Apps track you even after you remove them from your phone. In fact, some apps track you with targeted advertising after you uninstall them.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that many apps have built-in uninstall tracking tools. In detail, the tracking tools send data about you to developers after you remove the app.
T-Mobile, Bloomberg LP, Spotify, and Yelp use apps that track users after uninstalling them. The apps track you and keep showing you ads for the company’s products.
iPhone And Android Apps Track You After You Uninstall Them
Both iPhone and Android apps are tracking you after uninstall them. Moreover, apps track you in violation of Apple and Alphabet (Google) rules against such tracking.
Google and Apple designed their mobile phone operating systems to stop such tracking. To explain, each device has a unique advertising ID.
When you remove an app, they should remove the advertising from a developer’s system. However, many companies build “uninstall trackers” into their apps. The uninstall trackers keep following you after you remove the app.
How To Tell If Apps Track You After You Uninstall Them
Companies use the uninstall tracker to target former app users with advertising. As an illustration, Yelp can post ads for new services on web pages you visit.
If you see a lot of advertisements for an app that you removed, you are being tracked. You can tell if you are being tracked because the ads will pester you into reinstalling the app.
As an example, Spotify advertising will tell you about new songs that are available on the popular music app. In addition, Yelp advertisements will remind you of the great deals at local restaurants that their app offers.
How Apps Track You For Big Business
Apps track you because their developers can make money selling consumer data to big corporations.
In particular, entrepreneur Dr. Christian Lange calls consumer data “the oil of the 21st Century.” Lange believes consumer data is as valuable as oil today.
Significantly, Lange values the global data brokerage market at $250 billion a year. Lange also claims that the data brokerage market is growing at a rate of 30% per year.
Consequently, they track you so developers can sell your data to data brokers. Data brokers want to know what products you are searching for online.
For Advertisers
Apps will track you to learn what videos you watch, what news sources you read, what music you listen to, what stores you shop at, what vehicles you drive, and what you are interested in. All that data is valuable because advertisers desperately want to buy it.
For instance, car dealers and automakers want to know when you service your vehicle. Travel agents want to know what vacation spots you are researching.
App developers collect all of this data and then they sell it to data brokers. Next, the data brokers resell the data to advertisers.
How To Keep Apps From Tracking You
On the positive side, there are a few ways to keep apps from tracking you.
First, limit the number of apps on your phone to those you will genuinely use. Stop installing every interesting new app that you see.
Second, run searches for products and services the old-fashioned way, on a computer and not on your phone. For this reason, you should make searches on a computer you do not own. For example, you can use a computer at the public library for your shopping.
Third, change your phone operating system. For instance, switch to an Android phone if you an iPhone with a lot of apps on it. Switching operating systems is the best way to throw tracking apps off your trail.
Fourth, you should use an encrypted messaging service like Telegram Messenger. Tech industry professionals use Telegram because it has more security than most messaging solutions. Additionally, Telegram is an independent company and not part of a tech giant like Facebook.
In the final analysis, you should limit your phone usage because apps will track you. Furthermore, you should avoid payment apps like Apple Pay, Walmart Pay, and Google Pay. Corporations are pushing those apps because they want to track all of your financial transactions.
In conclusion, you must remember that apps can track you and always keep this in mind as you make decisions in your daily life.
You may also enjoy reading an additional Off The Grid News article: A Vast Postal Surveillance System Is Tracking Your Mail
What are your thoughts about apps that can track you even after you remove them from your phone? Let us know in the comments below.