March 31, 2021
A recent report by Douglas Leith, a researcher at Trinity College in Ireland, shows that both iOS and Android continuously transmit data such as location, phone number and local network details to Apple or Google. The study also provided a side-by-side comparison that suggests that while Android and iOS collect data around the clock, Google’s mobile operating system collects about 20 times as much data as its competitor Apple.
According to Leith, both operating systems transmit telemetry data to their motherships even when a user is not logged in, and while iOS and Android send data to Apple and Google when a user does simple things such as insert a SIM card or browse the handset settings screen, Android stands out for the amount of data it collects.
According to Leith’s detailed explanations, an Android device sends about 1 MB of data to Google at launch, while iOS sends Apple about 42 KB. At idle, Android sends about 1 MB of data to Google every 12 hours, while iOS sends Apple about 52KB during the same period. It has also been found that Android collects about 1.3 TB of data every 12 hours in the US alone. In the same period, iOS collects about 5.8GB.
A spokesman for Google disputed the findings, claiming that the measurement methods used in the study were flawed.
For more information, read the <a href=”https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/android-sends-20x-more-data-to-google-than-ios-sends-to-apple-study-says/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>original story</a> in Ars Technica
