Facebook, Instagram and Dating Apps Grab the Most Personal User Data

In a new study ( it looked at 48 popular apps across various sectors and ascertains which permissions they asked consumers for in their terms and conditions and privacy agreements. ) that shocks no one, finds that Facebook and dating apps collect the most personal information about users, though a wide range of apps are collecting more data than one would expect.

The study, conducted by London-based cybersecurity firm Clario, found that

• Facebook collects more than 70% of all the information it can legally collect. Second on the list is Facebook’s Instagram app, which collects more than 58% of all available data — including info like hobbies, height, weight and sexual orientation.
• The next most grabby services were dating apps Tinder and Grindr, with Tinder collecting 56% of such info, including the details you’d expect a dating site to know, but also stuff you might not think of, such as whether you own a pet.
• Retail sites, even Amazon, explicitly collected less info than many other apps. But of course, they get lots of data from what you browse and buy — information they can use to infer all kinds of other data.

Wonder where Google sites on that chat? They just collect data from the Android OS level, they don’t need to ask for pesky user permissions. ?‍♂️