Sex Lives Of App Users 'Shared With Facebook'
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Intimate data, including when people have had sex, is being shared with Facebook, a study from Privacy International has suggested.
It included details such as what contraception was used, when periods were due and the type of symptoms experienced.
Since the investigation, one app said it was changing its privacy policies.
Menstruation apps collect some of the most intimate data imaginable - from general health, to information about sex, moods, what the user eats, drinks and even what sanitary products she uses.
In exchange for this, the app will offer the user the dates of the month she is most fertile or when to expect her next period.
Sharing to Facebook happens via the social network's software development kit (SDK), tools that can be used by apps to help them make money by reaching advertisers who, in turn, provide users with personalised ads.
PI found the most popular apps in this category - Period Tracker, Period Track Flo and Clue Period Tracker did not share data with Facebook.
But others - such as Maya by Plackal Tech (which has 5 million downloads on Google Play), MIA by Mobapp Development Limited (1 million downloads) and My Period Tracker by Linchpin Health (more than 1 million downloads) - did.
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