These Android Apps Collect The Most Data From Users

Smartphone applications require permissions in order to be able to access other parts of the device, like the onboard storage, camera and even the address book in some cases. Sure users are told what permissions they have to agree to but its rarely explained why such permissions are required for the app to work. There have been cases of apps requesting permissions unnecessarily so privacy advocates tend to keep an eye out for such reports. The folks at Vocativ have put together an infographic showing the Android apps that collect the most data from users.

In the infographic Vocativ displays a list of most common permissions that popular Android applications request from users when they’re installed for the very first time. Vocativ says that this is basically a “barometer of what app makers think they can get away with.”

For this infographic Vocativ took certain aspects into account apart from the general permissions that each app requires, like whether the application also wanted access to address books, call logs, text messages and the device’s microphone.

Top of the list is an app called AntiVirus Security which requires 44 different permissions, including access to contacts, text messages and call logs. Viber comes in second with contacts, text messages, microphone and call log but it needs all of that for some of its basic features to work, like voice calling and instant messaging.

Not all apps are siphoning off data without users knowing but there have been several cases where this has happened. Path got fined $800,000 for doing something similar, it was uploading the entire address book off of users’ smartphones to find friends, so clearly there’s a fine line here.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, Apps