An evaluation of the Wall Street Journal suggests how many popular apps pass on sensitive facts to the Facebook group. This is ready health information on coronary heart rate, weight or menstruation. But additionally saved costs for rental searches are blanketed. The newshounds used a software program to have a look at which facts are surpassed directly to 70 famous apps from the Apple Store.
Eleven of those have been given touchy records. In many cases, this occurred without the customers being knowledgeable. Often there has been no manner to prevent the records transfer. According to the record, experts said that this practice in Europe may want to violate the Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Also affected are customers who have no Facebook account at all. The information will be shared through a developer interface designed to enable customized Facebook advertising.
Against the phrases and conditions
An instance of this is the app Flo, with which ladies can document their menstrual cycles. If a consumer enters statistics, the app sends a facts packet to Facebook. According to the file, it carries data approximately each the tool the user hooked up the app on and the statistics that Flo collects, together with the user’s ovulation. Such information Facebook can connect amongst different things with present user profiles.
A spokeswoman for the employer informed the Wall Street Journal that the app companies would violate the terms and situations with this exercise. These might restrict sending “health or financial facts or different types of sensitive information” to Facebook. The organization has therefore informed the affected app carriers to stop sharing such information. If they do now not persist with it, Facebook will take similarly motion.
Facebook is underneath strain
In the beyond, comparable critiques had already been made, showing how one-of-a-kind apps share facts with Facebook. The Wall Street Journal’s file continues to be problematic for Facebook. Because the corporation changed into criticized more and more violently due to its handling of person data. Authorities in the US look at due to the fact Facebook granted the coverage data organization Cambridge Analytica get entry to the statistics of millions of users.
In Germany, the Bundeskartellamt prohibited Facebook at the start of February from merging the records from diverse resources inside the person Facebook debts in Germany without the express consent of the users. It’s all about corporate subsidiaries which include Whatsapp or Instagram, in addition to websites and apps of other operators.
