iPhone discovered to be sending personal information to tracking companies via apps
Apple is one of those companies who is regarded as the best company when it comes to security and privacy. We also know that iPhones are believed to be
Apple is one of those companies who is regarded as the best company when it comes to security and privacy. We also know that iPhones are believed to be the best when it comes to privacy. This is unlike Android smartphones which are regarded as the worst in terms of privacy. However, we now have a report which suggests that even iPhones are vulnerable if you are someone who is concerned about privacy.
Yes, this report by Washington Post reveals that iPhones are found to be sending personal data to tracking companies. Now, it does not mean to say that Apple sends those data from the iPhones. Rather, this data is being sent by third-party iOS apps which are installed on your iPhones. There is a feature on iOS called “Background App Refresh”. This feature is basically there to let every app refresh in the background at specific intervals.
Now, some of the apps are using this feature to their advantage. As the app refreshes in the background, personal information is being gathered constantly. But the worrying part is that the data is then sent to tracking companies. This data involves information such as email address, phone number, location as well as other sensitive personal information.
You might think that the information is leaked out by Apple iOS apps but that is not the case. This information is leaked just by third-party iOS apps as of now. However, some of the iOS apps in this list are from some big-name companies such as Spotify, Microsoft and Yelp etc.
We do understand that tracking information is required for targetting users but to leak out the information is a privacy concern. The only thing that you can do right now is to turn off the Background App Refresh on your iPhone. For this, head over to Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Off and disable this feature
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