Instagram Most Invasive App, Signal and Clubhouse Safest to Use: pCloud

Instagram is the most invasive app, according to cloud storage firm pCloud. The app is said to be sharing a staggering 79 percent of your personal data with third-party companies, including everything from purchasing information, personal data, and browsing history. It also uses 86 percent of your data to sell you more of the Facebook group's own products and serve you relevant ads on behalf of others. Facebook is reported to come in second, whereas apps like Signal, Clubhouse, and Netflix do not share your data with third-parties or use it for marketing at all.

pCloud collated data based on App Store's new privacy labels, and their latest research suggests that Instagram and Facebook share the most amount of user data with third-party companies and also use it massively for their own marketing benefits. On the other hand, pCloud lauds apps like Signal, Netflix, Clubhouse, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Google Classroom for collecting no data at all, making them the safest apps to use on the App Store. While social media apps like Facebook and Instagram are said to be really invasive, BIGO, LIVE, and Likke are listed to be amongst the top 20 safest apps to use, collecting just 2 percent of users' personal data.

As mentioned, Instagram shares 79 percent data with other companies and uses 86 percent data for the group's own marketing benefits. Facebook comes in second by sharing 56 percent of data with other companies and collects 86 percent of data for its own benefit. The data shared with third-parties include everything from purchasing information, personal data, and browsing history. “No wonder there's so much promoted content on your feed. With over one billion monthly active users it's worrying that Instagram is a hub for sharing such a high amount of its unknowing users' data,” the company says on its blog.

LinkedIn and Uber Eats both are listed to sell off 50 percent of data to third-parties. pCloud says that YouTube sends 42 percent of your personal data elsewhere. “This data goes on to inform the types of adverts you'll see before and during videos, as well as being sold to brands who'll target you on other social media platforms,” pCloud notes.

eBay comes in at 5th place overall on pCloud for tracking and selling 40 percent of the personal data possible. Shopping giant Amazon came surprisingly low in the list, with minimal tracking for its own advertising, and no data passed on to third parties.

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