The company researched two hundred popular apps among twenty categories
URLgenius announced new research on the state of surveillance marketing and finds the average iOS app shares information with 12 third-party domains even when the consumer has not been granted permission to be tracked.
The research was conducted using Apple’s new app privacy report released with iOS 15.2. These tools let consumers view all the network connections an app makes. The company researched two hundred popular apps among twenty categories to discover the average app makes fifteen network connections, with twelve of those being to third-party domains, even when permission to track is not granted. Popular apps included in the study included Amazon, Netflix, Venmo, McDonald’s, Nike, CNN, and YouTube.
Apps were first installed and opened once without registering for the service to identify base connections when opening the app for the first time. During this time, the iOS setting to “Allow Apps to Request to Track” remained in the off position.
“The research shows the industry still has far to go to increase transparency around domain connections their apps are making, which could represent surveillance marketing tactics. App marketers need to be vigilant about understanding what data their app is sharing with these connections, especially as the industry transitions to privacy-focused marketing solutions,” said Brian Klais, CEO and Founder, URLgenius.
Key findings from the research showed that the average iOS app contacts 15 networks, 12 being third-party domains, even when consent to track is not granted and with the app opened just once. Categories with the highest percentage of third-party domain contacts included Magazines (93%), News (91%), Lifestyle (89%). Apps making the most contacts include iHeartRadio, the Wall Street Journal, and ESPN, while apps making the fewest contacts include Whatsapp, MyChart, and DuckDuckGo.
