Mobile App Contact Scraping Exposes Millions to Privacy Risks
Popular social media platforms, browsers, and mobile games are systematically harvesting contact lists from millions of users, according to security analysis. The practice enables companies to build extensive profiles on both users and their contacts without consent, creating significant privacy vulnerabilities across digital ecosystems.
Widespread Contact Harvesting by Popular Applications
Major technology companies including those behind TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest are routinely accessing and uploading users’ complete contact lists, according to recent security reports. Analysis indicates that even applications with no legitimate need for contact data, such as photo editors and mobile games, are requesting and obtaining comprehensive address book access.