A recent study by database experts at SQL Server Consulting found that designers of online games and other applications include programming to collect and share users’ personal information (Image courtesy of Aalto University on Facebook).
ALPHARETTA, GA – In the past year, Utah has practically declared war on social media giants, including TiKToK, Facebook and Instagram.
But a recent study by database experts at SQL Server Consulting suggest that those applications are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to data sharing.
The new research analyzed which downloaded applications are giving away their users’ personal information.
Data sharing was one of the reasons for the early October 2023 lawsuit brought by Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General Sean Reyes against TikTok.
TikTok is owned and operated by ByteDance, a company headquartered in China. Utah officials say that Chinese national security laws allow the Chinese government to compel companies based in China to provide it with data, which may include personal data, intellectual property and proprietary information of users in the United States and Utah.
Giving the devil its due, however, TikTok only shares four sets of information with third parties on a regular basis, including names, photos and videos, audio and application activity, the database researchers found.
Facebook and Instagram, both named in another Utah lawsuit later in October, were found to only share two sets of information on a routine basis.
Other applications share up to as many as eight sets of information.
The worst culprit in terms of data sharing is Picart AI Photo Editor, an image enhancing and video editing application distributed by Apple. Athough not as well-known as other applications, Picart AI has more than a billion downloads worldwide.
On a regular basis, according to the recent study, Picart AI shares eight different sets of data with third parties, including users’ locations; names and e-mail addresses; photos and videos; audio files; files and documents; app activity; and, other app information.
The study by SQL Server Consulting found that the music streaming giant Spotify was another of the apps that collects and shares information with third parties.
Spotify has more than 100 million users in the United States and was found to share data on its users’ locations, personal information and device identifications.
“These results emphasize the importance of user vigilance and informed decision-making regarding app usage,” according to a spokesperson for SQL Server Consulting. “They also highlight the need for continued scrutiny and regulation within the digital landscape.”
The study was conducted by analyzing the 65 most downloaded applications from the Google Play Store website and ranking them according to how many data sets they listed as sharing with third parties.
Other applications that routinely share with third parties were Amazon Shopping (six sets of information, including personal information, financial information, health information, photos, videos, application activity and devise identifies); Roblox and Candy Crush Saga (both online games); Alibaba.com (a business-to-business application); HP Print Service; Messenger (a Facebook application); Threads (an Instagram application); Dropbox; and many others.
“The fact that these applications have collectively been downloaded billions of times and are used daily,” the SQL spokesman explains, “does raise questions as to whether people know just how much of their own, personal data has been shared with third parties.”
The full study by SQL Server Consulting experts can be found by going online tohttps://red9.com/services/sql-server-consulting/.