Apple and Google share personal data with the third parties?

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the US government lunched an investigation into smartphone app privacy. The experts started examining the ways the app makers collected the private data and the reasons they needed them. Also the investigators wanted to know whether the app users were aware that their personal details like their location or a unique identifier for the phone were collected. In case of users’ ignorance about such data collection the app makers will be charged with violation of federal computer-fraud law. 

Such investigation was started after the report published last December which has revealed that 56 out of 101 apps tested transmitted unique identifiers to other companies without users' awareness or consent. 

One of the most famous apps, involved in the investigation is Pandora, a free streaming radio service, which is widely-used by iPhone and Android-based phone users. It was reveled that the app makers shared with various advertising networks such information as users' age, gender, location, and identifiers for the phone. 

The WSJ reports that Apple Inc. and Google Inc. have already been asked to provide information about the app makers, whose applications they offer to users of iPhones, iPads and the Android-based phones.