Tired of Google Spying on Users? It’s Only Just Beginning

It’s time to learn just how much your Google Chrome browser “knows” about you.

As part of a new privacy policy from Apple, app developers are now required to disclose what personal information they collect and have tied to your identity. While the change came into effect on December 8, 2020, Google has been stalling for time. After a lack of iOS updates for months, many speculated the halt had been due to a reluctance on the tech giant’s part to admit just how much data they were extracting from users.

The implementation of these “privacy nutrition labels” are great for users, as they allow transparency and choice in determining which apps have collection policies you approve of. As far as invasive apps are concerned, an analysis done by pCloud shows that 52% of apps share user data with third-parties, and 80% of apps use collected data to market their products and place targeted ads on other platforms.

Large corporations including Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google are coming under fire lately for their mass marketing power and collection of sensitive information. In retaliation to a newly passed Australian law, Facebook even shut down news outlet pages in Australia from being seen. Some of the information blocked included government agencies, public health pages, among others.

From a cybersecurity and privacy perspective, it’s a bit concerning that we’re only now seeing how invasive these tactics are. While it may not be the first thing you think of, companies having access to this amount of data increases the risk of damage to you. Cyber threats like data breaches, cyber attacks, identity theft and other forms of social engineering can create a higher risk to you if the company has lapses in their cybersecurity.

At the end of the day, you should always take the opportunity to check into what data is being collected on you and for what purpose. Blindly downloading apps can be a real security risk.

Remember to use multi-factor authentication, change your passwords often, and stay on top of your account activity in order to minimize risk to your personal information.