Meta halts phone and browser tracking tools after researchers expose user snooping

• Meta and Yandex were spotted using covert tracking techniques
• The techniques violated Google Play policies
• The code was mysteriously removed after being pointed out by researchers

Meta and Yandex have been accused of dodging privacy protection requirements by associating users with their web browsing activity and cookies through native Android applications using Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica trackers.

The method involved gathering data through the localhost function built in to many native Android apps which is used for testing purposes.

Following the release of research by computer scientists at IMDEA Networks, Radboud University, and KU Leuven, the script associated with the data extraction and user tracking was removed.

Covert tracking in Android apps and browsers

Specifically, the tracking was spotted on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram apps, as well as Yandex's Maps and Browser.

The apps use localhost, which ...