AccuWeather app which is widely used by iOS users has been found violating mobile security laws. Sources reporting to Cybersecurity Insiders say that the app maps the data related to user location to a data monetization firm called “revealmobile.com”.
What’s more discomforting in this whole activity is that the data share takes place, even when the user disables the app’s data sharing abilities.
The AccuWeather application usually offers to its users the information related to localized weather, temperature and about severe weather warnings. The activity takes place through coordination of the GPS coordinates on the mobile which garner with the current speed and altitude of the mobile.
During a test conducted by a researcher named Will Strafach, the AccuWeather app sent the information related to the location of the user nearly 16 times every one hour to a website called RevealMobile.com.
Reveal Mobile is a website which uses the location data of a user and monetizes that data with the help of mobile ads. The firm also keeps a tab of the user’s home and work location and the path they take on to reach their destinations. The information is then paired with the existing demographics and is passed onto the retailers to target consumers.
Reacting to the news published in Reuters on AccuWeather violation of user privacy, Reveal Mobile released a statement which states that its technology sits insider 100s of apps used across the United States. And it never shares data with retailers without the permission of the mobile user whose data is being shared.
That’s interesting….isn’t it?
