Study tracks data flows from 50 free-to-play Android puzzle games
Original title: Investigating Data Flows from Android Games
More than 16 GB of traffic showed ad-blocking DNS cut flows, while opting out sometimes increased them; measurements are public.
Researchers measured network traffic from 50 popular free-to-play Android puzzle games to see what data is collected and where it is sent. They analyzed more than 16 GB of traffic and tested user-side countermeasures on a selection of apps. Ad-blocking DNS reduced data flows, while withholding consent or opting out sometimes increased outgoing traffic. The measurements are released as an open dataset.
- Researchers captured and analyzed over 16 GB of traffic from 50 games.
- Ad-blocking DNS services reduced outgoing data flows in tested apps.
- Withholding consent sometimes increased outgoing traffic instead of reducing it.
- The authors released the measurements as an open dataset.
From the original article
1 min read at arxiv.orgOnline applications can share data with arbitrary parties, without users noticing. In practice, these data flows could constitute privacy violations to individual users, with the lack of transparency leaving users unaware of the unwanted data flows. To understand the spread and scale of this privacy threat, we investigate what data is collected and where it is sent in popular free-to-play Android games.
By Judit Borcsiczky · arxiv.org
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