A lot of us are getting swept up in the whole HQ / GameShow phenomenon, myself included. I'll admit, it's fun to play a game for money from the comfort of my own home, even if it's on
However, I was curious how exactly these apps were making money when it seems like they would be hemorrhaging money like no tomorrow. I'm sure most of us assumed they were mining information from us somehow, so I decided to look into their Privacy Policy to see exactly what I was giving away.
GameShow
CashShow's privacy policy is pretty short and to the point:
Some parts I'd like to highlight:
Device Information: We collect information about your device such as your hard
drive model, operating system version, unique device identi?er and mobile data
usage.
Local Storage: We may access browser storage, Including data stored in HTML5.
as well as the data cache of an app in order to collect Information from your
device (including personal Information) and save It locally.
So, yeah, the company's intent is to gather information for the purpose of selling to ad agencies, no surprise there. With that being said, I'm not comfortable with a trivia game taking the liberty of digging through my browser history to see what kind of lotion I like to buy. Also, the wording of how it gathers the data cache of "an app" is probably a grammar mistake, but since using the app indicates our acceptance of these terms, CashShow could very well upload data from any app on your device. Now, I know that Android DOES implement some form of app sandboxing, but since it already seems to have the permissions to go through the browser data saved on the device, it's very possible that it will have access to anything else saved anywhere else. This is why is SUPER important to look at the permissions being requested by apps you want to download.
At least the policy also says they don't transfer your data to third parties, aside from partners who agree to keep it confidential, so that's nice.
HQ
HQ's Privacy Policy was quite a bit longer than CashShow's, and they try to cover more bases:
These three images show the portions of the Privacy Policy relating to how they record your IP address when you use the app. While they state that they do not use this information in a manner that can personally identify you, they also state that they DO record your web browser, IP address, cookies, and mobile identifiers. The next bullet goes further by stating that they also gather your unique device ID, network information, phone model, and how it is communicating with their app and network.
So, yeah, they're probably full of shit.
They can also find out where you live if you have your GPS on. Maybe they'll come visit me so they can look through my mail for data, too.
Yep, if you submit "content" to the app, they can keep it forever, even if you delete your account. And they're free to give it to third parties, along with all the other data they've gathered.
And last, but certainly not least, THE KICKER:
In some cases, we may choose to buy or
sell assets. In these types of
transactions, user information is typically
one of the transferred business assets.
Gee, could you take me out to dinner first before you fuck me? Sorry folks, we're not players. We're assets. This is the exact same thing that goes on with any social network or website; if you're not paying for it, you aren't the customer; you're the product.
Now, I know this post has been a lot of doom and gloom, but this is a good opportunity for everyone to realize that this is pretty much how the internet operates now-a-days. Data mining is a very lucrative business, and businesses will use anything and everything to get in on it. If you choose to continue playing, just be aware of what's going on, and try to keep yourself safe. I always recommend to my friends to look into getting a good VPN for keeping their traffic private, as well as using browser extensions like Ghostery, HTTPS Everywhere, and the like to prevent websites from giving me nasty stuff. While you're at it, maybe start getting into the habit of using stronger passwords, I use Bitwarden because I'm cheap and don't want to pay for anything, plus it'll make strong passwords for me and save them, then plop them in when I need them.
As for mobile devices, I really don't know what's out there. If you don't have a rooted phone (which I don't), you only have so many options for preserving privacy. Just take advantage of Google's warnings on permissions when you download stuff on the Play Store, and I'm sure Apple does the same on the App Store.
Alright, that's all I got. Stay safe out there.
