As concerns around digital privacy reach an all-time high, a growing number of users are beginning to question just how much their favourite apps really know about them.

According to AI prompt experts platform  – AIPRM, an astonishing 85% of users have deleted an app over privacy concerns, while 82% are now actively opting out of data tracking features.

With over 7.2 billion smartphones in use globally — including tens of millions in Nigeria — the scale of potential data collection is staggering.

Meta Leads the Pack in Data Collection

It’s perhaps no surprise that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, leads the list of companies collecting the most user data.

Both apps use more than 86% of personal data to target users with relevant ads and push their own products.

With over 3.4 billion daily users globally, including millions across Africa, Meta’s platforms represent the largest funnel of digital behavioral data.

Behind Meta is fintech giant Klarna, which uses 64% of consumer data for marketing purposes. The company recently faced a £570,000 fine for breaching the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Uber and Uber Eats follow closely, collecting 57% of personal data for advertising — and have also come under regulatory fire. In 2024, Uber was fined €290 million by Dutch authorities for unlawfully transferring European taxi drivers’ data to U.S. servers.

The Worst Apps for Data Sharing

While collecting user data is one issue, sharing it with third parties adds another layer of concern. Instagram (79%) and Facebook (57%) top the list again for data shared with external parties.

Professional networking site LinkedIn shares 50% of user data and was fined €310 million in 2024 for failing to comply with GDPR transparency requirements. Uber Eats, YouTube, and travel app Trainline were also flagged for sharing at least 43% of their users’ data with third parties.

Nigeria’s Digital Landscape: What Can You Do?

With Nigerian mobile and app usage surging — and a robust local ecosystem of digital products and e-commerce platforms — awareness around data privacy is critical.

Christoph Cemper, founder of AIPRM, highlights the hidden risks of unchecked app permissions:

“Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated, and apps often collect more data than necessary without fully disclosing how it’s used. Users rarely read privacy policies, leaving them in the dark.”

He advises users to:

• Review privacy labels in app stores before downloading.
• Use tools like Android’s Privacy Dashboard or iOS’s Privacy Settings to monitor app access.
• Consider third-party services like AppCensus to analyze what data your apps are collecting.

Key Findings

• Shopping and food delivery apps, notably Amazon Shopping and Wish, are the most data-hungry among various app categories.
• Amazon Shopping collects the most data points in its category, while Wish leads in linking and tracking user data.
• On average, shopping and delivery apps collect 21 out of 32 possible data points, with 95% linked to the user’s identity.
• Facebook and Instagram top the list of privacy-invasive apps, collecting all 32 data points, as defined by Apple.

The research highlights shopping and food delivery apps, particularly Amazon Shopping and Wish, as leading categories in user data collection, posing significant privacy concerns.

More than a third of shopping & food delivery category apps’ data is tracked (such as shared with a third-party advertising network or data brokers).

Research is aided by a free App privacy checker tool where users can select the specific apps they have on their phone and receive a report on the extent of data collection.

“Analyzing 100 popular apps on the App Store, we’ve found a concerning trend: nearly 20% of collected data is used for tracking. Such tracked data can be shared with third-party advertisers or data brokers, who use it to deliver personalized ads targeting the users, or aid companies in market research,” says Agneska Sablovskaja, Lead Researcher at Surfshark. “Understanding an app’s privacy policy is crucial for safeguarding digital autonomy.”

Shopping and food delivery apps collect more data points than average  

On average, shopping and delivery apps collect 21 out of 32 possible data points. Moreover, these apps link the most data to the user — 95% of collected data points are linked to the user’s identity.

According to the data privacy trends report, such apps tend to use collected data to track the user the most — a third of collected data points are used for these purposes.

Wish could be named the most data-hungry app within shopping & food delivery apps category, collecting 24 out of 32 data points, linking almost all data points to the user’s identity, and using over a third of data to track its users. That’s considerably more than the average of 15 collected data points across all 100 examined apps.

Around 40% of data points collected by Wish and DoorDash are used to track the user, like email address, precise location, and purchase history.

Out of the analyzed shopping & food delivery apps, only one — Amazon — does not use data to track its users. But it collects most of the unique data about the user (25 of 32 possible data points), and also, also all the collected data is linked to the user’s identity.

If we look at food delivery apps specifically, Uber Eats stands out as tracking (sharing with third parties) the most data points out of the collected (12 out of 21), such as phone number, physical address, search history and more.

GrubHub tracks 11, Instacart – 10. 10 analyzed Shopping & food delivery apps were: Amazon Shopping, eBay Marketplace, AliExpress, Etsy, Wish. DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Deliveroo, Instacart.

Around half of the 100 analyzed apps collect search history and precise location

1523 data points are collected across 100 of the most popular apps. Statistically speaking, that’s an average of 15 unique data points per app out of the 32 unique data points defined by Apple.

Around 90% of the apps collect usage, diagnostic, and identifier data such as product interaction, user ID, device ID, crash and performance data. Most are essential for their app functionality.

Two-thirds of the apps collect your name and coarse location, and nearly half collect your precise location.

Coarse location is a more general estimation of where you are, while precise location is more detailed and accurate. Over a third of the apps collect your contacts, and a fifth collect your emails or text messages and browsing history.

Facebook and Instagram are the two most privacy-invasive apps. Both apps collect all 32 data points defined by Apple and are the only two to do so. Signal is also the only social media and messaging app to  make the top 10 most privacy-sensitive list.

It is the second least data-hungry app, collecting just 1 data point (phone number) that is not linked to you or used to track you.

Before downloading apps, it is recommended to check the developer’s reputation and data retention policies and pay attention to constant permission requests to access contact list, camera, storage, location, and microphone and limit the app’s access to information only when the app is in use.

Uber Eats announced an initiative with delivery bike media owner MotionAds that will give delivery people an opportunity to earn additional revenue through top box advertising in South Africa. 

The branded bikes hit the streets in June 2022 and delivery people on Uber Eats – in more than seven cities – can opt in to have their delivery bike’s top box branded through MotionAds. The income from these brand placements is expected to increase their net earnings by approximately 10%.

According to Uber Eats, this will create a new source of revenue for delivery people with the backdrop of inflationary pressures that come with the cost of running their businesses. “We are excited to be working with MotionAds as our platform only succeeds when delivery people succeed. Our commitment to delivery people is to continuously find ways of helping them maximize their earning potential by helping them get the most of their time on the road,” says Charles Mhango, Head of Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa at Uber Eats. 

MotionAds provides brands with a ‘moveable billboard’ solution, digital reporting on the bike’s movement and in-home flyer drop campaigns. The company has experienced significant growth over the past two years, largely due to the pandemic increasing home deliveries, which has enabled the company to build its network of delivery drivers across the country.

“From an advertising perspective, delivery people offer brands an impactful new advertising channel. They have unique access to the kitchen table and given the time bikes spend on the road, brands benefit from the significant exposure they generate. Our research shows us one bike gets an average of 300,000 ‘eyeballs’ (impressions) per month,” says Elan Band, co-founder at MotionAds.

As an economic contributor in SSA, Uber Eats believes easy access to good earning opportunities is more important than ever before. “The vast majority of delivery people want to work independently and choose this earning opportunity because they value the flexibility it brings, ” adds Mhango.

“MotionAds is excited to add delivery people operating on the Uber Eats platform to our growing network of delivery people that are earning additional income while going about their work as usual. “We already work with hundreds of delivery entrepreneurs and have seen the positive impact on their earnings,” says Jonathan Berkowitz, co-founder at MotionAds.

Uber’s commitment extends beyond improving earning opportunities. The safety of delivery people remains a top priority, with various safety features to help support their businesses.  Some of these features include In-App private emergency assistance button, a helmet detection and safety checklist, and 24/7 in-app support.

Additionally, delivery people have Partner Injury Protection provided by AIG Insurance which covers them from the time of acceptance of a request for delivery. They also have access to the Emergency Contacts feature, which will be used by Uber’s Incident Response Team to contact the delivery person’s relatives in case of an accident and/or for insurance purposes.

To mark its fourth anniversary, Uber Eats has revealed what makes for the most popular orders and delivery items in Kenya.

Business growth has taken off, in fact, orders grew by 5.2% year-on-year (YoY), with gross bookings growing by 20.7% YoY.

This was largely driven by a steady increase in first-time consumers, but also by deliberate upscaling and diversification of the Uber Eats platform through working with key restaurant partners and the addition and expansion of grocery and convenience orders. Since 2013, Uber and Uber Eats have collectively reached over 30 million riders and eaters in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are excited to be celebrating four years in Kenya. It has been phenomenal to see the impact that we have had on consumers, delivery people and restaurants. We initially began by having only restaurants in 2018 but have since expanded this to new categories with the goal of increasing engagement and loyalty with our platform. Our category selection currently has multiple key restaurant players in the industry, supermarkets such as Chandarana, pharmacies such as Good Life, flower vendors, gas shops, water delivery shops and – even pet food delivery, while working with a range of partners that cater to every pocket ” says Kui Mbugua, General Manager, Uber Eats Kenya.

The latest consumer trends from Uber Eats trends have shown that consumers use the platform to order a variety of items to their doorstep ranging from cauliflower, and aluminium foil all the way through to hot wings and baking flour.

In 2021, the smallest order was one banana, while our largest grocery order was over 12 items which included flavoured milk, long-life milk, chocolate, energy drinks, and coffee, to name a few.  Having delivered the most expensive food order worth KES 28,520 containing Avocado Burger, Bacon Avocado Cheeseburger, Beef Burger, Crispy Chicken Strips, Hot Wings and Masala Fries, Uber Eats has proven that people are able to find diverse food options on the app to suit their evolving tastes.

Since its launch, the number of partners signing up for Uber Eats has grown day by day. As a testament to the diversity of cuisines available on the app, Uber Eats trends indicate that the top four most frequented cuisines in Kenya include: American, Indian and Burgers and Pizza (Fast food).

Besides positively impacting the ordering habits of an increasing number of customers, Uber Eats has also made a striking change at eateries across the country with the increasing growth of “dark kitchens”.

Uber Eats has also witnessed entrepreneurs making use of the app in building their businesses to reach new customers and to get data on which items to focus on, and other information to improve their in-store and delivery operations. 

Kui Mbugua concludes: “As we look to the future we want to continue to provide our partners with the means to innovate their businesses and reach more customers, continue to offer economic opportunities to Kenya’s residents, and provide consumers with more options at the tap of a button.  We’re proud to play our role in Kenya’s diverse environment and look forward to creating more impact.“