Los Angeles Alleges the Weather Channel App Deceptively Mined User Data for Profit

cageymaru

cageymaru

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The city of Los Angeles is suing the Weather Company for deceptively marketing location services in its Weather Channel app as only used to localize weather reports. In fact it is alleged that consumers had their private geolocation information data mined by the intrusive tool masquerading as a harmless weather app. The lawsuit alleges the information was used for commercial purposes such as targeted advertising and hedge funds as it was sent to IBM and its affiliates for such purposes. At no point in the process were consumers notified of this behavior which would have given them a reason to comb through the lengthy privacy policy. The Weather Company even considers itself as a "location data company powered by weather." It brags that the Weather Channel App is "the world's most downloaded weather app," with approximately 45 million users monthly.

The Weather Channel app allegedly tracked users on a second-by-second basis; noting every step they took, places they visited, time at each location, job, time at home, where they live, etc. The user did not have to be using the app for this tracking to occur as the app performs these tracking routines automatically. The data collected by the app could be used to accurately identify consumers using the app. Information such as consumer daily habits, preferences, and much more is collected and sold for profit by these companies operating in the $21 billion location-targeted advertising industry. The lawsuit referenced can be viewed here.

The permission prompt does not disclose that TWC will share geolocation data with third parties, nor that geolocation information will be used for advertising or other commercial purposes unrelated to weather or to the services that the app provides. The permission prompt also fails to reference or link to any other source containing more detailed information about what users' geolocation information will be used for. Users therefore have no reason to believe that their geolocation information will be used for anything other than providing them with "personalized local weather data, alerts and forecasts," or other services directly relating to the app.
 
This is the main reason I distrust apps and have a few as possible on my phone. I especially don't use any that demand location services, but don't have any obvious need for it to perform the primary function for which they are touted.
 
After finding out when i open the app it sends data back to Facebook, (which i don't use facebook on my phone), i uninstalled that app. I've been weary of that app for a while now and this stuff just confirms it for me.
 
Makes me wonder if the carriers who preload bloat like Facebook are accomplices. It came on my phone, and I can't even uninstall it without rooting. I can disable it, but who knows what processes might lurk and I do notice a facebook installer process.
 
It's funny when I hear from coworkers how their 1 or 2 year old iphone has gotten so slow. I take a look and it's chock full of apps and I do not doubt that even when not used, those apps are all phoning home / mining personal data or other dastardly deeds and sucking battery power all the while.

For me personally, as a Android user, I only load the apps I actually use (like banking). No social crap other than Instagram (since I like to look at the purdy pictures). There is no reason for me to give any companies info on my personal business (other than Google of course, since they own my damn phone) especially when their app isn't even on / running.

That is just plain bullshit.
 
It's been known for a while and it's why I won't let it touch any device I control. Surprised it took this long for a lawsuit.

I'm like dvsman, I only install stuff I know, use, and trust. Most apps are aggressively killed off from memory as well.
 
SomeoneElse said:
After finding out when i open the app it sends data back to Facebook, (which i don't use facebook on my phone), i uninstalled that app. I've been weary of that app for a while now and this stuff just confirms it for me.
Click to expand...

Try NWS Now
 
dvsman said:
It's funny when I hear from coworkers how their 1 or 2 year old iphone has gotten so slow. I take a look and it's chock full of apps and I do not doubt that even when not used, those apps are all phoning home / mining personal data or other dastardly deeds and sucking battery power all the while.

For me personally, as a Android user, I only load the apps I actually use (like banking). No social crap other than Instagram (since I like to look at the purdy pictures). There is no reason for me to give any companies info on my personal business (other than Google of course, since they own my damn phone) especially when their app isn't even on / running.

That is just plain bullshit.
Click to expand...

so what you're saying is you don't think "the apps you use" aren't doing this too?

this is why i use a "dumb" phone
 
It was a sad day with Wunderground was bought by Weather Channel and their bloated webpages.
 
Lith1um said:
It's 2019. Corporate psychopaths are gonna psychopath.
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But there's no reason to acquiesce and let them do it. Prison is a viable alternative for such corporate types who engage in mass fraud and/or deception.
 
The weather channel's website is hot F'ing garbage, I can't think of a page with longer load times and failures to load. The fact their app is crap is not surprising.
 
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What alternative to this app is there? I mean, weather Channel bought Weather Underground a while back, right?
 
bos said:
The weather channel's website is hot F'ing garbage, I can't think of a page with longer load times and failures to load. The fact their app is crap is not surprising.
Click to expand...
Try hitting SFGate.com with adblocking disabled . . . if you dare.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
What alternative to this app is there? I mean, weather Channel bought Weather Underground a while back, right?
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iOS built in one tells the weather, is there something this app does extra?

Edit: also didn’t Android have a widget you could add to the desktop?
 
steakman1971 said:
I bought the app Dark Sky. I can't say if it's any safer.
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Dark Sky is awesome. Although the last major update seems to have affected it's rain predicting accuracy negatively :(

Carrot Weather is also a pretty good app and I would be shocked if either are sending data to Facebook.
 
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