Native Apps Should Be Avoided Whenever Possible

Native apps collect vastly more data than websites through embedded third-party tracking software, requesting permissions to hardware and background processes that browsers restrict, with collected location data and device identifiers frequently sold to government agencies including military, intelligence, immigration enforcement, and police departments. The article uses the White House's official 2026 app as a cautionary example, revealing it falsely claimed zero data collection while actually containing ten analytics frameworks continuously tracking GPS coordinates and transmitting data to commercial servers. The author recommends avoiding app installations whenever possible, using websites instead, and revoking unnecessary permissions.