When an app says it's collecting data for technical support or analytics purposes, it seems innocuous but a report by TechCrunch and The App Analyst found a number of iOS applications that went much further without informing users. The apps mentioned, including Air Canada, Abercrombie & Fitch, Expedia, Hotels.com and others used analytics software from a company called Glassbox that embeds "session replay" tech to show them exactly what users are doing.

Whatever buttons are pushed or information entered is recorded, and worse, while the feature can be configured to prevent recording of sensitive data like credit card numbers, they didn't always block it out fully. By using man-in-the-middle software to intercept data going to Glassbox's servers, The App Analyst showed how this happens in Air Canada's app, where it could screenshot credit card info and user passwords.