As you know, iOS devices have App Tracking Transparency feature that prevents your data from reaching advertisers. In this way, users can decide whether the applications will follow them or not. A similar feature has come to Android devices.Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has opened App Tracking Protection on Android to beta testers. While the new feature is similar to App Tracking Transparency, it is said to be “more powerful”. It should be noted that it can be activated from the browser settings.
Apps make 1,000 to 2,000 tracking attempts per day
After activating App Tracking Protection, a local VPN connection is created on your phone and then trackers on DuckDuckGo’s public block list are automatically available to block. It is important that this happens without sending the application data to DuckDuckGo or other remote servers.
According to DuckDuckGo, the average Android user has about 35 apps installed on their smartphone. Each of them has sections of code that are used by companies to monitor the behavior of users, their surfing habits.
Such a device would be subject to 1,000 to 2,000 tracking attempts every day, sending huge amounts of personal data to more than 70 companies. This includes sensitive information such as phone number, location, email address, identity data and even “device fingerprint data”.
The company says the technology in question has been tested for almost a year and is now available to all Android smartphone owners. Some time after you turn on App Tracking Protection, the browser will also provide you with a statistic about the most followed apps.
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