Sex, drugs and privacy issues on the Internet

Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A15

January 16, 2020

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Sex, drugs and privacy issues on the Internet

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 January 16, 2020 |

Print Edition

Popular dating apps like Grindr and OkCupid share personal data about users, including their location and sexuality, with about 100 other businesses, a Norwegian consumer group said on Tuesday, as it filed a complaint about breach of privacy rules.

The Norwegian Consumer Council found that 10 widely used Android apps that gather sensitive data about health, drug use and sexual preferences passed some of it on to advertising and marketing firms without clearly informing users.

“These practices are out of control and in breach of European data protection legislation,” said Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy for the Norwegian Consumer Council.

“It is impossible for users to control this because the terms and conditions are really long and impossible to understand,” he said.

Tech companies have come under increased scrutiny over data privacy, fuelled by 2018’s Cambridge Analytica scandal in which tens of millions of Facebook profiles were harvested.

EU law now heavily restricts companies’ ability to process and share personal information without consent.

World

About Us
|
Terms of Use
|
RSS
|
Privacy Policy
|
Contact Us
|
Shanghai Call Center: 962288
|
Tip-off hotline: 52920043

沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
|
互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
|
网络视听许可证：0909346
|
广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
|
增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012

Sex, drugs and privacy issues on the Internet

Email this to your friend