Infographic: Study highlights iOS app privacy pitfalls

Analysis by researchers with security vendor BitDefender has highlighted the large number of iOS apps for the iPhone and iPad that make seemingly unnecessary access to users’ personal information.

BitDefender studied more than 65,000 apps and found a significant proportion — 18.6 per cent — accessed users’ contacts without seemingly needing to for their normal operation. “It’s unlikely that almost of a fifth of all apps need Adress Book info to function,” a statement from BitDefender said, cautioning that many of these apps are likely to be accessing contact details without users realising.

The study also found that a large number of the apps — almost 40 per cent — didn’t encrypt stored data. Forty one per cent of the apps tracked a user’s location.