HI
I had to install Google+ app to check a location of a friend of mine (he is on Android). I was really surprised when the app has listed all my Google mail accounts installed on the device! How could it know? Does this mean that any app can silently detect all email accounts without asking for a permission? If so, isn't it a serious privacy issue?
Best regards
D
iPad Air, iOS 8.3
Hello darwinjob,
Not any app, just Google. Once you sign in with Google+, Google is free to do with that information whatever it wants. Apple can and does restrict what the app can access on your phone. But information you have already given to Google is fair game.
Hi
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I understand the rules of this fair game. What I don't understand is how Google has identified this new iPad with my Google accounts. Is it possible, programmaticaly, without asking user's permission, to get the device id from an app? Or can the device's Safari browser be uniquely identified somehow?
Hello again darwinjob,
Apple has a number of steps to protect individual user's privacy while still allowing advertisers to uniquely identify them. In theory, the advertisers could tell what you want to buy, but not who you are. But that is really not going to apply with a company that has the reach of Google. Even if you don't log in to your Google+ account from the new iPad, Google will know your IP address, know that it is an iPad, probably have a unique identifier for the iPad, and Google will know that you have used that IP address before and that it is associated with a Google+ account. Now Google can track you and your new iPad across the globe.
Google+ app knows all accounts! how come?!!
