and their IP address. Moreover, the app publishers get the chance to be more aware of firms that put out ads on the apps.

The matter is not something new. We’ve seen this kind of behavior taking place quite frequently with data sold to various corporate and government entities on a usual basis. They keep on tracking user locations to see if anyone visited any sensitive areas on the list. It could be an abortion clinic or it could be a sensitive location of the government, or any area linked to their sexual orientation or gender. In this manner, they’re tracked down easily.

Some of the information does not seem to arise from particular location points either. Instead, it comes from coarse location information attained through IP addresses. These platforms request exact location pinpoints and that’s a key finding for an app that was hijacked.

Different organizations such as Tinder or Grindr failed to reveal much on the matter. They did not have the knowledge of any links to Gravy Analytics and also shared how there was limited evidence about data collected via apps.