Just like privacy issues that arouse with the use of cookies, it seems like data gathering via apps is the new frontier for the same invasion of privacy issues. A NYT articles details the app-issues with the lead of Angry Birds, one of the most downloaded apps ever, and how the app can cultivate private information about its user (most notably its location) to better direct the advertisements that the user sees on his/her phone. Some apps even have the capability to acquire information from contact lists and photos from digital photo libraries (data collection of apps is loosely, if at all, regulated in comparison to comparable mediums on the internet). The experts in the article claim that while most users are aware that their movements are being tracked on the internet, "most people are simply unaware of what's going on" via apps. Privacy and legal issues are just one other aspect that is going to have to be tamed/defined as the internet frontier increasingly goes digital, and perhaps apps, so liked for their immediacy and ease of use, will too be hindered by tons of fine print and legal disclaimers. Read this NYT article for more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/technology/mobile-apps-have-a-ravenous-ability-to-collect-personal-data.html?ref=technology
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