Sophos Cloud Optix
Twitter is set to start peeking on users’ iPhones, iPads and Androids in order to see which apps they have downloaded.
The company will start collecting the list of apps installed on those smartphones and tablets so that it can, in its own words, “deliver tailored content that you might be interested in.”
A support article says the additional data collection will allow Twitter to make better recommendations on who to follow, as well as insert content it thinks you will find interesting into your feed.
The new feature, which Twitter has named “app graph,” could tie in with the company’s recently announced Instant Timeline feature which takes new users’ areas of interest and the people their contacts follow, and serves up a feed created for them in order to better personalise Twitter from day one.
By collecting data about other installed apps, the feature would be better positioned to create a more relevant starting timeline.
Of course, the main benefit to Twitter will be the ability to use the collected information to surface more targeted adverts. Or, as Twitter puts it, show you more promoted content it “think[s] you’ll find especially interesting.”
Twitter says it will only record the list of apps you have installed, not how they are used.
So, for example, Twitter will be able to see that you have Spotify on your phone, but not that you’re listening to the same 80s classic over and over and over again.
While entry into the new tracking system is automatic and opt-in by default, Twitter has promised to alert users when the new feature is turned on.
We will notify you about this feature being turned on for your account by showing a prompt letting you know that to help tailor your experience, Twitter uses the apps on your device. Until you see this prompt, this setting is turned off and we are not collecting a list of your apps.
If you don’t want your apps to be snapped up by Twitter’s data gobblers, here’s how to turn it off:
Twitter for Android
- Tap the overflow icon (looks like 3 vertical dots)
- Choose Settings.
- Select your account
- Under Other, turn off Tailor Twitter based on my apps.
Twitter for iOS
- Tap the Me tab, and then the gear icon
- Choose Settings
- Select your account
- Under Privacy, turn off Tailor Twitter based on my apps.
Once you opt out, Twitter says it will remove your app graph data from Twitter and stop future collection.
If you don’t yet see the option then Twitter won’t have started tracking you yet.
If you want to stop the collection before it’s started, Twitter says you can turn on Limit Ad Tracking on your iOS device by going to Settings and Privacy.
If you’re an Android user, go to Settings, tap the Google account, choose Ads and then turn on Opt out of interest-based ads.
You can learn more about app permissions, as well as other smartphone security advice in our 10 tips for securing your smartphone.
Image of peeking courtesy of Shutterstock.
Just tried to opt out from logged-in Twitter app under Settings/About/Privacy and it asked me to log-in again. Did that and got a page say “that page isn’t supported on mobile yet”
Once again Twitter are making twits if themselves. Any such activity should require an ‘opt in’ choice by users and not be assumed as being acceptable. To most people such snooping is unacceptable and may be illegal in some countries.
Better yet, remove Twitter entirely. Simply knowing what applications you have on your device can reveal a lot about how you use them.
It’s getting to the point where advertising and marketing are becoming the “Big Brother” and Gestapo we always thought government would become. We almost can’t do anything without marketers spying on us, and you know the data will never stay private so long as a buck can be made from it.
Privacy is greyed-out for me.
I do love the fact that these days if you want to use a app they have the right to rip out any information from your private device. Okay, you sign up to an agreement to probably allow it to be the opt in default but still… it’s not ethically correct, is it?
Problem is, people aren’t going to stop using apps like Twitter (coz they juz wanna b populah lyke a faymuss persson lol) *sigh* so the companies will just continue to take what they please.
Even if said app companies update the agreement to say “We’ll take your handbag dwelling chihuahua in 5 days” they’ll sacrifice the little darling for the use of their social networking app on their smartdevice.
Sounds like a good reason to have a bunch of random apps you never use on your device. Screw their graphs, projections and targeting and make the data collection meaningless.