TWITTER CAN NOW SEE WHICH APPLICATION YOU HAVE INSTALLED....(HOW TO PREVENT THIS...)

Twitter has started Snooping on users smartphones and tablets in order to know which apps they have downloaded.

The company has started collecting  list of applications installed on those smartphones and tablets so that " it can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in."

In a  support article ,it was said that the additional data collection will allow Twitter to make better recommendations on who to follow, as well as insert contents that you may find interesting into your feed. 

The new feature, which Twitter has named "app graph," could tie in with the company's recently announced Instant Timeline feature which takes new users' areas of interest and the people their contacts follow, and serves up a feed created for them in order to better personalise Twitter from day one. 

By collecting data about other installed apps, the feature would be better positioned to create a more relevant starting timeline.

Twitter can also use the collected information to place more targeted adverts. Or, as Twitter puts it," insert contents that you may find interesting into your feed".

Twitter says it will only record the list of apps you have installed, not how they are used.

So, for example, Twitter will be able to see that you have Spotify on your phone, but not that you're listening to the same 80s classic over and over and over again.

While entry into the new tracking system is automatic and opt-in by default, Twitter has promised to alert users when the new feature is turned on.

We will notify you about this feature being turned on for your account by showing a prompt letting you know that to help tailor your experience, Twitter uses the apps on your device. Until you see this prompt, this setting is turned off and we are not collecting a list of your apps.

If you don't want your apps to be snapped up by Twitter's data gobblers, here's how to turn it off:

Twitter for Android

1. Tap the overflow icon (looks like 3 vertical dots)
2. Choose Settings.
3. Select your account
4. Under Other, turn off Tailor Twitter based on my apps.

Twitter for iOS

1. Tap the Me tab, and then the gear icon
2. Choose Settings
3. Select your account
4. Under Privacy, turn off Tailor Twitter based on my apps.

Once you option out, app graph data will be removed from Twitter and stop future collection.

But if the option is not available, then Twitter hasn't started tracking you yet.

Also if you feel like stopping the collection before it's started, you simply turn on Limit Ad Tracking on your iOS device by going to Settings and Privacy.

If you're an Android user, go to Settings, tap the Google account, choose Ads and then turn on Opt out of interest-based ads.