Online privacy and VPN firm Surfshark in their latest report – Game on! Which mobile gaming apps are the most data-hungry? – has revealed that 38 out of 50 most popular mobile games are the most data-hungry apps.

The apps require multiple permissions and collect user data for third-party advertisements or usually for anyone in general who is willing to pay for it. At times, the data can also be used by the government when needed to monitor activities of certain people or for any other security-related reasons.

The top five countries with the highest usage of these data hungry gaming apps include Canada, Germany, Australia, Hungary and the United States respectively. India ranks in the bottom half while China is among the countries consuming the least amount of data hungry games despite having very strict data collection laws.

A detailed study reveals that some of the most popular games like Scrabble® GO, Call of Duty Mobile, Candy Crush, 8-ball pool, Carrom Pool: Disc Game, Subway Surfers etc. are the most data hungry mobile games.

Many of these games collect data through various permissions that they ask for the first time a player launches a game and most of the time players grant these permissions without even checking if they are actually required with Roblox going as far as collecting search history.

A spokesperson for Surfshark, Gabriele Racaityte–Krasauske said, “A significant number of gamers are unknowingly granting permission to share their personal data, unaware of where it ends up.”

While data collection is necessary for gaming, players need to be aware of what kind of permissions a game is seeking. Several apps are uploaded on a daily basis on app stores which makes it difficult to verify each app quickly. Players are advised to go through the list of permissions they are expected to give to the game before they download.