- Surfshark has published new research into data collection on Asian travel apps
- It found that 97% of apps can collect and track user data.
- It also became clear that the monitoring continues even after returning home.
If you’re traveling to Asia, you may already know that travel requires digital preparation, downloading local apps for taxis, food delivery and maps, as those available in the UK may not work there.
However, these essential travel apps consume just as much data as local options, if not worse.
Silent data collection and tracking often continues long after passport control, potentially exposing you to constant monitoring, third-party data collection, and data breaches.
This is the warning from Surfshark, one of the best VPNs, which recently carried out an in-depth analysis of 65 super popular ‘essential travel apps’ in Asia and found that a surprising 97% of them (63) can collect user data and 72% (47) could use it for tracking purposes, even after you have returned home.
Travelers beware!
Among the most popular apps analyzed were Kakao Talk, Revolut and Baidu Translate.
Surfshark focused on the general types of data collected, the reasons given for processing the data, and data tracking practices by reviewing publicly available information on Apple’s App Store.
Unsurprisingly, more than half of essential travel apps collect more data than necessary, taking on average two types of data in addition to what is necessary for their functionality.
Self-promotion and third-party advertising were some of the reasons for data collection.
The latter is particularly worrying: more than half of these apps linked data, including device IDs and user profiles, to third-party data, typically used for targeted advertising or to share your data with data brokers.
Although they offer the same services, some applications are significantly more intrusive than others. Surfshark compared Grab and Rapido (two apps from the same “Ride” category) and showed that the former collects 27 out of 35 types of data, while the latter only collects 4.
Finally, apps collect more types of data in some countries than others. Thailand and the Philippines top the list, while South Korea is below average, with apps (Metro Istanbul and TCDD) not collecting any user data.
A commitment to privacy
The situation becomes worrying when you consider how many apps the average tourist can download before leaving.
According to travel platform TravelReddi, anyone traveling to Japan or China should download between 26 and 22 apps – a figure that exponentially increases the risk of large amounts of data being collected and exposed, given that these countries welcomed around 69 million tourists last year alone.
Surfshark warns that the main problem, however, is what happens after the holidays, as people often forget to delete these apps, which continue to track your location using GPS or may be involved in data breaches, sometimes without you realizing it.
The VPN provider highlighted how a widely used Canadian coffee app continued to track users’ locations even after it had closed, or how inactive accounts on a well-known American parking app contributed to a data breach in 2021 that affected 21 million users.
How to stay safe
While traveling between countries is undoubtedly an incredible experience, your trip to Asia may not be worth these hidden costs.
Surfshark reminds users of the importance of downloading only trusted apps, using them only when necessary, checking app permissions in your phone’s settings, and deleting these apps immediately after your ride to avoid inadvertently sharing sensitive data.
And of course, the best VPNs for travel will always be a valuable ally, alerting you to any data breach wherever you are, ensuring you have an unforgettable trip, but only in a good way.
