Whose apps are 'nosier': iOS or Android?

Published July 12, 2013 10:15pm

As far as privacy is concerned, this might well be a raging topic among smartphone and tablet users: whose apps are "nosier", Apple's iOS or Google's Android?

Security vendor Bitdefender decided to find out, analyzing Android and iOS applications from Google's Play Store and Apple's iTunes to see how they behave on the device.

Bitdefender's researchers also checked what information the apps could leak without the device owner's consent—or even knowledge.

The answer? It would depend on what privacy threat is being discussed. But one thing is certain: both platforms do have their share of nosy apps.

"Although iOS and Android have different security models, applications pretty much look for the same thing: personal information that can be monetized by advertisers to sustain the free application distribution model," Bitdefender said.

It said its study divided the privacy threats to location-tracking capabilities, ability to read the device's contact list, and leaking data such as the device's unique ID, phone number and e-mail address.

Categories

Bitdefender described the security risks of Android and iOS apps by categories:

Tracking location: a major concern for both Android and iOS platforms.

Bitdefender's Clueful test showed 45.41% of iOS apps have location-tracking capabilities, even if they don’t explicitly do that, as opposed to only 34.55% of Android apps.

Reading contact list: both have apps that could read the contact list.

Only 7.69% of Android apps could read the contact list, iOS apps "are much snoopier," with 18.92% of applications designed for iOS "technically able to looking into the contact list."

Leaking your email address/device ID: Apps for both can share this data with third parties, which may send consumers behaviorally targeted advertisements.

about 14.58% of Android apps may leak your Device ID and 5.73% of the total number of apps may leak your e-mail.

following security incidents in 2012 when an advertising agency leaked one million UDIDs, Apple decided to deprecate the UDID API.

Leaking your phone number:

8.82% of apps for Android might leak the device’s phone number to third-party advertisers. In some countries, carriers block this behavior to safeguard the user’s data.

'Freedom of choice'

Bitdefender also noted a major difference in Android is that it allows consumers to choose where they install their applications from - including third-party markets and directly from the developer’s website.

This runs the risk of getting malware or intrusive apps that do not pass the security mechanism of Google in the Play Store (Google Bouncer).

Old proverb

Bitdefender reminded users of an old proverb that "if you’re not paying for it, then you are the product being sold."

"The free application ecosystem is actually free for the user, but is heavily monetized by the developer. Succinctly put, the application becomes free only after the user has paid for it with his or her privacy. And the

situation is even worse, as paying for an application neither stops the private information flow, nor brings

back the information already stored on file," it said.

Worse, it said information collection takes place "without the user even being aware of what they agree with during installation." — TJD, GMA News

Tags: google, googleandroid, apple, appleios