Research: Meta collects more than three times the user data of Apple and Microsoft

New research from cybersecurity company Surfshark has revealed striking results regarding the amount of user data collected by major technology companies in their applications. According to the study, Meta is the company with the highest average level of data collection among those examined.

The study, which covered 171 Apple App Store applications developed by Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Meta, evaluated the apps across 35 different data categories. These categories included items such as browsing history, precise location information, and purchase data.

According to the results, Meta applications collect an average of 25 out of the 35 possible data types. This rate was recorded as more than three times the average number of data types collected by competitors such as Microsoft and Apple.

GOOGLE'S NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS STANDS OUT

The research indicated that Google's applications collect an average of 17 data types, Amazon's 12, Microsoft's 8, and Apple's 7. However, the fact that 29 of the 40 applications with a high "data appetite" belong to Google drew particular attention due to the company's vast application ecosystem. In the same list, Meta had 9 applications and Amazon had 2.

On the Meta front, the most intrusive applications were identified as Facebook, Messenger, and Meta AI, as well as Meta Horizon, Meta Ads Manager, Meta Business Suite, and Forum. Among non-Meta applications, Amazon Alexa was reported to be the app that collects the most data types, with 28 categories.

The study stated that Apple and Microsoft collect more limited data in different categories. For example, while Apple's 13 utility applications collect an average of 6 data types, this number rises to 17 for Google's applications in the same category.

News Source: 12punto