Many Netflix users received the prompt to access their physical activity data while they were watching something on Netflix, it is obvious that many people did not allow, but it turned out to be a shock when a few people complained their devices had been accesses without taking prior permission or displaying such prompt.
Hey @netflix why does your Android app want physical activity data? pic.twitter.com/Lv0QUL0w9g
— Beto on Security (@BetoOnSecurity) July 27, 2019
Netflix is one of the top android applications to watch web series and presently there are 139 million Netflix subscribers in the world. Incidents such as these could hint an upcoming threat because it is related to the privacy and safety of people. The company has affirmed that they who started this test and asked for their users’ physical activity data. It was no cyber-crime. Accordingly, Netflix was running a test on its users’ devices. They started it to provide exceptional video quality for playback videos. They finally announced the test has been completed and presently, they are not planning to make any changes to the app.
“We are continually testing ways to give our members a better experience. This was part of a test to see how we can improve video playback quality when a member is on the go. Only some accounts are in the test, and we don’t currently have plans to roll it out” – Official statement by from Netflix
The test has been completed, users are still wondering their exact purpose for requesting access to their physical activity data. We are living in a technical age where all our physical activities and location are recorded by our own devices. And Netflix accessing our activity log is actually something to be worried about. Everyone is wondering their intentions for requesting private information. What does video quality has to do with physical activity log?
You might have understood with the data and facts how Netflix has leading the race when it comes to popularity and subscribers, and that is why the responsibility of the brand also increases as they need to ensure its users’ privacy and safety. We hope Netflix very well understands the responsibility and has full proof plans to protect the information they have gathered from their users.
