In this day and age, data gathering and exfiltrating are standard practices online. Web scraping is the technique of mechanically obtaining data from websites using script or software. This software can be used to generate marketing leads and other marketing data by scraping information pages. By doing this they can get the email and phone lists to cold contact new customers, identify market trends, or evaluate prices.
Teachers and students can web scrape academic research from multiple sources to gather structured data and compile it into a single document. Restaurants and hotels can scrape ratings from competitors to see how they should adjust their offerings. So how can you stay safe and keep your data private?
Residential proxy servers offer a way to hide your internet protocol (IP) address and help you scrape data from the web incognito. Residential proxies can help you gain access to websites that you may be banned or geo-blocked from.
What Devices Can Gather Data?
You might be surprised to find out that some of your most trusted devices are gathering a tremendous amount of personal data about your life. This data is then compiled by data scraping company and sold to some of the biggest ad agencies, who then target specific content and advertising to you.
Here are some examples of data gathering where companies have gambled with personal data.
Uber
The Uber iOS app had secret permissions built into it to allow the service to copy your phone screen, even if the app was just running in the background. Uber said that it did this to improve Apple’s capabilities.
Apple’s systems used a code called “entitlement,” which allowed Uber to screen cap interactions with Lyft (Uber’s chief competitor). This allowed the company to see if the user had Lyft installed on their phone, without the user’s permission.
Wacom
Wacom devices connect to a desktop computer or laptop as a plug-and-play secondary device, just like a keyboard or mouse. Wacom allows users to sketch, paint, draw, and create photo montages, all to be digitally exhibited on the connected computer. Amateur enthusiasts and graphic designers alike use these devices.
This digital drawing tablet seems to be exfiltrating user data. Robert Heaton, a software engineer, investigated this matter. According to Heaton, the drivers of this device track the name of every app being opened while the devices are running. This is a major security risk and breach of privacy.
Minnesota Police Department
In 2016, state auditors uncovered that officers across Minnesota were looking up personal information of their family members, girlfriends, and friends without it being part of their current investigations. This is an abuse of their ability to access personal data stored in the state’s driver’s license database and led to issues related to identity theft, harassment, and stalking.
AT&T
In 2015, AT&T was fined by the Federal Communications Commission after an investigation showed that employees at their international call centers disclosed the names and social security numbers of customers with third parties. Employees sold this information to third parties who used that information to unlock cell phones illegally.
What Do Businesses Do With Your Data?
Businesses need to be aware that every company they use gathers data in bulk from web scrapers. E-commerce web scrapers, in particular, periodically extract product details like descriptions, prices, images, reviews, and ratings. Product review scraping aids in monitoring the competition.
Having a “do nothing” attitude could allow hackers to get that information for unethical purposes. Cybercrime is an ever-increasing worry; hackers that gain access to caches of sensitive data could launch attacks on anyone.
Companies are generally eager to get every last piece of information from their customers to penetrate new and existing markets. If they fail to keep any of this information secure, hackers will find a way to get their hands on it.
These are not the worst examples of seemingly innocent devices gathering and sharing data. The Internet of Things (IoT) devices communicate to a central application where various information is being analyzed. This data is analyzed to identify the users’ trends.
What Do IoT Devices Gather?
Internet of things devices uses the collected data from smartphones, Google, Apple, various apps, and virtual assistants like Alexa.
Various Apps – Remember that fitness app you once downloaded when you were going to exercise but then never used? You allowed it to access your phone. Your photos can be geotagged, so the app knows where you’ve been taking pictures. Many other apps request access to photos, your location, and other files.
Google – Google knows all your information. It knows your passwords, name, last name, the sites you like to visit, how often you visit them, who is on your contact list, and who the last person you emailed was. Google actually offers an incognito mode. However, this mode only hides your history from your current device; it does not hide the history from your internet service provider, the sites you visit, your employer, or even the government.
Apple – Apple keeps data on its iPhones to help improve your experience. It can also track your location through this data. This makes it easy for hackers to find you, too.
Final Thoughts
Again, you might be asking yourself how it’s possible that any of your personal information was shared. Do you remember the privacy policy you accepted without reading it? Or that app that you gave permission to your photos. In many of these cases, you gave permission for your data to be gathered. Various companies claim they are using the data to improve the user experience. However, sharing it might not be the best idea if you are concerned about your privacy.
