As part of a series of articles on privacy, a couple of journalists from the Wall Street Journal designed a system to intercept data transmitted by applications on both the iOS (iPhone, iPad) and the Android platform. Among 101 popular apps that were tested, 56 were found to transmit the device's unique ID to other companies without permission; another 47 transmitted data that could lead to identifying the phone's location. Five blatantly sent age, gender and other personal data to third parties.

Existing rules were found to be skirted, underscoring the huge privacy risks in a world where smartphones and tablets are increasingly common, and where these devices are usually taken by their owners everywhere. While there is no quick or easy solution, remarks by those in the business of collecting and selling personally identifiable information highlight the urgency of the task.

Speaking to WSJ, Meghan O'Holleran of Traffic Marketplace, an Internet ad network that is expanding into mobile apps, said: "The great thing about mobile is you can't clear a UDID like you can a cookie...That's how we track everything."

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Wall Street Journal

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