Privacy Lab has published details from its research[1] into 25 trackers hidden inside popular Google Play apps such as Uber, Tinder, Skype, Twitter, Spotify, and Snapchat. Publication of this information is in the public interest, as it reveals clandestine surveillance software that is unknown to Android users at the time of app installation. These trackers vary in their features and purpose, but are primarily utilized for targeted advertising, behavioral analytics, and location tracking.
The 25 trackers are a sample of the 44 identified-to-date by security researchers at Exodus Privacy, a non-profit organization based in France. Their Web-based privacy auditing platform, also named Exodus, analyzes apps available via Google Play. Exodus scans apps for the signatures of known trackers and identifies Android operating system permissions. To coincide with Privacy Lab’s publication, the Exodus organization has made its app auditing platform available to the public at https://exodus-privacy.eu.org and is releasing the code as Free and Open-Source Software.[2]
source: Yale University Privacy Lab, https://privacylab.yale.edu/press.