Introduction to Data Privacy Issue
According to experts, Android users have been unknowingly allowing Meta and Yandex to track their browser activity in the background of their devices. Academics from Radboud University in the Netherlands and Imdea networks discovered that Meta and Yandex followed the browser activity of Android users without their consent and used the data in their apps.
Discovery of Hidden Data Acquisition
The "hidden" data acquisition was discovered in January by Gunes Acar, assistant professor at Radboud University. He found that Meta’s apps, such as Facebook and Instagram, and Yandex’s apps, like Yandex Maps, sat in the background of Android devices and loaded a script that sent the data back to apps on the users’ phones. The scripts bypassed Android’s security measures, allowing Meta and Yandex to track what users did in web browsers without the user’s knowledge or consent.
Impact on User Privacy
The apps were able to track the browser data of users in all major Android browsers, even if the user was in incognito mode. This is a significant concern for user privacy, as it negates any data protection controls that users have in modern browsers and mobile platforms such as Android. According to Norberto Vallina-Rodriguez, Associate Professor at Imdea Networks, "It is really worrying because it negates any data protection control that you have in modern browsers and also in modern mobile platforms such as Android."
Response from Google and Affected Companies
Google, which owns the Android operating system, confirmed the hidden activity and stated that Meta and Yandex used Android’s capabilities "in an unintentional way that obviously violate our security and data protection principles". Meta said it quickly checked the problem and is discussing the issue with Google to resolve the matter. Yandex claimed it "strictly adheres to data protection standards" and that the function in question does not collect sensitive information.
Timeline of Data Tracking
Meta seemed to be tracking data for around eight months, while Yandex has been doing so since 2017. The academics found that Facebook tracked data on around 16,000 websites when visited by EU users, while Yandex did so on 1,300 websites.
Measures to Stop Future Tracking
Google announced that it has already implemented changes to reduce these invasive techniques and has opened its own investigation. Firefox’s browsers, Microsoft Edge, and Duckduckgo were also affected, and their respective owners have taken measures to stop future hidden tracking. However, the effects that Meta and Yandex will face for their behavior are still unknown.
