Privacy risk from ads in apps rising: security firm
By Tarmo Virki | Reuters –
(Reuters) – Some advertising networks have been secretly collecting app users personal details over the past year and now have access to millions of smartphones globally, U.S.-based mobile security firm Lookout said.
These unregulated practices are on the rise, Lookout said on Monday as it unveiled the first industry guidelines on how application developers and advertisers could avoid raising consumer angst.
“Aggressive ad networks are much more prevalent than malicious applications. It is the most prevalent mobile privacy issue that exists,” Kevin Mahaffey, Lookout’s technology chief and co-founder, told Reuters in an interview.
Over 80 million apps have been downloaded which carry a form of invasive ads – used by 5 percent of all free apps on Google’s Android platform – which can take data from phones
Category: Technology
