An analysis of the transactions that come from Zscaler's security-protected devices reveals that iOS apps leak users' personal information more often than Android applications.
The result of this study show that the generally accepted theory that iOS wants to be more safe from Android doesn't necessarily apply to apps running on them two platforms.
According to data gathered in the last quarter, Zscaler reports that it identified about 200.000 transactions out of a total of 45 million where an app was leaked data of the user.
The type of information leaked includes personally identifiable information (PII), i.e. mobile number and e-mail addresses, location data (latitude and longitude coordinates), and device metadata (IMEI, MAC, IMSI numbers, Network, OS, items the SIM card and the manufacturer).
The greatest amount of leakage was observed by iOS applications. Zscaler reports that 26 watched millions of transactions from iOS devices and their applications, of which 0,5 percent leaked user data to a total of 130.000 businesses.
The vast majority of leaked data, 72,3 per cent, was related to information about the user's device. In addition, 27,5% of transactions were leaked by geo-location coordinates, while only 0,2% of the applications leaked PII or personally identifiable information data.
70 percent of all transactions that leaked personal user data came from iOS devices in China, and 20 percent in devices in South Africa. The United States, Britain and the Republic of Ireland occupy the next positions of the top 5.
With regard to Android apps, Zscaler reports that 20 watched millions of transactions and leaked them from 0.3% user data, or about 60.000 transactions.
Of these, 58% were device metadata, 39,3% geo-location, and 3% leaked sensitive PII data or personally identifiable information.
Most of the leaks occurred from Android devices in the US (55%), United Kingdom (16%) and China (12%).
