Dating apps like Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder are sharing users’ personal information — including their locations and sexual orientations — with potentially hundreds of shadowy third-party companies, a new report has found.
The Norwegian Consumer Council, a government-funded non-profit organization, said it found “serious privacy infringements” in its analysis of online ad companies that track and profile smartphone users.
“I think we should be really worried because we’ve uncovered really pervasive tracking of users on our mobile phones, but at the safe time uncovered that it’s really hard for us to do anything about it as individuals,” Finn Myrstad, the council’s digital policy director, told As It Happens host Carol Off.
“Not only do you share [your data] with the app that you’re using, but the app is in turn sharing it with maybe hundreds of other companies that you’ve never heard of.”
LBGTQ and other vulnerable people at risk
The group commissioned cybersecurity company Mnemonic to study 10 Android mobile apps. It found that the apps sent user data to at least 135 different third-party services involved in advertising or behavioural profiling.
When it comes to dating apps, that data can be extremely personal, Myrstad said. It can include your sexual orientation, HIV status, religious beliefs and more.
“We’re really talking about really sensitive information,” he said.
“That could be, for example, one dating app where you have to answer a questionnaire such as, ‘What is your favourite cuddling position?’ or if you’ve ever used drugs, and if so, what kind of drugs — so information that you’d probably like to keep private.”
And that’s just the information users are giving over willingly, he said. There’s also another level of information that companies can extrapolate using things like location tracking.
“If I spend a lot of time at a mental-health clinic, it can reveal my mental state, for example,” he said.
This Oct. 26, 2009, photo, shows the IAC building in New York. The company, which owns Tinder and OkCupid, says it shares information with third parties only when it is ‘deemed necessary to operate its platform’ with third-party apps. (Mark Lennihan/The Associated Press)
Because people don’t know which companies have which information, he says there’s no way to be sure what it’s being used for.
Companies could build user profiles and use those for nefarious or discriminatory purposes, he said, like blocking people from seeing housing ads based on demographics, or targeting vulnerable people with election disinformation.
“You can be … triggered to, say, take up consumer debts or mortgages that are bad subprime purchases, payday loans and these sort of things because companies know about your vulnerabilities, and it’s easier to target you because your clicks are tracked and your movements are tracked,” he said.
People who use Grindr — an app that caters exclusively to LGBTQ people — could risk being outed against their will, he said, or put in danger when they travel to countries were same-sex relationships are illegal.
“If you have the app, it’s a pretty good indication that you’re gay or bi,” he said. “This can put people’s life at risk.”
‘The privacy paradox’
The council took action against some of the companies it examined, filing formal complaints with Norway’s data protection authority against Grindr, Twitter-owned mobile app advertising platform MoPub and four ad tech companies.
Grindr sent data including users’ GPS location, age and gender to the other companies, the council said.
Twitter said it disabled Grindr’s MoPub account and is investigating the issue “to understand the sufficiency of Grindr’s consent mechanism.”
In an emailed statement, Grindr said it is “currently implementing an enhanced consent management platform … to provide users with additional in-app control regarding their personal data. ”
“While we reject a number of the report’s assumptions and conclusions, we welcome the opportunity to be a small part in a larger conversation about how we can collectively evolve the practices of mobile publishers and continue to provide users with access to an option of a free platform,” the company said.
“As the data protection landscape continues to change, our commitment to user privacy remains steadfast.”
IAC, owner of The Match Group, which owns Tinder and OkCupid, said the company shares information with third parties only when it is “deemed necessary to operate its platform” with third-party apps.
Myrstad says there’s a commonly-held belief that people willingly waver their privacy for the conveniences of modern technology — but he doesn’t buy it.
“People are really concerned about their privacy, and they are really concerned about their cybersecurity and their safety,” he said.
But in a modern context, he says people are offered a “take it or leave it choice” when it comes to apps, social media and dating services.
“It’s what we call the privacy paradox. People feel that they have no choice, so they sort of close their eyes and they click ‘yes,'” he said.
“So what we’re trying to do is to ensure that services have much more layered controls, that sharing is off by default … so that people can be empowered again to make real choices.”
Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from The Associated Press. Interview with Finn Myrstad produced by Morgan Passi.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
