Do apps hog your personal data? Yes. But which of them collects the most data? The answer might surprise you.
A recent report from research firm Apteco underscores persistent concerns about personal data harvesting by mobile applications, revealing that social media platforms are the biggest collectors of user data. This comes amid ongoing reminders, including recent warnings about alleged covert tracking by tech giants like Meta and Yandex, that sensitive personal data remains vulnerable.
Apteco’s latest study, which specifically examined “Data linked to you”—the type of information directly traceable to an individual’s identity—revisited Apple’s privacy labels to identify “who’s collecting most of your data” in 2025. The findings confirm that “Social media apps are the most data hungry,” with “contact information (such as your name, phone number and home address)” being the most frequently collected personal data. However, the scope of harvested data extends significantly beyond these basic details, as demonstrated in Apteco’s comprehensive table detailing data accessed during their testing.
Meta apps top the list of the most data-hungry platforms
Apteco’s top-10 list of data-hungry applications is heavily populated by global social media brands, many of which boast hundreds of millions, if not billions, of users. Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and Threads acquire the top three positions, followed by LinkedIn, Pinterest, Amazon Alexa, Amazon, YouTube, X and PayPal. Although the report doesn’t recommend deleting these widely used apps, it urges people to be acutely aware of the data being collected.
Four years after Apple’s introduction of App Privacy Labels shed light on data practices for iPhone users, it remains clear that when a product is offered ‘for free, the user often becomes the product. Subsequent reports have consistently shown that apps frequently request access to data and functions beyond what is necessary for core features, a practice identified as straightforward data monetisation.
In response to these findings, users are strongly advised to proactively review and adjust permissions granted to applications on their devices. This includes critically assessing access to sensitive data like location and considering limiting such permissions to “only when using the app” or requiring manual approval for each instance of sharing. Users can also opt for less precise location data.