Amtrak’s Ionic app ranks as one of the safest apps to use

As of December 2020, Apple has required all apps in the App Store to report their data collection practices. Once added by developers, users can view the app’s product page to see which data is linked to them or used to track them.

A recent report from the secure storage service pCloud highlighted the “most invasive apps”—the apps that are most likely to share your personal data with third parties. We were thrilled to learn that Amtrak, one of our customers, made the list of safest apps to use to protect your personal data.

https://blog.pcloud.com/invasive-apps/, March 2021

As seen on its iOS app store page, the only data Amtrak collects relates to its app’s functionality, such as Purchases (to book travel by train) and Location (to find station information near you).

Securing Customer Data with Ionic’s Native Security Suite

While privacy is one risk, so is the risk of a data breach or unauthorized access to customer or company data. Research shows that such incidents are on the rise.

Amtrak is a shining example of a company that takes data protection and security seriously to mitigate this risk. It does not collect data to share with third parties for marketing purposes, and takes measures to secure customer data using best-in-class mobile security offered by Ionic’s Auth Connect and Identity Vault security solutions.

Auth Connect makes single sign-on easy by providing a single API for authenticating with popular auth providers. Combined with Identity Vault, which adds mobile biometric authentication features including data at-rest encryption and fingerprint and facial recognition, it’s a robust security solution built for enterprises building mission-critical apps.

Diving deeper than the typical open source plugins on the market, these solutions are built and maintained by Ionic’s mobile security experts. They include features like regular patches and upgrades, timely responses to any security vulnerabilities, and access to professional services and support.

In light of these advanced security measures, Amtrak customers can rest easy knowing their personal data is secure.

Privacy-Conscious Apps Win Over Consumers

If you’re publishing apps on the app stores, it’s a good idea to take a look at your data collection practices. Aside from diagnostic data used to troubleshoot and fix app issues, many companies simply don’t need to collect the amount of data that they’re currently gathering. Even companies that are “only” sharing marketing or advertising data are effectively giving up control over how that data is used and stored. And if one of those third parties suffers a security breach, companies run the risk of withstanding significant brand damage from the subsequent data loss. Taking this risk seriously is a key differentiator as consumers become increasingly privacy-conscious.

To the Amtrak team: Kudos. We’re proud to have you as a customer. To learn more about how Amtrak delivers a cutting-edge mobile experience to riders, check out our recent case study.