Its been known for a while now that iPhones or Android smartphones send user data back to Google or Apple. But now, a new study has revealed that the former receives as much as 20 times more data from Android than the latter from its iOS platform.
According to a ArsTechnica report, researcher Douglas Leith from Trinity College in Ireland provided side by side comparisons that suggests that Google’s Android collects a lot more information than Apple’s iOS. As per Douglas, transmit telemetry data that are sent to the tech giants collect information like whether a user has logged in or has configured privacy settings to opt out of certain options regarding data collection. Both iOS and Android also send data to the companies when a user does simple tasks like inserting a SIM card or browsing the smartphones screen settings and more.
The study also found that even when the device is idle, these devices connects back to its end server on an average of every 4.5 minutes or so. Collecting data and sending it back to these companies are not strictly restricted to just the operating systems and are also a common occurrence from preinstalled apps and services in smartphones. These apps also made connections even when they hadn’t used or opened.
While, the iOS automatically sent Apple data from Siri, Safari, and iCloud, Android collected data from Chrome, YouTube, Google Docs, Safetyhub, Google Messenger, the device clock, and the Google search bar. Notably, a Google spokesperson has contested these findings and stated that the study was based on faulty methods for measuring the data that’s collected by each OS. The spokesperson added that data collection is a core part of any internet connected device.
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