WASHINGTON — Everyone loves free. If it doesn’t cost anything, someone
will likely take it.
But, as we know, nothing is actually free. And with smartphone and tablet apps,
the cost is usually personal information.
A new project from Carnegie Mellon aims to sort out which applications
are looking through users’ text messages and which aren’t. PrivacyGrade.org grades free apps on a typical
letter scale. It doesn’t include paid apps.
“These apps access information about a user that can be highly sensitive, such
as location, contact lists and call logs, yet it often is difficult for the
average user to understand how that information is being used or who it might
be shared with,” said Jason Hong, an associate professor at the Human-Computer
Interaction Institute who is leading the project.
Instagram gets an A rating, while Angry Birds gets a D. The game Drag Racing
received a D.
“Grades are assigned using a privacy model that we built. This privacy model
measures the gap between people’s expectations of an app’s behavior and the
app’s actual behavior,” says a statement on the project’s website.
Since the project grades based on user expectations, apps such as Gmail and
Google Maps get A’s. Users expect these apps to access personal data, because
they need it to function properly.
Popular game apps Fruit Ninja, My Talking Tom and Despicable Me all ranked
poorly, earning a D.
In her USA Today column, radio host and “America’s
Digital Goddess” Kim Komando recommends the following free apps, which get good
marks from PrivacyGrade:
- CamScanner: This app lets you scan documents with your
phone. A similar app, called GeniusScan, used by several people in the WTOP
newsroom, also scores an A. - Evernote: Take notes and keep organized with this app.
-
Google Translate: More than 50 languages. - Lumosity: Games that are good for your brain.
- Magnificent Magnifier HD Magnifies!
See how your favorite apps score by visiting PrivacyGrade.org
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