The Pokémon GO game has spread all over the world, but what are the privacy risks?
Pokémon GO, the video game for Android and iOS mobile devices developed by Niantic, is enjoying enormous success. The millions of downloads received in a few days show how this game is spreading quickly in all countries of the world, including your country.
The aim of the game is to catch famous Pokémon around the planet, using GPS and augmented reality. This new way of playing was thewinning weapon which allowed to achieve incredible download records.
However, as has often happened in the past for the most downloaded applications, we wonder if this video game can interfere with our privacy. collecting data and information reserved on our device.
First of all, the Pokémon GO phenomenon has been exploited by many malicious people who have created applications with malware e virus, capable of compromising the functioning of the devices. It is always recommended to download the game from the official stores, without downloading the application from untrustworthy sources.
A number of video game-related apps and tools have also been made that promise tricks, hack and advantages, but often turn out to be just malicious software that may contain viruses. So you need to pay attention to what you download and especially from which source.
In the first version of the app on iOS devices, the game required all permissions for theGoogle account of the user. This means that Pokémon GO could access Google user's profile information, emails, documents, contacts. This bug was fixed fairly quickly with an update, which allowed access only to the username and email address, improving the privacy management.
Despite this, the information collected by the video game is still a lot, including: GPS location, IP address, browser type, operating system, the web page visited by the user before accessing Pokémon GO, the pages and the time spent on their services. All these data are kept for a commercially reasonable time, as can be read on the official website in the privacy section.
In the terms of use of theapp Pokémon GO you can also find a lot of other information, for example it is said that by downloading and installing the application, then accepting the terms of use, users agree not to bring Niantic to court.
Pokémon GO, privacy and security: conclusions
After analyzing some aspects of privacy and security Pokémon GO, here are some useful tips to protect your data:
- Do not download unofficial and third-party apps, they may contain viruses
- Update the app to fix any security bugs
- Check the permissions and permissions required by the software
These tips apply not only to Pokemon GO, but in general to any application. In this way we can fight applications that are harmful to devices and to our privacy.
