Data-hungry browsers: the choice of 90% of users worldwide?

What are the top three apps you can’t live without? Bet your browser is right up there. The funny thing is, we spill our deepest secrets to this little tool — searches, locations, financial details, personal questions — without even realizing it’s a low-key data collector.

Interestingly enough, the browsers that collect the most data are often the ones we use the most. However, there’s a concerning aspect: 30% of the analyzed browsers collect your data for third-party advertising — whether that means showing ads in your app or sharing your info with companies that do.

Surfshark researchers have prepared some handy insights on what data your favorite browser collects. Well, don’t blame us if you finally decide to branch out for a while and look for a less data-hungry engine.

Key insights

• Among the 10 browsers analyzed, Chrome is the most data-hungry, collecting 20 different data types across numerous categories. These include contact info, financial details, location, browsing history, search history, user content, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics, and other types of data. Chrome is the only browser that collects financial information, such as payment methods, card numbers, or bank account details. It is also the only browser that collects a list of contacts from the user’s phone, address book, or social graph. To put this into perspective, the other 9 analyzed browsers collect an average of only 6 data types, with the Bing app being the second most data-hungry, collecting 12 data types.
• In contrast, privacy-focused browsers like Brave and TOR are designed to minimize data collection. Brave collects a limited set of data types, specifically identifiers and usage data. TOR goes even further, standing out as the most privacy-centric browser by collecting no data at all. It is specifically designed to protect user anonymity and prevent tracking, making it an excellent choice for those prioritizing maximum privacy and security.
• 40% of the analyzed browser apps collect users’ locations. Safari, Chrome, and Opera collect coarse location, which refers to a user's or device's location with less precision than exact latitude and longitude. Bing is the only app that collects precise location data. 60% of apps don’t collect location information, indicating that it is not necessary for a browser app to collect user location in order to function. This raises concerns about why some browsers collect this data and how it is used.
• Opera, Bing, and Pi Browser collect data for the purpose of third-party advertising, such as displaying third-party ads in your app or sharing data with entities that display third-party ads¹. Only 30% of analyzed browser apps collect data for this purpose.
• Pi Browser, Edge, and Bing collect data that is used to track you. This data could be sold to data brokers or used to display targeted advertisements in your app¹. Pi Browser collects five such data types: browsing history, search history, device ID, product interaction, and advertisement data. Meanwhile, Edge collects data generated by the user during a customer support request, while Bing collects user ID.
• Browsers such as DuckDuckGo and Firefox fall into a moderate category in terms of data collection, avoiding the most sensitive data collection practices. They gather information in areas like contact information (name, email address), identifiers (user ID), usage data, and diagnostics, offering a balance between functionality and privacy. These browsers may suit users with moderate privacy concerns but still require robust browsing capabilities.
• Chrome and Safari are the most popular browsers worldwide, accounting for 90% of the mobile browsers market share³. In these countries, mobile browser popularity is as follows: USA: Safari 50%, Chrome 43%, Other 7%; UK: Chrome 47%, Safari 43%, Other 10%; Germany: Chrome 54%, Safari 31%, Other 15%; France: Chrome 74%, Safari 18%, Other 8%; South Korea: Chrome 43%, Safari 35%, Other 22%; Taiwan: Chrome 46%, Safari 44%, Other 10%.
• It's important to differentiate between data collected automatically and data users provide voluntarily. For example, browsers like Chrome collect some data by default, while users may choose to save financial details for convenience. In the context of data collection, it's crucial to recognize that much of the data gathered when using Chrome is also due to Google services, such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google Maps. These services are deeply integrated with Chrome and also collect user data.

Methodology and sources

We identified the 10 most popular web browser apps in the United States using AppMagic² by selecting the time period of 2025, with the tag browser, and store: iPhone App Store. Additionally, we added Safari to the list because it is installed by default on iPhones. Then we analyzed the privacy details of these apps on the Apple App Store. We examined if the apps collect data for the purpose of “Third-Party Advertising”, whether they collect any data linked to the user, and checked information about the collected data types.

Data was collected from:

References: