Controversial report sparks app privacy debate in Indonesia

Bukalapak and OLX were worst in terms of how many tracker requests they sent to users', reports Tech in Asia

Some of Indonesia’s most popular shopping apps have been accused of peeking at private information on people’s phones.
 

The report by software maker Opera ranked apps by how relentlessly they employ trackers, tools that collect personal information from your phones – such as location, phone numbers, passwords, and user habits.
 

Indonesian ecommerce startups put to the test included Bukalapak, OLX, Elevenia, Kaskus Jual Beli, Blibli, Lazada, MatahariMall, Tokopedia, and Zalora.
 

The results, which tested Android apps, show that Bukalapak and OLX were the worst in terms of how many tracker requests they sent to users’ smartphones.
 

Unhappy startups
 

The report included a statement by Sergey Lossev, head of Opera Max, an app that monitors what other Android apps are really doing on your phone. “Sharing data like bank account information through unsecured wifi networks can increase the risks of hacking and cybercrime. A lot of users give up information without their realization; like when they shop online through their mobile phones.”
 

Both companies say using trackers in applications is common practice in Indonesia and elsewhere.
 

Opera’s response
 

The report said the shopping apps were tested over a wifi network, making at least 100 purchase requests while browsing various items. The web browser would then note the number of times the apps sent back a request to track personal information.
 

“The mechanism is based on EasyPrivacy, an open source filter that helps detect bugs and tracking scripts, which is also used by ad-blocking services,” said Peko Wan, Opera’s head of PR for Asia.
 

She pointed out that the monitoring app only helps inform the user about the existence of trackers, not what type of information they collect and what happens with it.
 

Opera’s report analyzed the data mining habits of 60 companies in 10 countries.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here