Privacy transparency has improved over time thanks to public awareness and in response to pressures from legislation in the European Union and California. Check out the app's entry on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Search for information about your weather app of choice. We hate to tell you to ditch it, but you should give serious consideration to doing so if it doesn't pass a basic privacy audit. You probably have an app already installed on your phone. Give Your Current App a Privacy Audit (And Be Prepared to Ditch It) While we'll suggest some great privacy-centered weather apps in the next section, let's talk about best practices and considerations first. In 2019, security researchers revealed many weather apps were to be not only tracking and collecting data, but also subscribing users to services, faking advertisement clicks, and other outright fraudulent activities. The app stores have been filled with shifty weather apps for years, not unlike the veritable epidemic of shifty flashlight apps. They later settled out of court but kept up with the user tracking and data sales, just with an updated privacy policy.Īnd that's just highlighting very high-profile apps used by tens of millions of people. The company was sued on the grounds that the app was collecting and selling user data in a way that was not clearly disclosed to the users and a violation of their privacy. In 2019, it was the Weather Channel app's turn in the hotseat. Notable to our discussion here about weather apps, the popular weather app WeatherBug was found to be sharing user's precise location data with 40 different companies. In 2018, the New York Times tested many popular apps and tracked their data collection and distribution patterns. It might not be the best app or most well-known app, but it's out there, and you can monetize it. Bang out an app, tap into the National Weather Service or similar agency, and boom, you've got something you can throw on the app store. government through the National Weather Service, there is a very low bar to entry for app developers to get their foot in the door. Second, because weather data is provided for free by many governments, including the U.S. Who doesn't like having the little computer in their pocket check the weather for them and even push notifications to their watch? From getting rain information to help you plan your work day or air quality warnings to help you plan a hike or bike ride, weather apps are indispensable tools for lots of people. First and foremost, people love weather apps. And not just the number of them but the number of times they've been downloaded-some of the most popular weather apps have millions of downloads. If you've searched for weather apps in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, you've likely been shocked by the sheer number of them. Why Are Weather Apps Such a Privacy Nightmare?
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