A worldwide study has suggested that there are considerable privacy gaps present in most applications.
Recently, a global study that was conducted on the type of mobile security that has been worked into apps in order to help to protect the privacy of the user, and it determined that the typical application is coming up short.
The study was commissioned by the UK Information Commissioners Office (CIO).
What the ICO study discovered was that 85 percent of the apps that were examined did not have adequate mobile security to protect personal information that they collect. They take the data from the users but they do not properly provide an explanation of why it is needed or what they intend to do with it. This has been an issue that has existed nearly as long as mobile apps, and is generating an increasing amount of attention as individuals, businesses, and governments deal with rising concerns with regards to ID theft, data breaches, and privacy as a whole.
The mobile security survey was conducted by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN).
This research looked into 1,211 mobile apps and examined the ways in which they shared private information. The various applications were categorized geographically. The UK ICO took a specific look at fifty apps that had been locally produced. What they discovered was not promising for people who have concerns over their mobile privacy.
They discovered that 85 percent of the applications that were examined for the study had not managed to “clearly explain how they were collecting, using and disclosing personal information.” Furthermore, another 59 percent of the apps hid their privacy policies, meaning that it was challenging for users to be able to find it, let alone understand what it meant.
According to Simon Rice, a group manager for technology at the ICO, when discussing the results of this mobile security study, “Apps are becoming central to our lives, so it is important we understand how they work and what they are doing with our information. Today’s results show that many app developers are still failing to provide this information in a way that is clear and understandable to the average consumer.”
