Digital democracy|Digital privacy
What digital footprints are generated when using apps?
People typically spend around 4 to 5 hours¹ daily on various apps. On average, individuals use about 9 apps² on the daily basis, with the majority of that time allocated to social interactions³ on platforms such as TikTok or Facebook. Imagine entering the app world as a newcomer. One morning, you download 9 different apps to cater to all your daily needs – from keeping up with friends to managing your travel plans and finances. As you navigate through these apps, you're leaving behind digital footprints. What kind of digital profile could be pieced together from these footprints about you in just a single day?
Key insights
- An average smartphone user might generate up to 188 digital footprints every day. Some data is given right away just by starting to use the service, other data is constantly generated by using the app. Let’s look at how it all adds up!
- Once you subscribe to these services and begin using them, you’re disclosing 10 unique data points. These can include your name, bank account details, address, list of contacts, and more. On average, each data point is shared with seven apps. In other words, just by starting to use the apps, you’ve already left 69 digital footprints!
- With every second of using these apps, a stream of generated content forms: from food preferences to political views or daily trips. This dynamic data flow translates to 78 digital footprints from 15 unique data points, such as search and browsing history, gameplay content, and precise location.
- What’s the harm of those digital footprints generated so far? If these are shared with data brokers by intentionally selling or unintentionally leaking them due to poor cybersecurity, this information can be aggregated to create your digital profile, as explained in the educational video⁴ created in partnership with the Internet Society.
- Of course, some collected data allows the developers to fix issues, and this is the kind of data that's useful for improving apps. Four data points, such as crash logs, performance data (launch time, hang rate, or energy use), are collected by nine investigated apps, creating 35 diagnostics-related digital footprints helping the apps to work properly. The remaining six digital footprints come from six apps collecting “other data.” This category can encompass a wide range of information, making it challenging to precisely define its content or purpose.
Methodology and sources
Via Appmagic.rocks we selected 9 apps that are trending in the US — one app for each of the categories: Social media (TikTok), Music (YouTube), Search engine (Google), Travel (Google Maps), Messenger (WhatsApp Messenger), Finance (Cash App), Shopping (Amazon shopping), Movies (HBO Max), Food&drink (DoorDash). We used the App Store’s standardized privacy policy to gather the data points these apps collect. Data collection took place on August 14th, 2023. According to the App’s store standard, a single app collects up to 32 unique data points. We categorized these data points into 3 groups by the type of digital footprint an app user creates: static digital footprint generated the moment you start using the app, dynamic digital footprints generated while using the app, app-functioning related digital footprints — and counted digital footprints accordingly.
For the complete research material behind this study, visit here.
