Social media apps are evil, Chapter 197
If you're connected to the Fediverse, I probably don't have to tell you this. But I'll say it anyway. Tell your friends.
- Don't use an app if you can use a website instead. Use a browser with good privacy settings.
- Don't install an app from a company that exists to vacuum up personal data about you. If the app was bundled with your device, uninstall it. If you can't uninstall it, don't use it. Make sure it's not running in the background.
This article has a lot of technical details, but in brief: Meta and Yandex implemented a trick whereby your browser can pass information to their apps, even if you're not using their apps at the moment. That is supposed to be against the rules.
Ars Technica wrote the following
post Tue, 03 Jun 2025 05:02:59 -0700
Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers
Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/headline-to-come/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
