These Image Editing Apps Are Found To Be The Most ‘Data-Hungry’
Image via Maor_Winetrob / Shutterstock.com
With WhatsApp proclaiming that it would send user data to Facebook, mobile users are on heightened alert about their privacy being invaded. In spite of this, it’s still easy to forget that social media and messaging apps aren’t the only ones collecting and tracking data.
A deep dive by VPN provider Surfshark into Apple’s privacy labels brings to light that dating, streaming, and even period-tracking apps do it too—not to mention, some of your favorite photo editing apps.
VSCO and Adobe Lightroom are apparently the most “hungry” for your data—which includes contact info, your location, user content, and search history—while TouchRetouch and Pixelmator don’t collect anything at all. VSCO previously conducted an internal audit and attributed most of its data usage to quality assurance.
Thankfully, image editors are a lot more innocuous than social networks. To be specific, browsers and image editing apps generally collect the least data across 18 app categories.
The greatest culprits of data collection, supposedly, are social media and food delivery apps, with Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger being the most “data-hungry” of the lot.
As for how data-free apps can turn a profit without selling users’ information, Surfshark cited that there are some programs—like Pixelmator—that ask for a small fee upfront. Others resolve this by offering free and premium options.
You can discover more of Surfshark’s findings, along with accompanying visuals, over at its full report.
Click to view enlarged version
Click to view enlarged version. Image via Surfshark (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Click to view enlarged version
Click to view enlarged version. Image via Surfshark (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Click to view enlarged version
Click to view enlarged version. Image via Surfshark (CC BY-SA 4.0)
[via DIY Photography, cover images via Maor_Winetrob / Shutterstock.com, subsequent images via Surfshark (CC BY-SA 4.0)]
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