Nike and H&M are among the clothing companies that collect and share the most personal data. In its latest analysis, the Incogni service points out many brands with poor confidentiality practices.
Data privacy specialist Incogni conducted a revealing analysis on clothing shopping apps, which we were able to view. Particularly popular brands like Nike, H&M, Puma, The North Face and Under Armor are now being singled out for their excessive collection of sensitive data. Others outright collect information related to sexual orientation, health information, but also photos, videos and messages, sometimes without the explicit consent of users.
H&M and Nike, particularly data-hungry
Incogni examined no fewer than 180 popular wearable apps. The service reveals worrying practices, with the conclusion that 45 of the applications studied (Nike, H&M, Victoria’s Secret) collect photos, 12 (Vinted in particular) collect videos, 9 (Puma, Victoria’s Secret) search histories and 6 ( Nike SNKRS, Zalando) information about sexual orientation. One brand (Myntra – Fashion Shopping App) even shares health data.
Among the brands scrutinized, Nike and H&M stand out by collecting an average of 14.4 data points, but also sharing a lot of information, 8.5 on average. The two giants are among the 10 most collecting applications. In total, 24 apps (including Adidas) share photos with third parties. Here is what the two actors collect and share with third parties:
- Nike collects user’s name, geolocation, email address, phone number, postal address, purchase history, photos, in-app search history, payment information.
- H&M collects the same data as Nike, but additionally shares name, geolocation, email address, phone number, postal address, purchase history and search history within the app.
The North Face, the king of data sharing
Nike and H&M are notable examples, but other brands are not left out. The North Face shares a lot of data with third parties (almost all of the data it collects), even more than H&M, with the exception of photos, which on the other hand applications like Adidas share. Puma, for its part, also shares around a dozen pieces of data, including all your contact details and search history in the broad sense on the app.
Incogni encourages consumers to be thoughtful about the data they share and demand increased transparency from apps. The analysis highlights that some data collected goes beyond what is necessary to provide the service, imposing the need for careful review of data collection practices in the area of clothing shopping apps.
Finally, note that on a global level, it is in Australia that the most data is collected, on average 16 per clothing application. Europe comes in second place, with 14.2 collection points on average. On the other hand, it is on the Old Continent that the actors share the greatest amount of data: 9 on average.
Source : Unknown (you will find this detailed data there)
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