>In this paper, we present a study of 24k Android and iOS apps from 2020 along several dimensions relating to user privacy.
>We find that third-party tracking and the sharing of unique user identifiers was widespread in apps from both ecosystems, even in apps aimed at children. In the children's category, iOS apps used much fewer advertising-related tracking than their Android counterparts, but could more often access children's location (by a factor of 7).
>Overall, we find that neither platform is clearly better than the other for privacy across the dimensions we studied.
Well, here's a novel idea: don't get children their own smartphones, uninstall/disable all apps bar the essentials, and keep your own usage to the bare minimum.
This is like saying the solution to widespread obesity is to tell people to eat better. Kids use phones / tablets for many reasons and most of them are real
(e.g. keep in touch with parents, travel using services like Uber, communications and other school apps, etc.) — the platform needs to protect people because it’s unrealistic to expect individual choices to hold up against massive industry.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to adopt a bunker mentality on this. iPhones, Pixels, Samsung flagships, etc are fantastic devices that offer incredibly useful and powerful features. For most people giving that up for improved privacy in't a worthwhile tradeoff.
That does not in any way mean any of this tracking is ok or acceptable. It means we need to keep up the public pressure and technical vigilance to publicise this issue, and try and get the industry and legislators/regulators moving in the right direction.
>We find that third-party tracking and the sharing of unique user identifiers was widespread in apps from both ecosystems, even in apps aimed at children. In the children's category, iOS apps used much fewer advertising-related tracking than their Android counterparts, but could more often access children's location (by a factor of 7).
>Overall, we find that neither platform is clearly better than the other for privacy across the dimensions we studied.
Well, here's a novel idea: don't get children their own smartphones, uninstall/disable all apps bar the essentials, and keep your own usage to the bare minimum.