New Study Reveals the Most Invasive Apps

Friday, February 13, 2026

A review of the riskier apps to use when it comes to protecting personal data finds Instagram and Facebook ranking first, collecting the most sensitive information like physical address, device, and user identity.

Posted by LampLighter at 02:30 PM | 11 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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More from the article ...

... The study was conducted by IT Asset Management Group (IT-AMG) and it analysed the privacy policies of over 5,000 apps from the Apple App Store.

These apps were selected from a broader list of the top 100 apps in each category, with duplicates and those missing data removed. To determine which apps are the most invasive, they created an index out of 100 based on 46 indicators including 35 types of data, six purposes for data collection, and five different types of user relationships.

The level of privacy intrusion was measured by whether each data type is tracked and linked, tracked, linked, not linked or tracked, and not collected at all, with "tracked and linked" being the most intrusive.

Top 10 most invasive apps ...

Instagram ...

Facebook ...

[see the article for the reasons why ...]

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-11 10:00 PM | Reply

Hope about mentally invasive?

Shouldn't TicTok at least be in the top 10?

#2 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-13 03:24 PM | Reply

@#2

Agreed.

#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-13 03:41 PM | Reply

How about....I mean...

#4 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-13 04:59 PM | Reply

@#4 ... How about ...

That's what I thought the comment meant.

The article is just about the data collected.

Aside from that, I'd say there is also a possible addictive nature to the social media.

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-13 05:11 PM | Reply

Hope about mentally invasive?

Shouldn't TicTok at least be in the top 10?

#2 | Posted by BillJohnson

You should be celebrating that since it was just sold to a trump supporting fascist.

#6 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2026-02-13 06:30 PM | Reply

Speak,

"You should be celebrating that since it was just sold to a trump supporting fascist."

What I see is yet one more thing Trump said he wanted to do, and did it.

#7 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-13 07:10 PM | Reply

Lamp,

You got it.

I wouldn't bet on some people here to understand.

#8 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-13 07:12 PM | Reply

Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act
ec.europa.eu

... Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design. This includes features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalised recommender system.
Risk assessment

The Commission's investigation preliminarily indicates that TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults.

For example, by constantly rewarding' users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into autopilot mode'. Scientific research shows that this may lead to compulsive behaviour and reduce users' self-control. ...

#9 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-13 07:23 PM | Reply

He TACOS more than he accomplishes... it's one thing to be dead evil, but when one is also wholly incompetent, well, that's a dangerous duo.

As we learned recently, for example, and as many of us told you would happen, Trump's Tariffs were 90 percent paid for by us.

It's one thing to be a criminal racist rapist traitor and El Supremo Fascist, but to be an incompetent one is downright dangerous.

#10 | Posted by Corky at 2026-02-13 07:28 PM | Reply

Lamp,

"Aside from that, I'd say there is also a possible addictive nature to the social media."

You mean like the Drudge Retort?

I agree but it goes beyond social media.

Gaming does the same thing. Both are built around dopamine production in the brain and random reinforcement schedules which are the most powerful habits to break.

Regular, predictable reinforcement schedules are easier to break.

#11 | Posted by BillJohnson at 2026-02-13 07:29 PM | Reply