“AccuWeather was unaware the data was available to it.

But Accuweather is trying to make light of this blatant breach of trust by claiming that it was not even aware that Wi-Fi network information was being stored on RevealMobile’s SDK. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been known to sanction companies that indulge in such deceptive practices to undermine users’ privacy preferences. Bluetooth status – whether it is turned on or offĪnd even if a user turned the location services off, Accuweather would still have access to the BSSID or the Wi-Fi router name, which in itself is enough for RevealMobile to find out the approximate location of a mobile device.

The name and ‘BSSID’ of the Wi-Fi router being used.Exact GPS coordinates, including the speed and altitude of the device.

Accuweather is in the news because a security test by researcher Will Strafach has exposed a serious privacy breach by the popular weather forecast app: Accuweather has been sharing its users’ geo data with a third-party company even when location sharing is switched off.ĭuring a 36-hour test carried out on an iPhone, Accuweather sent the following information to data monetization firm RevealMobile a total of 16 times: Accuweather is making headlines, but not because thousands of people used it to find out the optimal viewing conditions for the Great American Eclipse recently.

Accuweather app not working