Airbnb vs Booking.com

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Booking.com scores 67 and Airbnb 62, so Booking.com is 5 points ahead.

62of 100

Airbnbcom.airbnb.android

version 26.41

67of 100

Booking.comcom.booking

version 70.1 ahead by 5

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

Axes: Booking.com leads on 3 axes, Airbnb on 2 axes; 1 axis is level.
Trackers: Airbnb carries 7 trackers, Booking.com 7 trackers.
Dangerous permissions: Airbnb may ask for 8 permissions, Booking.com for 9 permissions.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security level

Airbnb 100 No security problem found.

Booking.com 100 No security problem found.

Tracking Booking.com +3

Airbnb 23 7 tracking tools found.

Booking.com 26 7 tracking tools found.

Build hygiene Booking.com +15

Airbnb 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.

Booking.com 86 The app passes 12 of 14 checks of how well it was built.

Packaging Airbnb +1

Airbnb 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 139 MB; 142 KB of it is unused files.

Booking.com 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 203 MB; 1.4 MB of it is unused files.

Access Airbnb +6

Airbnb 24 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Booking.com 18 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Background Booking.com +20

Airbnb 54 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

Booking.com 74 Runs 1 kind of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersAirbnb 7 · Booking.com 7

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Airbnb

Facebook SDKFacebook ShareGoogle AnalyticsSingular

In both

Firebase AnalyticsGoogle AdMobOpenTelemetry (OpenCensus, OpenTracing)

Only in Booking.com

AppsFlyerFacebook FlipperFirebase PerformanceGoogle Tag Manager

Dangerous permissionsAirbnb 8 · Booking.com 9

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Airbnb

READ_CONTACTS

In both

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Only in Booking.com

READ_CALENDARWRITE_CALENDAR

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Airbnb, Booking.com.