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Shopping and Food Delivery Apps Are Hungry for Your Data

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By Alina Bradford

Dec 19, 2023

1 min read

Surfshark’s recent study of 100 popular apps found some surprising information on how much data apps collect. One maybe not-so-surprising finding is that Amazon Shopping and Wish collect the most data out of all the shopping apps.

“Analyzing 100 popular apps on the App Store, we’ve found a concerning trend: nearly 20% of collected data is used for tracking. Such tracked data can be shared with third-party advertisers or data brokers, who use it to deliver personalized ads targeting the users, or aid companies in market research,” says Agneska Sablovskaja, lead researcher at Surfshark. “Understanding an app’s privacy policy is crucial for safeguarding digital autonomy.”

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Here are some findings from the study:

Shopping and food delivery apps, (like Amazon Shopping and Wish) are the most data-hungry apps.
On average, shopping and food delivery apps collect 21 out of 32 possible data points. 95% of those are linked to your identity.
Amazon Shopping collects the most data in its category, while Wish is #1 for linking and tracking user data.
Uber Eats collects the most data out of all the food delivery apps.
The social media sites owned by Meta, Facebook and Instagram, top the list of the most privacy-invasive.
Around half of the 100 apps collect search history and your precise location.

How do I check to see how much data my apps collect?

You can use this tool, below, to check the apps on your phone.

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Written by

Alina Bradford

Alina is a safety and security expert with over 25 years of experience. She has contributed her insights to CNET, CBS, Digital Trends, MTV, Top Ten Reviews, and many others. After testing thousands of devices, apps, services, and more, her goal is to make safety and security gadgets less mystifying one article at a time. In the early 2000s, Alina worked as a volunteer firefighter, earning her first responder certification and paving the way to her current career. Plus, she has tested hundreds of pieces of security and safety equipment over the years. Places published: CBS, MTV, CVS, Rachael Ray, eBay, Reader’s Digest, ConsumerAffairs, and more. Certifications: Fire Service Training, Oklahoma State University. Awards: Received the Experience Leader certificate from Authority, putting her “in the top 25% among the thousands of professional content creators analyzed by Authory for the Fall 2023 audit.” You can view more of Alina's work at alinabradford.com.