If you are not concerned with ads & data scraping, Pi seems safe

Pi Network’s privacy policy lays out a data collection and sharing policy for building an advertising business with limited concern for its users’ privacy. Its observable data collection and sharing efforts are also in line with its privacy policy.

We wouldn’t advise users who value their privacy to be using the app if they don’t expect to gain significant benefits from the app.

However, Pi Network’s data collection approach is similar to other social networks like Facebook in the sense that they collect almost all data they can get from users and use them in optimizing advertising. So users who do not value their privacy do not have much more to lose by using the app if they are using social media apps. They can view the app as safe by their criteria.

What is Pi Networks’ privacy policy?

They collect users’:

• Personal data: Contact and identity information (e.g. email address)
• App usage data:
  • Correspondence with the app including responses to surveys
  • Other app usage information
• Advertising related data: Marketing information including how you engage with ads

With these, they build detailed user profiles including device information (e.g. hardware, OS version), their contacts (i.e. their phonebook), location, log information (e.g. access times, usage). They can share all of this data with advertisers after de-identification or aggregation however there are no details on how such de-identification or aggregation would be performed.

We don’t like the fact that these policies are listed on the Pi Network app developer, SocialChain’s website rather than the Pi Network website. This confuses users who think that these privacy policies do not apply to app users, as seen in a Redditor’s comment.

What data does Pi Network collect?

We haven’t analyzed the data packages sent. However, one of our readers reviewed the permissions that the app takes and it includes quite broad permissions. On top of these permissions, all data shared while using the app could be collected. These are in line with the broad data collection policies outlined in their privacy policy.

Please note that there are 2 types of Android permissions on a high level:

• Normal permissions: The app can take them without requesting permission from the user. Advertising apps make broad use of these permissions and Pi Network does the same.
• Dangerous permissions: User needs to explicitly allow the app to use these permissions. You can see them highlighted in the image below

Normal permissions

These permissions include:

• View wifi & network connections (ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, ACCESS_WIFI_STATE)
• Run at startup (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED)
• Read settings & shortcuts in home (READ_SETTINGS)
• Recognize where the app was installed from (BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE)
• And other permissions as outlined by the Exodus Privacy team

Dangerous permissions

Users need to explicitly enable permissions including these:

• Read contact information (READ_CONTACTS)
• Change system settings (WRITE_SETTINGS)

This is based on static review of the Android app. So this is not proof that these permissions are being used. It indicates intention by the app developer to collect these data points. We focused on the Android app since that is what most users use.

Who does Pi Network share this data with?

Pretty much any advertising platform including

• Advertising and monetization services, some of which include analytics & user profiling capabilities: AppLovin, ironSource, OneSignal, Pangle, Tapjoy. For example, AdColony delivers full screen video ads in the app
• Trackers of tech giant’s advertising platforms: Facebook Ads, Google AdMob

Same disclaimers as the above analysis apply as these results are based on static code analysis.

This is not a full list. Pi Network could also sell the data to advertisers in bulk. These analyses are based on looking at the marketing trackers embedded in the app.

Try it yourself

You can replicate the analysis by

• Installing AppManager an open source Android package manager.
• Analyzing version 1.30.3 of the Android Pi Network app

Or you can check out the app on Play Store to see some of the more invasive permissions that it requests.

What do you stand to lose from using Pi Network?

The more data is shared, the more value it generates. As more users use the data to generate value, there is more value generated. However, if the data source is negatively impacted by the use of data, then the more its data is used, the more it is harmed. For example, the more parties discover data about a location with valuable oil reserves, the more likely it becomes that someone will buy the area and extract the oil.

Personal data enables companies to monetize people’s time and attention which are both finite resources. That is why governments putting so much effort in regulating access to personal data via regulations like GDPR and CCPA. The more widely shared your personal data, the more effectively it will be monetized. The choice is yours on who you share your data with and how you spend your time.

And finally, Pi Network is not the worst app when it comes to data privacy. Apps like the Bee Network provide even more data directly to anonymous parties in China.

Now that you know what it costs to use the app, you may check what you get in return. We reviewed Pi Network in detail to estimate whether Pi Network could generate significant value for its users.