Pokemon Go Privacy Concerns - PrivacyTrust

Home · PrivacyTrust Blog · Pokemon Go Privacy Concerns. Every now and again, a craze comes along that captures the world by storm. Home AboutUs Certification Privacy SafeHarbor PrivacyShield CookieAudit PrivacyShield GDPR Guidance ApplyOnline Contact PrivacyTrustBlogHowFacebookMakesMoneyfromPersonalDataPrivacyconcernsaboutFacebookLifeStageappPokemonGoPrivacyConcernsWhatistheGDPR? PokemonGoPrivacyConcerns HomePrivacyTrustBlogPokemonGoPrivacyConcerns Everynowandagain,acrazecomesalongthatcapturestheworldbystorm.Inthepastitmayhavebeenachildren’sTVseries,orevenavideogame.However,technologyhascomeoninleapsandboundsinareasonablyshortspaceoftime,andcompaniesarelookingtoembracethedigitalagewherepossible.  Augmentedrealityhasbeenaroundforawhile,butuntilrecentlyitwassomethingthatwasmoreorlesspassivewhencomparedtootherpopularapps.However,Niantic,anAmericansoftwarecompany,sawpotentialinaugmentedreality,especiallywhenpartneredwithabrandthatofferedarealmarketingpunch,andthus‘PokemonGo’wasborn. Muchoftheappealof‘PokemonGo’liesinitsabilitytotrackourdataandmovementswhilewetrackdownthesemythicalcreaturesinanumberofdifferenthotspots,butjustwhathappenstothedataonceitreachesNiantic’sservers? TheAccessingofContacts Oneofthemaineyebrowraisersintheworldof‘PokemonGo’isthegrantingofaccesstoyourcontacts.Nobigdealyoumaysay,asanumberofappsalsodothis.However,itshouldbenotedthatasofyet,‘PokemonGo’doesnotofferamultiplayerexperience,andthereforehasnorequirementtobrowseyourcontacts. Nowitisunlikelythereisanythingsinisteroccurring,especiallywithabrandlikePokemon,butitdoesponderthequestionastowhyinsomeinstances,Androidusersfindthattheirentireaccountcanbemonitored. ThelikelihoodisthatNianticisaimingtoinstallupdatesmovingforward,andgainingaccessbeforehandmakeslifeeasieritsend.However,inaworldwheredataissomevaluableandfragile,itcomesasnosurprisethattherearethosewhoaren’ttookeentojusthandoveraslewofpersonalinformationattherequestofanunfamiliarapp. iPhoneUsersHaveAlsoVentedConcern AswellasAndroidusersshowingconcernoverwhataspectsoftheirdataisshared,thosewiththeAppleflagshipphonealsovoicedconcernwhenaccessing‘PokemonGo’viatheirGoogleaccount.Initially,NiantichadaskediPhoneusersforfullaccesstotheirGoogleaccountwhensigningupviaaniPhone,althoughamorerecentupdateshowsthatitnowonlyasksforpermissiontogainaccesstobasicuserinformation. SoCan‘PokemonGo’BeUsedSafely? Aswellastheinitialprivacyconcerns,thereareworriesthattheappitselfcouldleadchildrenastray,andevenputtheminharm’sway. TogiveyouacleareroverviewofhowdataobtainedbyNiantic,youcouldrefertoitsTermofService,whichreadsasfollows: "TheAppisalocationbasedgame.Wecollectandstoreinformationaboutyour(oryourauthorisedchild’s)locationwhenyou(oryourauthorisedchild)useourAppandtakegameactionsthatusethelocationservicesmadeavailableforyou(oryourauthorisedchild’s)device’smobileoperatingsystem." Whiletheappmayneedtocollectdataforgameplaytoflourish,itisalsolikelythatthepersonistransformedintoastatisticandsoldassuchforadditionalpocketmoneyforNiantic,somethingthatcouldrustleafewfeathersgiventhatthereisalreadyalargefunnelforincomegiventhein-apppurchases. Thereisalsothefactthatsomedatacouldbe‘sharedwiththirdpartyserviceproviders,’withnoexplanationastowhothesethirdpartiesactuallyare.Again,it’sunlikelytobeanythingsinister,butdoesn’tthepersonsharingtheirdatadeservetoknowaboutsuchdetails. Overall Whenitcomestotheonlineworld,manywouldsaythattheonlyrealwaytostaysafeistostayoffthegridaltogether.However,apppermissioncanbeamendedbyAndroidusers,withoutaffectingtheapp(unlessyoudisableGPSandthecamera.}Similarly,thosewhodownloadedtheiPhoneapponthedayofreleaseshouldensuretheupdateisinstalledsothepermissionsareamendedaccordingly. Evidently,thegameisahitamongtheyoungergeneration,soifthey’rekeentofindthelatestPokemon,itmaybeworthcheckingoveryourchild’sphonetoensurecompaniesaren’tableprymorethantheyneedto. Thoseconcernedastowheretheappmaytakechildrenshouldlaydownsomegroundrulesinthefirstinstance,andevengowiththemwhilePokemonhuntingtoensuretheirsafety.  HowFacebookMakesMoneyfromPersonalData PrivacyconcernsaboutFacebookLifeStageapp PokemonGoPrivacyConcerns WhatistheGDPR? AboutUs AtPrivacyTrustwearededicatedtohelpingcompaniesunderstandandmeetthehigheststandardsofdataprivacy.Tohelpprotectthesensitiveinformation,andrespondintheeventofadatabreach.WespecialiseinPrivacyShieldandGDPR. AboutUs PrivacyBlog ContactUs OurPrivacyPolicy CookiePolicy AboutCookies GDPR Tweetsby@privacy_trust ©PrivacyTrust2004-2018