Your Phone Knows What You Did Last Summer.
A look into Device Fingerprinting
You left your house at 8:30, went downtown, and stayed in a building for approximately 8 hours. After work you stopped at a drug store and left after five minutes. Then you went to the Burger King around the corner from but didn’t go in, you waited in the drive through for 15 minutes got your food and went home for the night. You get home, start scrolling Facebook and see ads for a new restaurant opening downtown a random health survey from the drug store you went into and a coupon for your next visit to burger king.
We have all heard of getting your fingerprints taken but what about Device Fingerprinting?
Device Fingerprinting is when a company uses details about a device like the operating system, IP address, and the web browser which is used to identify your device out of all the others. After this information is gathered it can be used to track your activity and send you specific and targeted campaigns.
Which apps share the most about you?
Instagram: 79% personal data collected.
Facebook: 57% personal data collected.
Uber Eats: 50% personal data collected.
TikTok: 36% personal data collected.
Which means every time you open Instagram 79% of your personal data is shared with other companies. Data like, purchasing information, browsing history, and personal data. I don’t know about you but every time I open an app, I don’t want to worry about my personal information being shared to a company who sees me as a dollar sign.
There are so many companies profiting off your personal data every day. And even though it is creepy the data collected by these types of apps is legal to collect and sell since there is no formal federal privacy law.
The good news is companies like Apple and Samsung are finally listening when we say we want our privacy back.
Asking apps not to track iPhone:
1.Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking. On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > Privacy > Tracking.
2.Tap to turn off or turn on permission to track for a specific app.
Asking apps not to track Samsung:
- 1.Go to Settings > Apps > Menu App permissions > Location.
- 2.Review the list and toggle off anything that you would prefer did not have the ability to track your location.
So, the next time you’re waiting in line at the drive through or wasting time scrolling through your phone, take a couple of minutes and take your privacy back by asking your apps not to track.