Our Commitment to Privacy and Compliance in the Mobile Digital Age

Over the past few months, there have been plenty of conversations surrounding mobile privacy. From Apple's changes to Identifiers for Advertisers (IDFA) significantly impacting mobile attribution methods to the SEC's swelling interest in alternative data and the importance of maintaining policies to protect both investors and consumers, it seems that now more than ever there is a responsibility for SaaS providers to proactively express diligence and vigilance regarding data privacy and security practices.

We've put together a brief summary of how Sensor Tower is implementing, improving, and working towards an even more secure compliant platform for digital intelligence. If you have any questions about how we view privacy, security, and compliance, contact us at legal@sensortower.com.

PII and User Information Policy

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is the most critical set of information for any mobile user. PII can be used to determine an online user's identity, and includes but isn't limited to the user's name, email, home address, phone number, geolocation, etc. In some cases it can also include even more sensitive information such as the user's social security number and financial information. PII is the main point of focus not just for well-known data protection policies like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but it is also the subject of regional legislation like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Sensor Tower works diligently to comply with the strictest measures and ensure that user privacy and security standards are applied equally for all users of our product. In our first-party panels, we are transparent with users about the data we do collect and employ protective techniques such as de-identification and differential privacy algorithms to anonymize and safeguard user identity and limit collection to only information that is needed. We practice a level of concentrated, purposeful minimization for this kind of data to maintain the highest level of privacy and security.

As data privacy regulations and protections evolve, we are continuing to pay close attention to ensure that we continue to maintain the highest level of compliance.

IDFA and User Tracking Policy

Another critical privacy topic is the use of mobile app-tracking technologies for ad-targeting purposes—the most well-known technology being Apple's IDFA, but also including the Android-focused Google Advertising ID (GAID). Apple in particular has recently taken a strong stance against this kind of technology, implementing a new feature within iOS 14.5 that gives all iPhone users more granular control over which apps are able to track their behavior.

IDFA (and by extension, GAID) has never been used to supplement any Sensor Tower product. We have only ever gathered probabilistic metrics to determine ad behaviors, such as Share of Voice (SoV) and Impressions, and have never offered attribution data that is commonly associated with companies in that industry. In fact, much of Sensor Tower's data can be used to mitigate the reduced visibility companies experience with the deprecation of IDFA. As blended metrics become the industry standard for audience targeting in the wake of these changes, we're able to offer our customers critical signals that shape their paid digital and mobile campaigns with the inclusion of our Pathmatics product.

As the overall impact of IDFA and GAID—and their potential continued deprecation—on both users' privacy and the companies that are reliant on that data has yet to be fully understood, we're continuing to pay close attention to the way our metrics can support and champion security and privacy-focused practices for digital intelligence.

Global Compliance and Regulation Measures

The world of digital user privacy and security is an ever-evolving place, where standards for compliance continue to shift as the market's understanding of the environment grows. From financial regulatory diligence and compliance requirements of financial firms to more global security and privacy requirements that elevate the industry standard for data protection, SaaS platforms in particular are continually evaluating the best ways to provide the highest level of protection for end users and beyond.

Sensor Tower works diligently to ensure it has the appropriate policies, procedures and controls in place to protect personal and confidential information, and to provide innovative products that are compliant with applicable laws and regulations. We have a longstanding policy of openness and transparency regarding these data practices so our customers can use our products with confidence and assurance that they are meeting their own external and internal data vendor requirements.

Stay tuned for more information and updates on our extended commitment to regulatory compliance and auditing.

The Future of User Privacy and Security

As more of the world turns to digital and mobile as a primary channel for everyday life, the influx of information and the overall risks posed will only grow. At Sensor Tower, we take user privacy and security seriously at every step of our process, thinking critically about how our data can be further conditioned to protect everyone involved. We're looking forward to delivering even more transparency around our privacy and security practices, and to showing exactly why major companies, regulatory bodies, financial and journalistic institutions trust Sensor Tower to deliver safe, accurate mobile and digital intelligence.