What They Know: Mobile App Data Tracking

The Role of Marketing and Data Collection in Mobile Applications

A significant aspect of mobile applications revolves around marketing strategies. Marketers frequently integrate tracking mechanisms within free applications to understand user device usage patterns.

The goal is to identify opportunities to offer products and services aligned with those patterns. For phone owners, this practice can raise concerns regarding the sharing of personal information with external entities, potentially without explicit permission.

Introducing What They Know

Recognizing these privacy concerns, the Wall Street Journal developed What They Know, a resource designed to shed light on mobile data practices.

What They Know undertook an analysis of the data collection practices of 101 widely used mobile applications available for both iPhone and Android smartphones.

The investigation focused on determining whether applications share user data and, if so, with whom – solely the application developer or also with third-party organizations.

Key Data Points Analyzed

The resource provides insights into whether an application transmits data related to your age, gender, username, password, contact list, phone identifier, and phone number.

Understanding what information is being shared is valuable, even if direct control over this process is limited. While avoiding app downloads is an option, most free applications employ some form of data collection.

Key Features of What They Know

Evaluates the data capture practices of 101 distinct applications.
Covers applications designed for both iPhone and Android platforms.
Assesses the sharing of age, gender, login credentials, contacts, phone ID, and phone number.
Indicates whether data is shared with the developer alone or with third parties.

You can access What They Know at blogs.wsj.com/wtk-mobile.