Life360 is a location sharing app that is primarily used by families and the like. One of the most popular ways for families to use this app is to track their children because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing them to keep their young kids safe from harm. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Life360 is actually one of the most egregious privacy violators among all location sharing apps according to a recent report.
While every single location tracking and sharing app earns a significant chunk of its revenue through selling data to advertisers, this data is usually anonymized with all things having been considered and taken into account. However, the report released by The Markup has revealed that Life360 does not take sufficient steps to make this data anonymous. When you consider that this app is very frequently used by parents to keep track of their children, the dangers of failing to fulfill basic privacy requirements start to become clear.
This app recently acquired Tile and is planning to expand into the tracking of smaller objects such as keys and phones, but this information might halt all of those efforts for the time being. Privacy violations are some of the worst things that can end up happening to any tech company at all, and they need to be prevented from becoming more prevalent than they already are. With 31 million users, Life360 is one of the most prominent location tracking apps out there, and its size makes the lack of privacy and the rather laissez faire attitude with which this company sells personal data thoroughly egregious.
The company hasn’t officially addressed this report as of yet, but its negative impact will be felt regardless.
Read next: Study Reveals VPN Usage Trends Across The 2020-2021 Period, And How Awareness Regarding Such Services Has Increased In This Time
While every single location tracking and sharing app earns a significant chunk of its revenue through selling data to advertisers, this data is usually anonymized with all things having been considered and taken into account. However, the report released by The Markup has revealed that Life360 does not take sufficient steps to make this data anonymous. When you consider that this app is very frequently used by parents to keep track of their children, the dangers of failing to fulfill basic privacy requirements start to become clear.
This app recently acquired Tile and is planning to expand into the tracking of smaller objects such as keys and phones, but this information might halt all of those efforts for the time being. Privacy violations are some of the worst things that can end up happening to any tech company at all, and they need to be prevented from becoming more prevalent than they already are. With 31 million users, Life360 is one of the most prominent location tracking apps out there, and its size makes the lack of privacy and the rather laissez faire attitude with which this company sells personal data thoroughly egregious.
The company hasn’t officially addressed this report as of yet, but its negative impact will be felt regardless.
Read next: Study Reveals VPN Usage Trends Across The 2020-2021 Period, And How Awareness Regarding Such Services Has Increased In This Time