More than 1,000 Android apps harvest your data, researchers have discovered, even if you deny them permission to do so. This is a sobering thought at a time when companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon are under the microscope for their privacy and security policies. Studies have shown that apps with no permissions are able to piggyback off other apps you’ve given permissions to. According to the researchers’ findings, these apps can even gather data from your Wi-Fi connections.
If you’ve seen ads on apps or in your browser for items you looked up in a completely different app, you might notice some of this data-harvesting at work. Google addresses the privacy issue in Android Q, its OS update for Android phones, which is coming later this year.
