Trump Campaign App's Data Grab Could Expose Everyone in Your Contact List, Experts Say

Donald Trump’s campaign app may be putting “America First,” but experts say it's not necessarily prioritizing users’ privacy. The Trump campaign’s smartphone offering seeks to collect and store the contents of users’ address books –– potentially vacuuming up large quantities of personal data about individuals who have never used the application and who may be unaware that it’s in the hands of the campaign. The app, titled "America First," was quietly launched on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store as a free download recently. In a series of interviews, several electronic privacy experts expressed concerns about the scope of the Trump campaign app’s data collection techniques, even though all of the methods appeared legal. The experts warned that users may be unwittingly handing over personal data about themselves and their contacts –– potentially exposing all involved to undesired campaign communications, or, at worst, a host of abuses in the event of a malicious data breach.