My worry is that there are too many AccuWeather users out there and not even a percent of them will be hearing about this fraud. if the situation is that serious, AppStore review team is the entity which is supposed to handle this cheat. But noooo, they are so busy with stalling current app reviews with stupid, biased claims and not even understanding their own review guidelines.
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AccuWeather for iOS Sending Location Data to Monetization Company Even When Location Sharing is Off [Updated]
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A large part of the OS X bill comes from the margins on the hardware ~ don’t imagine Apple is getting much else from it.
Now Windows - Windows will try and sell you “relevant ads” on the lock screen and start menu, as well as read your search history to “improve [their] products.” They’re for sure getting something from the user...
My point is every company will nickel and dime you given the chance. Every company. They'll find some justification for it somewhere just as we'll try and find a way to pay less or not at all.
Cat and mouse.
Also if you don't think Apple use your device history to get something from you, then you need to look deeper.
Exactly. Anyone who imagines that this type of essentially anonymous data gathering is unusual is sadly mistaken. Just take a look at Waze for example which only offers a choice of 'Use Location Services' either on or off, not 'While using the app'. Unless you switch location services on each time you use the app they can collect your location info ALL the time. There's no opt-out in the app if you don't want them to collect and process your data - use it and you are sharing.
Great products don't come for free ... apart from the BBC weather app ... wait I pay for that with a UK TV license fee
I'd be equally concerned where this data is going, and where it's then going after that, and then how's it's being used and across what. Audience segmentation data can be used for all sorts of things, and included in many services in advertising for starters.
The ads you're getting served on every website, segmentation data may have been used to determine serving you the most relevant. It's happening all the time, but this is a whole new level of disinformation that hurts trust in an app, a brand and a platform. It will probably raise the question of "who else?" too.
The ads you're getting served on every website, segmentation data may have been used to determine serving you the most relevant. It's happening all the time, but this is a whole new level of disinformation that hurts trust in an app, a brand and a platform. It will probably raise the question of "who else?" too.
Problem is you won't see this in the news because I imagine all major news stations are partners with accuweather to bring you the weather reports lol
So they just "discovered" that the SDK was collecting data and now updating that to stop collecting data, sorry but that is all BS. They were getting slammed with negativity and back tracked. How many times have has this happened, company is called out for collecting data, they suddenly discover that their app is doing it, unbeknownst to them and they sheepishly apologize and promise an update to fix that. Sorry but that just doesn't pass the sniff test.
So the router/wifi network in my house that I pay for is not my data?? If it were random data it should not provide enough info for them to care. I could be wrong.
Is there an app that will show just what data my phone is sending out?
Is there an app that will show just what data my phone is sending out?
Not sure about the Apple Watch app, I don't have an iPhone anymore. But MyRadar Pro has the pro pack which gives you access to the individual radar loops, which are much much better. Plus Radarscope does NOT have a national radar picture, you can only look at one radar at a time which is freaking stupid.
But I still don't trust Accuweather. They lost any trust when they paid Rick Santorum to insert an amendment in a bill that would have essentially privatized the National Weather Service, and made AccuWeather THE ONLY SOURCE for naational weather information, FOR A FEE!
No. AccuWeather is crooked, connected, and when compared to The Weather Channel, pretty much worthless. We NEED to keep the NWS free and available for all citizens! There are corporations that I feel I can never trust, and they are on that list. This doesn't surprise me. Their attempts to blame the other guy are also cheesy and disgusting. Why not end relationship with Reveal. How much do they get to sell out their users?
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I loved the Intellicast app, but it's being dropped, replaced by the inept 'Storm' app.
No. AccuWeather is crooked, connected, and when compared to The Weather Channel, pretty much worthless. We NEED to keep the NWS free and available for all citizens! There are corporations that I feel I can never trust, and they are on that list. This doesn't surprise me. Their attempts to blame the other guy are also cheesy and disgusting. Why not end relationship with Reveal. How much do they get to sell out their users?
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I loved the Intellicast app, but it's being dropped, replaced by the inept 'Storm' app.
Yes, given that Apple supposedly vets all of the apps they put on their app store, it would be very odd that they might be unaware of this going on. Furthermore, most of the folks here are amazed and happy about weather apps such as Dark Sky (I use it and like it as well) being so accurate. It truly is, down to your current GPS location during the day or night. I ask you, how in the world do you think they manage this without constant monitoring of your location data (which, of course, is even further enhanced with wifi enabled and running)? Here's a quote from Dark Sky's Terms of Service, under "Disclaimers":Accuweather was my goto also, but i can't help thinkingmust have a part to play, surely if all apps are sandboxed & if location is turned off, does iOS not clamp access to gps / wifi / sensors etc. or are they trusting of the dev? Am I missing something?
"Your use of the Service is at your sole risk. <...> WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT OUR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE SAFE, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, ACCURATE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE SECURE."
My point being, no mobile application which bases its accuracy upon your current, real time location, is secure, and most likely the metadata gathered - even if your exact name and personal information aren't preserved - is being used to generate at minimum information needed to target you and your location data for further marketing. The worst thing about the AccuWeather finding is that they continued to monitor your router information, your location, etc., even though you told them explicitly not to do so.
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The doublespeak put out by their press guy was almost funny - reminded me of the BS spouted routinely at Whitehouse Press Corps meetings.
Spot on. They are just greedy crooks making shady business in the private information market.
Not that it's the specific topic here, but the same principle applies to all apps we run on MacOS. E.g. when starting up Word, Excel or PP the app tries to connect to between 16 and 20 different servers.
Or, when browsing the internet, most sites establishes multiple (some up to 10-20) connections to different servers and for different purposes.
Therefore as users we need to educate ourselves about privacy.
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Too late, already deleted and found a wealth of better apps in the process
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There are various WiFi network scanners and analyzers available, most of them for a price. Do a search in the app store for "network privacy", "network scanner". If your concern is for IP location privacy, search for available VPNs. I can use Wireshark, LanScan, and Zenmap on Macs or Linux computers to track what's going on locally with my home router, and to some degree, with public wireless routers. Wireshark, for instance, can be used to verify that data coming from your mobile devices or computers is or is not encrypted. Of course, even though iPhones use end-to-end encryption by default, the data is still decrypted on either end - in this case, one end being at the application server farm. IP location information can be obfuscated by finding a reliable VPN such as Private Internet Access (PIA).
I didn't realize the app was geofenced. Try the Carrot Weather app. It uses Dark Sky & WUnderground for weather data.
"if a user opts out of location tracking on AccuWeather"
So after opting out of location tracking in iOS you have to again opt out of it from within the app. Hardly anyone will realise this and therefore 99.9% of users are having their data spammed around the world. Great.
So after opting out of location tracking in iOS you have to again opt out of it from within the app. Hardly anyone will realise this and therefore 99.9% of users are having their data spammed around the world. Great.
