This Android loophole could have let your apps spy on your web browsing
New research reveals Android users may have been exposed to covert tracking by popular Meta and Yandex apps.
Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- New research suggests that Meta and Yandex used a loophole in Android to link web browsing data to app identities.
- The method bypassed incognito mode, cookie clearing, and other privacy protections.
- Researchers say the only sure fix for now is uninstalling the affected apps.
You’ve long been reassured that using incognito mode or clearing cookies on your Android device will help prevent advertisers from tracking your web activity. However, new research shows that this may not be true, especially if you have certain popular apps installed.
As reported by Ars Technica and disclosed by researchers behind the Local Mess project, both Meta and Russian tech giant Yandex have been found to be using methods that allow web browsing to be linked with app identities on Android. The researchers found that this tracking method exploits the way Android allows browsers and apps to communicate on the same device.
