Warning: *Privacy Not Included with this product
Abide is a Christian meditation app started by former Google employees back in 2013. This app offers Bible-based daily meditations, sleep stories, and podcasts included in a yearly subscription that costs around $40. The Abide app was recently purchased by the Christian publisher Guideposts, which we found out when we attempted to contact Abide for answers to our privacy related questions. The customer service representative who was unable to answer our questions seemed a bit frazzled by the merger. Hopefully things will settle down and the email listed in Abide's privacy policy for questions about their privacy practices will work better in the future. As for your privacy on Abide, well, their privacy policy is rather vague, so we're left with more questions.
Je, jambo gani linaweza kutokea mambo yakienda mrama?
You know what privacy researchers really can't abide? Vague privacy policies like Abide's. Why would companies be vague about what personal information the collect and how they use it unless they want to have lots of wiggle room in their privacy policies to collect a lot of personal information and use it in ways that go beyond the scope of the product they provide? Is that what Abide does? Who knows, we just can't tell.
What kind of personal information does Abide say they can collect? Well, they're vague about that, of course. They say, "We collect certain personal information, like your name, picture, email address and any other information you provide to us," which doesn't tell us much. How do they say they use this information? Well, again, here they are vague. They say can use it for your standard business practices like providing information you request, sending emails, and facilitate the use of their services. Then they say they use the information they collect "for any other purpose for which the information was collected." Which, uh, that feels kinda broad and undefined, right?
Interestingly, the words "marketing" and "advertising" do not appear anywhere in Abide's privacy policy. Does that mean Abide doesn't use your data for those purposes? Hard to say. What Abide does say is they can use information they collect "for any other purpose for which the information was collected." which is a rather vague and confusing statement to us. Abide also doesn’t specifically state in their privacy policy that they don’t sell user data, which is something we like to see stated clearly. We can hope Abide makes their money through their subscriptions to the service and sharing their users' data for undefined purposes.. 🤞🏼 We just can't tell though.
Finally, Abide doesn't meet our Minimum Security Standards because we were able to login with the weak password "11111111". So, what could happen if something goes wrong? Well, would it be wrong of us to say we just don't know but we pray nothing bad ever happens? We do worry though, as other prayer apps like Pray.com have been reported to do a whole bunch of data profiteering on their users. We wish we could be sure Abide doesn't do the same, but we aren't sure of that at all.
Vidokezi vya kujilinda
Do not provide consent for sharing personal data with third parties, whenever possible.
Ensure you have a strong password! The app will not prompt you to do so.
Unaweza kunichunguza?
Kamera
Kifaa: Haihusiki
Programu: Hapana
Kipaza sauti
Kifaa: Haihusiki
Programu: Hapana
Inafuatilia eneo
Kifaa: Haihusiki
Programu: Hapana
Unaweza kutumia nini kujisajili?
Barua pepe
Ndiyo
Simu
Hapana
Akaunti ya mhusika mwingine
Hapana
Kampuni inakusanya data gani?
Ya kibinafsi
Name, picture, email address
Shirika linalohusiana
Kijamii
Je, kampuni inatumiaje data hii?
Unawezaje kudhibiti data yako?
Je, rekodi ya kampuni inayojulikana ya kulinda data ya watumiaji ni gani?
No known privacy or security incidents discovered in the last 3 years.
Taarifa ya Faragha ya Mtoto
Je, bidhaa hii inaweza kutumika nje ya mtandao?
Maelezo ya faragha yanayofaa watumiaji?
Viungo vya taarifa za faragha
Je, bidhaa hii inakidhi Viwango vyetu vya Chini Zaidi vya Usalama?
Usimbaji fiche
Nenosiri thabiti
Allowed us to register with '11111111'. They require 8 characters minimum, but do not check if a password is strong.
Masasisho ya usalama
Inashughulikia hatari
Sera ya faragha
Chunguza kwa Kina
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Nothing Sacred: These Apps Reserve The Right To Sell Your PrayersBuzzFeed News
Maoni
Una maoni? Tuambie.