As shoppers gear up for the holiday season, Surfshark investigated the data collection practices of the 10 most popular shopping apps in the US, finding that US-based apps tend to collect more data compared to their counterparts in China and Canada. For example, Amazon collects 25 unique data types out of 35, but among Chinese apps, Alibaba is the most data-hungry, collecting 19 unique data types.
“Scrolling through tempting deals on Temu, Shein, Amazon, and other shopping apps is a Black Friday tradition for many. However, before downloading any shopping app, people should consider whether they are truly willing to trade their privacy for a discount,” says Miguel Fornes, Information Security Manager at Surfshark. “Many shopping apps collect far more data than people realize, and this extends beyond purchase history. Some apps can even gather sensitive information such as political views, racial background, or biometric and health data.”
The Amazon shopping app is the most privacy-intrusive. It collects 25 unique data types out of 35, Walmart and Costco each collect 23, and Whatnot — another US-based app — collects 20. Among Chinese apps, Alibaba is the most data-hungry, collecting 19 unique data types, followed by Temu with 17, Aliexpress with 16, and Shein with 15. The Canadian app, Shop, collects 19 data types, which places it on par with the most data-collecting Chinese app.
All the analyzed apps collect information such as email address, name, payment information, physical address, user ID, search history, and product interaction. The majority of these apps also gather device IDs (except for Temu), phone numbers (except for Shein), photos or videos (except for Shop), and location data (except for Shein). Additionally, most of this collected data is directly linked to individual users, enabling these apps to build comprehensive user profiles, which raises privacy concerns.
Some of the data collected by these shopping apps is surprising and even bizarre. For instance, Amazon and Walmart collect sensitive information — which could include political opinions, racial or ethnic background, biometric data, genetic information, sexual orientation, disability status, or pregnancy details. Whatnot and Alibaba collect users’ contacts, such as contact lists from a user’s phone or address book. In addition, Amazon, Walmart, Whatnot, and Alibaba collect users’ voice or sound recordings.
According to Fornes, these abusive data collection practices can be very dangerous if an app is breached and information about a person is leaked. First, leaked bank account information and purchase history can lead to unauthorized charges, identity theft, and significant financial loss. Second, leaked sensitive information – especially sensitive data like political views or health data – can damage your reputation and financial standing, as health data rarely changes and may be used by insurance and healthcare companies. Finally, all this leaked data might fuel subsequent highly personalized phishing campaigns. Therefore, Fornes advises:
- Don’t download apps you don’t need. If you only shop on Amazon occasionally, accessing their website through a browser is more private than keeping the app installed. Besides, you may improve your battery or device health by offloading those.
- Grant permissions selectively. Only allow access to data essential and directly relevant to the app’s functionality.
- Revoke unnecessary permissions. Regularly review and revoke permissions you have granted. For example, go to settings, apps, app name, permissions on iOS, and change them. Remember the app will still work as intended after removing unnecessary permissions, but just triggering some informational notifications.
- Read the Privacy Policy and opt out of data sharing. Understand what data the app collects, how it’s used, and with whom it’s shared. Many apps offer options to limit data collection for advertising purposes. Look for these settings.
- Strengthen your account security. Use strong, unique passwords; enable two-factor authentication (2FA); consider having a dedicated virtual debit card or escrow payment methods (such as PayPal) for such apps or shopping at less-trusted sites.
For the complete research material behind this study, visit here.
Guest Post: The “qwerty123” is out: “admin” is Canada’s top password in 2025
Posted in Commentary with tags Nordpass on November 18, 2025 by itnerdNordPass, together with NordStellar, has released the seventh edition of its annual Top 200 Most Common Passwords research. In addition to identifying the most popular passwords globally and in 44 countries, this year, the research focused on understanding how the passwords used by different generations vary.
Most common passwords in Canada
Below are the top 20 most common passwords in Canada. The full list of global passwords and those from other countries covered by this research is available here.
Although cybersecurity experts keep repeating that simple passwords are extremely easy to guess using a dictionary and brute-force attacks, Canadians seem to ignore the warnings. Words, number combinations, and common keyboard patterns dominate Canada’s top 20 list.
This year, “admin” is the most common password in Canada, replacing last year’s top choice, “qwerty123,” while “123456” ranks second. However, different variations of the word “password” take up as many as three spots in Canada’s top 20 most common passwords list. Different numeric combinations take up six spots.
Researchers also point out that sports-related terms (e.g., “hockey”) are being replaced by swear words in some countries. But Canadians are too polite for that. Their top 20 lists for both last year and this year contain no profanities.
Global trends
Globally, “123456” is the most common password, followed by “admin” in second place, and “12345678” in third — another simple numeric sequence. Such weak patterns, ranging from “12345” to “1234567890,” along with common weak passwords like “qwerty123,” dominate top 20 lists across many countries.
Compared to last year, researchers observed a significant increase in the use of special characters in passwords. This year, 32 passwords on the global list include them, a notable rise from just six last year. The most common special character in passwords is “@,” and most of the passwords are unfortunately no more complicated than “P@ssw0rd,” “Admin@123,” or “Abcd@1234.”
The word “password” remains one of the most popular passwords worldwide. It’s used both in English form and in local languages in nearly every country we studied — from Slovak “heslo” and Finnish “salasana” to French “motdepasse” and Spanish “contraseña.”
“Generally speaking, despite all efforts in cybersecurity education and digital awareness over the years, data reveals only minor improvements in password hygiene. The world is slowly moving towards passkeys — a new passwordless authentication method based on biometric data — but in the interim, until passkeys become ubiquitous, strong passwords are very important. Especially since around 80% of data breaches are caused by compromised, weak, and reused passwords, and criminals will intensify their attacks as much as they can until they reach an obstacle they can’t overcome,” says Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of product at NordPass.
The myth of the “digital native”
Research shows that for Digital Natives — those who grew up immersed in the online world — extensive exposure to technology doesn’t automatically translate into a strong understanding of fundamental password security practices or the severe risks associated with poor choices.
“The password habits of 18-year-olds are similar to those of 80-year-olds. Number combinations, such as ‘12345’ and ‘123456,’ are in the top spots across all age groups. The biggest difference is that older generations are more likely to use names in their passwords,” says Arbaciauskas.
Research reveals that Generations Z and Y rarely use names in their passwords, preferring combinations like “1234567890” and “skibidi” instead. The use of names in passwords becomes more prevalent starting with Generation X, peaking among Baby Boomers.
Among Generation X, the most popular name used as a password is “Veronica.” For Baby Boomers, it’s “Maria,” and for the Silent Generation, it’s “Susana.”
The full list is available here.
Password safety tips
According to Arbaciauskas, a few basic rules can greatly improve digital hygiene and help avoid falling victim to cyberattacks due to irresponsible password management:
Research methodology
This report is the result of a joint effort between NordPass and NordStellar together with independent researchers specializing in research of cybersecurity incidents. Recent public data breaches and dark web repositories were analyzed for passwords exposed from September 2024 to September 2025, with statistically aggregated data extracted. No personal data was acquired or purchased for this research.
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