Using tracking information to tailor ads is the norm everywhere, but unfortunately not many people are aware that this is happening. To be fair, this behavior is not just about DoorDash alone. It is also using trackers from Facebook and Google for ads, meaning the two companies know everytime you open the app.
Some are used to diagnose app behavior to improve performance, while others analyze usage patterns to serve targeted ads.ĭoorDash’s app, for example, was found using nine different trackers to gather details from your phone - device name, model, ad identifier, memory size, accelerometer data, delivery address, name, email, and cellular phone carrier - to help identify fraud. Privacy concerns with app trackersĪpp trackers aren’t inherently bad. In all, the Washington Post encountered over 5,400 trackers during a week-long testing. The list of offending apps include: Microsoft OneDrive, Mint, Nike, Doordash, Spotify, Yelp, The Weather Channel, Citizen, and The Washington Post’s own iOS app.Ĭitizen was found to be sharing personally identifiable information that was in violation of its published privacy policy (it removed the tracker after the Washington Post contacted them), and Yelp was sending a message containing IP addresses every five minutes, a behavior the company later acknowledged was a bug. At 6:25 a.m., a tracker called Demdex received a way to identify my phone and sent back a list of other trackers to pair up with. At 3:58 a.m., another called Appboy got a digital fingerprint of my phone. At 11:43 p.m., a company called Amplitude learned my phone number, email and exact location. On a recent Monday night, a dozen marketing companies, research firms and other personal data guzzlers got reports from my iPhone. Using Disconnect’s Privacy Pro app, the Washington Post found that apps were sending details like phone number, email, exact location, IP address, and more.
But the frequency with which the apps send data back to tracking companies is quite alarming, as is the kind of data shared. It’s no surprise that third-party apps use trackers to gather all sorts of analytics.
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