We all download apps to our smartphones with little thought of privacy…. until we’re asked at which point of course we say it’s important. But the reality is we don’t really care when we want to download an app to make a purchase or conveniently post to our favourite social platform on the move.
Now Which? have analysed 20 of the most popular apps in the UK to determine just how much permission we’re giving them to dig deep into our smartphones (and lives) when we download and use them. Amazingly, some permissions are requested, such as microphone access and precise location, despite the app owner asserting that they‘re never actually used!
Out of the shopping apps, Temu was least invasive wanting just 12 permissions with AliExpress and Amazon topping out with most (50 and 48 respectively). But that’s nothing compared with the social platforms with Facebook wanting a massive 69 permissions plus your precise location.
We’ll give a pass to those apps that want to record audio and video – any that have comms built in will need these (Imagine making a WhatsApp call with no audio or video!). Some shopping apps also need multimedia if they’re offering you the chance to use Virtual Reality to visualise products in their home, or smart search from photos.
| App | Permissions | Risky Permissions | Precise Location | Record Audio | Record Video |
| AliExpress | 50 | 6 | Y | Y | Y |
| Amazon | 48 | 4 | Y | Y | Y |
| SHEIN | 27 | 4 | Y | N | Y |
| Temu | 12 | 2 | Y | N | N |
| Vinted | 25 | 2 | Y | N | Y |
| TikTok | 41 | 3 | N | Y | Y |
| 69 | 6 | Y | Y | Y | |
| 56 | 4 | Y | Y | Y | |
| 66 | 6 | Y | Y | Y | |
| YouTube | 47 | 4 | Y | Y | N |
And it’s not just the app itself either, one app sent Which? 30 marketing emails over just one month, despite them not knowingly signing up for them (Yes we know you want to know, it was AliExpress).
It’s somewhat encouraging to see that the newest apps are the least invasive. Temu comes top with the least permissions (12) with Vinted (25) and SHEIN (27) wanting twice as many and the mighty Amazon wanting four times as many (48). This does beg the question as to why an app like Amazon needs four times as many permissions as Temu?
In addition to the shopping and social apps discussed above, Which? also analysed apps from Health & Fitness and Smart devices and you can read more on the Which? website.
