Weather apps are useful, whether we’re at home or travelling abroad. It helps with planning the day; deciding when it will be best to go out, having a braai, going on a hike, planning a pool party, and so on.
The golden rule is that you should never rely on these apps entirely. If you’re planning a big event and expecting rain, there should be a backup plan in place.
But have you ever wondered how weather apps work? You may have noticed they sometimes show different readings, depending on which app or platform you use. Given that weather apps are used often, if not multiple times a day, are we fully aware of what the dangers are when it comes to accessing such a basic app, especially a third-party one?
Google and Apple have default apps built-in that are arguably safer to use because third-party apps are regarded as some of the most dangerous apps one can download.
Apps and weather services get data from various sources, like global weather stations, satellites, government satellites, meteorologists, radar, or weather balloons. The tools commonly used to gather data are weather satellites and a Doppler radar.
One of the most popular weather apps by downloads is AccuWeather, which happens to use its own patented technology called “RealFeel Temperature”, but it is not an openly shared technology. It uses resources from a user’s device such as gyroscopes and barometers to collect information. The temperature is determined by wind, humidity, sun intensity, clouds, precipitation, etc.
Another weather app called WeatherSignal uses smartphones to map the world. After using data collected from devices including the accelerometer, battery temperature, magnetic flux, etc, it measures pressure and temperature and combines it with information received from users. Essentially, the more users it has, the more accurate it is.
As popular as it is, AccuWeather was actually caught selling user data to third-party apps back in 2017, even when users had their location turned off. Other apps such as the WeatherBug and the Weather Channel were also sending precise location data to third-party services.
There are many articles out there telling us why it’s better to use a first-party app (Google and Apple) and to avoid third-party ones. Given the number of data breaches, hacks and information being dumped on the web, we also unwittingly give companies access to our data when we download these apps.
If you want to avoid being tracked, rather use a browser to check the weather, and while cookies are a factor, you could use a VPN or a private browsing tab.
Being tracked from a random app is not limited to weather apps. Be wary about what you download and read any privacy labels to understand what data you are willing to give up. It’s usually not worth it.
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