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App tracking is widespread: 18 of 40 apps in Surfshark’s September 2026 study reported collecting browsing history.
Data can create detailed profiles: Combining location, searches, purchases, websites, and app activity can reveal patterns about everyday behavior.
Privacy tools are available: iPhone’s App Privacy Report and Google Play’s Data Safety disclosures help users understand app data practices.
A phone can reveal far more than messages or photos. Recent research shows that ordinary apps can collect details about websites, searches, purchases, locations, device use, and app activity. A September 2026 Surfshark study checked 40 popular Android and iOS apps across social media, e-commerce, messaging, and generative artificial intelligence.
The study found that 18 of 40 apps, or 45%, reported collecting browsing history. Social media showed the highest rate, with 9 of 10 apps reporting this type of collection on at least one platform.
The result matters for everyday phone use. A single app may collect one type of information, while several apps can create a much broader picture when separate data sets meet. Location, search history, purchases, websites, contacts, device IDs, and usage details can reveal habits and interests without any single piece of data telling the full story.
Google Maps can store location data through Google Account controls. Google says Timeline can create a personal map of places, routes, and trips. With Timeline active, precise device location can be saved regularly on eligible mobile devices, even when Google apps are not open.
Google offers automatic deletion after 3, 18, or 36 months, or an option to keep data until manual deletion. Search Services History can also save activity from Search, Maps, Shopping, Hotels, Flights, Translate, and News.
Instagram reports browsing-history collection on both Android and iOS in the 2026 Surfshark study. Facebook reports the same result, as do TikTok, X, YouTube, and Pinterest. These six social media apps can use browsing data to create a clearer picture of interests, support targeted ads, and shape feed content around websites visited outside the app.
Reddit, LinkedIn, and Snapchat showed a different result. Surfshark found browsing-history collection on Android but not iOS for these three apps. Discord stood apart from the social media group in this test. Surfshark found no reported browsing-history collection on either platform.
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Amazon Shopping has a broader data profile than simple product searches. A separate August 2026 Surfshark study of 171 Apple App Store apps found that Amazon apps often collect device IDs, email addresses, names, performance data, product interaction data, and crash data. Amazon Shopper also reported browsing-history collection. A 2025 Surfshark study found that Amazon collected 25 of 35 examined data types among popular U.S. shopping apps.
eBay, Shopee, and Shopify reported browsing-history collection on both Android and iOS in the September study. Taobao reported it on iOS, while AliExpress reported it on Android. These apps can connect browsing interests with product activity, which gives online retailers more information for recommendations and advertising.
Rakuten Viber, Messenger, and LINE also reported browsing-history collection. Google Gemini stood alone among the generative AI apps in the 40-app study, with reported browsing-history collection. Poe formed part of the study sample after Surfshark replaced Windsurf, which lacks a mobile app.
WhatsApp, Uber, and Spotify also represent common activity-heavy app categories, although the September 2026 Surfshark browsing-history study did not include them in its 40-app sample. WhatsApp can involve contacts and communication metadata, Uber relies on trip and location data for core services, and Spotify can record music and podcast activity as part of account use.
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Chrome, Safari, and Edge reported browsing-history collection in Surfshark's separate browser analysis, while Firefox, Aloha, and DuckDuckGo did not. The distinction matters: a browser can access a large record of web activity, while another app can also collect browsing information outside a traditional browser.
Apple gives iPhone users a direct way to inspect app access. App Privacy Report shows access to location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts, and other sensitive resources during the previous seven days. The report also shows network activity and frequently contacted web domains.
Android offers Google Play Data Safety, which requires developers to describe data collection, data sharing, security practices, and other privacy details. Google also requires developers to keep those disclosures accurate and consistent with privacy policies.
A major 2026 development also came from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. On June 26, 2026, the FTC announced an order against data broker Kochava that prohibits the sale, licensing, transfer, sharing, or disclosure of sensitive location data without affirmative express consent under the order's stated conditions. The FTC said Kochava had faced allegations tied to location data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices.
The larger issue now extends beyond one app. Maps can reveal places, social platforms can reveal interests, retailers can reveal purchases, browsers can reveal websites, and AI tools can record prompts or account activity. Each category offers a different view of digital life. The combined picture can become far more detailed than any single app suggests.
1. Which popular apps reported collecting browsing history?
Surfshark’s September 2026 study found browsing-history collection reported by apps including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, Pinterest, Amazon Shopping, eBay, Shopee, and Shopify, among others.
2. Does Google Maps track my location?
Google Maps can store location information through Google Account features such as Timeline when location history is enabled. Users can also configure automatic deletion periods.
3. How can I check what apps access on my iPhone?
Apple’s App Privacy Report shows access to sensitive resources such as location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts, along with network activity from the previous seven days.
4. How can Android users check app data practices?
Google Play’s Data Safety section provides developer disclosures about data collection, sharing, security practices, and related privacy information.
5. Why is app tracking a privacy concern?
Information collected by different apps can potentially be combined to create a detailed picture of interests, routines, purchases, locations, and online behavior.
