There are five apps that are among the worst when it comes to privacy, according to NordVPN.
Some of those offending apps are predictable — you’ve probably already heard about the ways in which Facebook and Facebook Messenger sell your data to advertisers for a profit (among other privacy concerns that have surfaced and are connected to these social media apps).
But one app on the list was surprising because it seems like it should be safe as a game of Scrabble.
Words with Friends
Say it ain’t so — Words with Friends, the highly entertaining and distracting online Scrabble game that you can play with friends and even strangers, is not the best app when it comes to privacy, according to NordVPN. And the same holds true for many mobile multiplayer games.
The amount of data collected by multiplayer apps like Words with Friends is actually quite staggering. According to NordVPN: “Zynga, which created Words with Friends, the megahit FarmVille, and many other successful games, tracks and logs all kinds of personal data, including in-game purchases, everything players post in the message boards, the contents of chats, your Facebook ID, physical location, and even IP addresses, MAC addresses, and browser type and language.
There’s only one surefire way to ensure that Words with Friends doesn’t mess with your private info: delete the app! But if you’d prefer not to get rid of apps you love, there are a few precautions you can take.
“If the app is free, the developer still needs to make money somehow,” reports NordVPN. “They do that by selling your data for targeted advertising. Before downloading any app, check the permissions and see if you can run it without giving it any of the permissions it needs to track your data.”