Android sends 20 times more data to Google than iOS sends to Apple, study finds

Whether you have an iPhone or an Android device, it constantly sends data including your location, phone number, and local network details to Apple or Google. Now, a researcher has provided a side-by-side comparison that suggests that while iOS and Android collect handset data around the clock, even when devices are inactive, right out of the box, or after users have opted out. , Google mobile OS collects about 20 times more data than its competitor Apple.

IOS and Android, said researcher Douglas Leith of Trinity College in Ireland, transmit telemetry data to their mother ships even when a user has not signed in or has explicitly configured privacy settings to opt out of this collection. . Both operating systems also send data to Apple and Google when a user performs simple tasks such as inserting a SIM card or navigating the handset’s settings screen. Even when idle, each device connects to its main server every 4.5 minutes on average.

Apps and more

It wasn’t just the operating systems that sent data to Apple or Google. Preinstalled applications or services also made network connections, even when they had not been opened or used. While iOS automatically sent Apple data from Siri, Safari, and iCloud, Android collected data from Chrome, YouTube, Google Docs, Safetyhub, Google Messenger, the device clock, and the Google search bar.

The table below shows a summary of the handset data sent to Apple or Google when the user is not logged in:

What makes Android stand out, Leith said, is in the amount of data it collects. On startup, an Android device sends about 1MB of data to Google, compared to iOS sending to Apple about 42KB. When idle, Android sends about 1MB of data to Google every 12 hours, compared to iOS which sends about 52KB to Apple over the same period. In the United States alone, Android collectively collects approximately 1.3TB of data every 12 hours. During the same period, iOS collects around 5.8 GB.

Google does not agree

Google disputed the results, saying they were based on flawed methods of measuring the data collected by each operating system. The company also argued that data collection is an essential function of any device connected to the Internet.

In a statement, a spokesperson wrote:

We identified flaws in the researcher’s methodology for measuring data volume, and we disagree with the paper’s claims that an Android device shares 20 times more data than an iPhone. According to our research, these results are shifted by an order of magnitude, and we shared our methodological concerns with the researcher before publication.

This research largely describes how smartphones work. Modern cars routinely send basic data about vehicle components, their safety condition, and maintenance schedules to car manufacturers, and cell phones operate in a very similar fashion. This report details these communications, which help ensure that iOS or Android software is up to date, services are working as expected, and the phone is secure and running efficiently.

In the background (meaning Ars is not allowed to name or quote the spokesperson), the rep said it was inaccurate to say that a user can opt out of any telemetry data collection. by the Google operating system. The Android usage and diagnostics checkbox does not cover telemetry data that Google considers essential for the device to function normally. Telemetry information collected by the Device Configuration Service, for example, is needed to update and apply patches to the operating system.

The spokesperson also took issue with the methods used by the researcher to measure the amount of data collected by iOS. The experimental setup they used did not capture certain types of data, such as UDP / QUIC traffic, which is typically transmitted by smartphones.

Apple representatives did not respond to an email requesting comment.

24 hour collection

Leith performed his measurements using a Google Pixel 2 running Android 10 and an iPhone 8 running iOS 13.6.1. The iPhone was jailbroken using the Checm8 exploit. The Pixel had Google Play services turned on.

In total, the study, available here, measured the amount of data collected by the devices:

• at first start after a factory reset
• when a SIM card has been inserted or deleted
• when a handset was inactive
• when the settings screen has been viewed
• when localization has been activated or deactivated
• when the user has logged in to the preinstalled App Store

Leith said that the data collection by both operating systems is of concern as it is easily linked to name, email address, payment card data and possibly other devices including the user. has. In addition, constant connections to back-end servers necessarily reveal the IP address of the device and, by extension, the general geographic location of the user.

“Currently, there are few, if any, realistic options to prevent this sharing of data,” Leith wrote.