Privacy

788 readers

139 users here now

Protect your privacy in the digital world

Welcome! This is a community for all those who are interested in protecting their privacy.

Rules

PS: Don't be a smartass and try to game the system, we'll know if you're breaking the rules when we see it!

Be nice, civil and no bigotry/prejudice.
No tankies/alt-right fascists. The former can be tolerated but the latter are banned.
Stay on topic.
Don't promote proprietary software.
No crypto, blockchain, etc.
No Xitter links. (only allowed when can't fact check any other way, use xcancel)
If in doubt, read rule 1

Related communities:

founded 3 months ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

107

Time to Delete? The Most Invasive Apps List Includes Some of Your Favorites (www.pcmag.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

41 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

So my understanding is that

apps can let them collect a lot more data than the website version. Apps have access to a bunch of device APIs, they might be running all the time vs a website tab that you close afterwards, etc.
you just open a link vs. logging in through the play store

On top of that if you want to lock down further, it's easier to use a privacy respecting browser than it is to sandbox the apps to. For the average person it's easier to go from using the app to opening the website in a browser, than it is to swap their OS to GrapheneOS and set up sandboxing

That's also why a lot of websites mess with the mobile site, they want you to use the app

[–] trolololol 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I can tell you exactly what data an app can connect since I'm an android developer, but not web since I can't dev JavaScript. My understanding is that the gap is quite small.

About "always running" that's a complicated scenario and that's not the best way to put into layman terms. And it has improved heaps in the last 5 years, gradually.

Marketers love these apps because they could send you notifications, " reminding" you that you've not being using the app enough and driving "engagement". There's heaps of companies whose main or only product is give marketers a dashboard to send push with pre sets targeting user profiles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Good to know, thank you!