79 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
79 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
AppCheck – Privacy Monitor
|
||
==========================
|
||
|
||
A pocket DNS monitor and network filter.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
## What is it?
|
||
|
||
AppCheck helps you identify applications that communicate with other parties.
|
||
|
||
Join the [Testflight beta][testflight] or look at the evaluation results [appchk.de].
|
||
|
||
|
||
### How does it work?
|
||
|
||
AppCheck creates a local VPN proxy to intercept all network connections.
|
||
For each connection, AppCheck looks into the DNS headers only, namely the domain names.
|
||
These domain names are logged in the background while the VPN is running.
|
||
AppCheck does not need to be active all the time.
|
||
|
||
|
||
### What about privacy?
|
||
|
||
Your data belongs to you.
|
||
Therefore, monitoring takes place on your device only.
|
||
AppCheck learns only the destination addresses, not the actual data that is exchanged.
|
||
The app does not share any data with us or any other third-party – unless you choose to.
|
||
|
||
|
||
### How can I contribute?
|
||
|
||
AppCheck allows you to record app-specific activity.
|
||
You can share these recordings with the community; it can help you and others avoid phony applications, even before you install an app.
|
||
|
||
Join the [Testflight beta][testflight]
|
||
|
||
## Features
|
||
|
||
- See outgoing (DNS) network requests in real-time
|
||
- See the history of previous connections
|
||
- Block unwanted traffic based on domain names
|
||
- Record app-specific activity<sup>1</sup>
|
||
- Apply logging filters (block or ignore) and display filters (specific range or last x minutes)
|
||
- Sort results by time, name, or occurrence count
|
||
- Context Analysis
|
||
- What other domains often occur at the same time?
|
||
- What happened immediately before or after the action?
|
||
- Export results for custom analysis
|
||
- Alert Monitor & reminder
|
||
- Participate in privacy research
|
||
- Contribute your results
|
||
- See what others have unveiled
|
||
- How much traffic does this app produce?
|
||
|
||
|
||
<sup>1</sup> Due to technical limitations, recordings can not be restricted to a single application. Remember to force-quit all other applications before starting a recording.
|
||
|
||
|
||
## Research Project
|
||
|
||
This research project is an effort to shine a light on the background activity of iOS apps, making the otherwise hidden network connections visible to everyone.
|
||
The goal is to make privacy more accessible to the general public.
|
||
And thus create incentives for app developers to respect users' privacy.
|
||
|
||
We want to offer users, activists, data protection authorities, and data protection officers an easily accessible and flexible tool to assess the privacy measures of iOS applications.
|
||
AppCheck allows users to:
|
||
|
||
- get a visual overview of an apps communication signature
|
||
- assess how an app ranks within its peer group or category
|
||
- influence the ranking according to their preferences
|
||
|
||
The evaluation results page is at [appchk.de].
|
||
|
||
|
||
[testflight]: https://testflight.apple.com/join/9jjaFeHO
|
||
[appchk.de]: https://appchk.de/
|