Education apps are sending your location data and personal info to advertisers
It's a back-to-school sale on your data.
With the coronavirus pandemic pushing schools online out of public health concerns, parents and teachers are turning to digital alternatives like apps to bridge the virtual gap. While kids can learn via these apps, hundreds of advertisers are learning about them, too.
Researchers from the International Digital Accountability Council looked at 496 education apps across 22 countries, finding privacy issues with many of these services. Several apps were providing location data to third-party advertisers, and also collected device identifiers that can't be reset unless you buy a new phone.
While the majority of apps examined in the report met privacy standards, the scale of data collection discovered raised alarms about the nature of education apps.
Researchers found that 79 out of 123 apps manually tested were sharing user data with third parties. That data going to advertisers could include your name, email address, location data and device ID. The study also found that more than 140 third-party companies were getting data from ed tech apps, the majority of which went to Facebook, followed by Google.
Security researchers often find privacy issues with apps, many of which harvest data from devices even when you don't give consent.
Even if you do give permission, the data is often shared with multiple third parties that use the data in their own ways. You may allow your weather app to get your location for accurate forecasts, but that app's data partners can use it for advertising or law enforcement purposes.
App creators often also use software development kits, or SDKs, as shortcuts rather than making their software from scratch, which can also lead to data-stealing schemes.
Security researchers will analyze network traffic and examine code on apps to figure out where the data is going, but the average person shouldn't be expected to learn this skill to protect their privacy.
These privacy concerns are common across apps, but it's a bigger issue among education apps since the majority of people using them are children. Education apps CONTINUE READING: Education apps are sending your location data and personal info to advertisers - CNET