New research from Bloomberg reveals sophisticated use of push notifications.

Developers can use third-party tools to find users even if they have recently uninstalled one of their apps. According to a Bloomberg report, so-called “uninstall trackers” also help app companies bombard abandoned users with ads aimed at winning them back.

Use of push notifications

Both iOS and Android devices are not spared from using this new method. Companies like Adjust, AppsFlyer, MoEngage, Localytics and CleverTap currently offer the new uninstall trackers. Usually these are included as part of a bundle of developer tools. According to the report, the customers of these providers have included well-known companies such as T-Mobile US, Spotify Technology and Yelp for some time.

According to the article, developers have always been able to use so-called silent push notifications to periodically ping installed applications without alerting the user. However, if the app does not return anything back to the developer, the app is logged as uninstalled and the uninstall detection tools add these changes to the file associated with the mobile device's unique advertising ID.

More and more illegal activities

Critics are already warning that this approach violates Apple and Google guidelines. There are clear regulations against the use of automatic push notifications to create advertising circles. For this reason, industry observers already suspect that consistent action by smartphone manufacturers against this new practice will not be long in coming.

“In the best case scenario, uninstall tracking can be used to fix bugs or otherwise refine apps without harassing users with surveys or other intrusive tools. But the ability to abuse the system beyond its original intent illustrates the bondage that accompanies the modern Internet,” said Jeremy Gillula of the Electronic Frontier Foundation http://eff.org .

via pressetext.com


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