eyes looking at each other and black dotted border

How do
cellphone
apps collect
information
from me?

Nearly every app on your phone collects information about you.

colorful squares resembling app icons

This can include:

All this information is kept and stored in a profile that online advertisers or web services make about you.

evidence board with the word 'you' in the middle, and string conecting postits, papers, and fingerprints

They connect and compare information with each other to create a more comprehensive profile based on your activities all over the web.

Say you download a shopping app on your phone and create an account on it with your email.

example blamk form to enter email

There are specific tracking domains connected to that app that collect information about what you're doing on it.

cartoon eyeball looking at shopping app icon

This can include behavioral information, such as what types of clothing you're looking at most, what times of day you're doing the most shopping, or how likely you are to buy certain items.

cartoon eye looking at data and graphs

These trackers can also collect more sensitive types of data from you, such as your location, financial information, gender, and email address.

Now say you go onto Pinterest. The same tracking domains may be connected to Pinterest as well, and can identify you through your IP address, device information, and email address.

cartoon eye looking at shopping app icon and Pinterest app icon

They can use the information that they learned about you from the shopping app to show you more specific ads on Pinterest; maybe for stores that they know are near your location and that they know you are more likely to buy from.

blank boxes resembling pinterest pins

They also can collect more information about you based on your Pinterest activities and what you choose to click on and look at.

Some of these tracking domains might also be connected to the YouTube app. They can learn even more information about you based on the types of videos you choose to watch and the channels you interact with.

cartoon eye looking at shopping app icon, pinterest app icon, and youtube app icon

If you own and use a smartphone, it is safe to say that this is probably happening to you in some form. Google, Meta, and Apple (and other companies!) all have massive tracking networks that gather information about you all over the web.

web of cartoon eyes looking at each other connected by black dashed lines

By analyzing and cross-referencing this data, app tackers can build a detailed profile of your interests, habits, and behavior.

profile icon silhouette

This profile can then be used for a variety of purposes, such as serving you targeted advertisements or selling your data to third party partners.