Anyone looking to start the new year with fitness apps should be careful. Some of the available samples are overly curious.
Fitness apps are very popular. They are designed to motivate you while you train and document your progress. However, using them also carries unexpected risks, especially when it comes to data protection. Some apps collect a shocking amount of personal information, which on closer inspection may be reason enough to delete these apps.
Uninstall a fitness app? These reasons speak for
Various fitness apps as part of its AppCheck program . The StepsApp pedometer (StepsApp), the weight loss fitness by Verv (Verv Inc) and Yoga for Beginners – Slimming (mEL Studio) were particularly negatively marked. So uninstalling the three apps again may be a reasonable solution.
The key problem is the built-in trackers: the StepsApp pedometer has no less than 15 of them, while Fitness for weight loss and Yoga for beginners have 13 each. As experts explain, the installation files contained links to third-party software modules. These modules ensure that the apps establish connections to multiple other providers while running.
The third-party providers discovered include data brokers, analytics tools, location services and identity providers. This, of course, includes big-name data giants like Amazon, Facebook and Google. This raises important questions in terms of data protection law, which should encourage users to consider deleting such apps.
Fitness apps considered:
- StepsApp (StepsApp) pedometer – Quick Test
- Slimming Fitness by Verv – Quick Test
- Yoga for Beginners – Weight Loss – Quick Test
Discreet access: what else fitness apps want to know about you
In addition to trackers, apps require extensive access rights: from nine to 13 each, including numerous permissions that do not require user consent. The Google Play store provides detailed information about what data these apps collect and share. This includes data such as app activity, financial data, as well as device IDs and other data.
Interestingly, the Play Store states that all three fitness apps “do not share data with third-party companies or organizations.” This contradicts the opinion of Mobilsicher experts. Someone who places a high value on data protection might see this as a reason to delete the apps.
What is deceptive is that despite the worrying aspects of data protection, fitness apps are very popular. All three apps have been downloaded between one and more than 10 million times and have been rated between 3.8 and 4.6 out of five stars on the Play Store alone. But especially with such popular apps, it pays to be more careful about privacy and data security.
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