Free Android apps connect to thousands of tracking and ad URLs, research shows

Worst offenders include volume-control app that connects to 2,000 websites for advertising and tracking websites, according to France's Eurecom

The average free Android app silently connects to more than 100 different web addresses to serve adverts and track users, according to a paper from French research institute Eurecom.

The worst offenders found on the Google Play store connect to orders of magnitude of up to 20 times more sites. One app that does nothing more than control volume "connects to almost 2,000 distinct URLs" when it's booted up on a phone.