An analysis of the transactions originating from the devices protected by products security company Zscaler reveals that iOS apps leak users' personal information in more cases than Android apps.
The result of this studys show that the generally accepted theory that iOS is more secure than Android doesn't necessarily apply to apps running on those two platforms.
According to data gathered in the last quarter, Zscaler reports that he detected about 200.000 transactions from a set of 45 million, where an application leaked user data.
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 highest percentage of leaks was observed by iOS applications. Zscaler reports that it watched 26 millions transactions from iOS devices and their applications, of which 0,5 percent leaked user data, for a total of 130.000 businesses.
The vast majority of data leaked, 72,3 percent, was related to information about the user's device. In addition, 27,5% of transactions leaked geolocation coordinates, while only 0,2% of applications leaked PII or personally identifiable information data.
70 percent of all transactions that leaked user personal data were from iOS devices in China, and 20 percent were from devices in South Africa. The USA, Britain and the Republic of Ireland occupy the next top 5 positions.
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% was device metadata, 39,3% geo-location information, and 3% leaked sensitive PII or personally identifiable information.
Most of the leaks occurred from Android devices in the US (55%), United Kingdom (16%) and China (12%).
