An article on TechCrunch exposed that many popular apps on iPhone were secretly screen recording its users while using the app. It should be noted, the software used to screen record is also being used on Android Apps. Not only was it recording what the users clicked on, but it also recorded passport information and credit card info! Making thins worse, these apps were doing this without disclosing and without permission! Some of the apps named are Expedia, Hotels.com, Singapore Airlines, Ambercrombie & Fitch, Air Canada, and more.
Via TecCrunch
You can assume that most apps are collecting data on you. Some even monetize your data without your knowledge. But TechCrunch has found several popular iPhone apps, from hoteliers, travel sites, airlines, cell phone carriers, banks and financiers, that don’t ask or make it clear — if at all — that they know exactly how you’re using their apps.
Worse, even though these apps are meant to mask certain fields, some inadvertently expose sensitive data.
Apps like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hotels.com and Singapore Airlines also use Glassbox, a customer experience analytics firm, one of a handful of companies that allows developers to embed “session replay” technology into their apps. These session replays let app developers record the screen and play them back to see how its users interacted with the app to figure out if something didn’t work or if there was an error. Every tap, button push and keyboard entry is recorded — effectively screenshotted — and sent back to the app developers.
Or, as Glassbox said in a recent tweet : “Imagine if your website or mobile app could see exactly what your customers do in real time, and why they did it?”
The App Analyst, a mobile expert who writes about his analyses of popular apps on his eponymous blog, recently found Air Canada’s iPhone app wasn’t properly masking the session replays when they were sent, exposing passport numbers and credit card data in each replay session. Just weeks earlier, Air Canada said its app had a data breach , exposing 20,000 profiles.
Since learning of this, Apple has now threatend to remove these apps from the app store if they do not stop screen recording.
Via TecCrunch
Apple is telling app developers to remove or properly disclose their use of analytics code that allows them to record how a user interacts with their iPhone apps — or face removal from the app store, TechCrunch can confirm.
In an email, an Apple spokesperson said: “Protecting user privacy is paramount in the Apple ecosystem. Our App Store Review Guidelines require that apps request explicit user consent and provide a clear visual indication when recording, logging, or otherwise making a record of user activity.”
“We have notified the developers that are in violation of these strict privacy terms and guidelines, and will take immediate action if necessary,” the spokesperson added.
During a time where personal information leaking is at an all time high, it may be time to delete these apps!