16 Passive Data Collection Apps Comparison: Make Money 100% Passively (2018 Best Passive Apps)

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Holy shit. I don't get paid enough anything to do this. Let's jump right in.

Passive Data Collection Apps Comparison

This is by far the most requested comparison post I have ever been requested to make. In fact, I actually started writing this post in 2016. I have been working on this post on and off for about two years. A couple days ago I posted part one of this post, which is basically just a background on data collection and how companies have been stealing user data for years. It's a pretty interesting read (biased because I wrote it), but if you feel like reading that you can, but if you'd rather just start making money, feel free to skip it and read this post. I only have 39400 characters left for this post, so I'm going to try and make the best use of of them as possible.

Table Of Contents

Platform App/Site
Mobile DataWallet
Expense Rewards
AppOptix
Panel App
Smart Panel
MobileXpression
PhonePaycheck
Mobile Performance Meter
Money SMS
McMoney
Desktop DataCoup
Gomez Peer Zone
Both Nielsen Mobile Rewards
Achievement
SavvyConnect
Cross Media Panel

Mobile Passive Data Collection Apps

I've managed to find 10 passive data collection apps that I think a whole bunch of you are going to like. For those of you who are totally confused with what I mean when I say "passive data collection" a good way to describe it is that these apps will pay you just to have their apps installed, conditional that you're feeding them your personal data. Not all of these apps necessarily fit that definition, however, because some of these apps might not be collecting your personal data, but they are all looking to collect data, and you're helping with that in one way or another. Some of these apps are looking to collect information about how you interact with social media and the internet as a whole. Some of these apps are collecting data on how you use your phone. Others are testing how well your cell network works, and others are simply testing how text messages are sent/received.

Data Wallet (iOS | Android) Ref = 8w124qyh0t

With this one I figured it'd be fun to start with not only the most unique of all the apps I could find, but also an app that even some of the beermoney veterans reading this post probably have not heard of/used before. DataWallet is an app that acts as a data buying/selling marketplace, but the major difference between this app and all of the others on this list is that this app pays you in an ETH token, DXT. As of right now you can sign up for DX Insights, which can earn you up to 35 DXT per month. According to the app, that's approx. $6.30 per month, but if you take a look at the current Coinmarketcap price, you'll likely be seeing closer to $1 per month, since DXT is trading at ~$0.03 right now.

All in all, DataWallet isn't going to be the biggest earner (hopefully) for you, but who said this post is ordered from best to worst?

Pros of DataWallet:

  • Marketplace for buying/selling
  • Pays using ETH Token, DXT. (Pro/con depending on personal preference).

Cons of DataWallet:

  • Payouts are really low in comparison to other apps (as of posting).
  • Pays using ETH Token, DXT. (Pro/con depending on personal preference).
  • Only pays using ETH Token, DXT.

DataWallet Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? Yes
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Social Media, Amazon Purchases
Payout Speed Instant (?)
Referral System Yes and No1
VPN Required? No
Monthly Earnings Up to 35 DXT

1 They have a referral code on the app, and you can enter a referral code when you sign up, but after asking DataWallet what their referral program is, their response was, "that was a feature we had pre-tokensale. We are currently working on multiple options for a revised referral/signup bonus system."

Expense Rewards (iOS Coming Soon | Android) Ref = IMH1TY

Some of you might remember seeing Expense Rewards in my Save Money Passively post from a couple months ago, but a bunch of you reading this have probably never seen that post. That post is probably my favorite post of all time because it's just awesome to save so much money. Expense Rewards was featured in that post, but I think it is close enough to a data collection app that it qualifies to get some attention here too. I don't want to put too many of these types of apps on here, but if you do like what I have to say about Expense Rewards, I really recommend you also check out Drop and Spent rewards. I feature both of them in the post linked just above, and they are extremely similar to Expense Rewards.

Expense Rewards is an app that rewards you 5 points for every transaction you make using your credit card. (100 points = $0.05). If you'd like to know more specifics on Expense, I'd really recommend you read this post where I do a nice write up on it.

Pros of Expense Rewards:

  • Unlimited $0.05 per transaction.
  • Lots of gift cards to cash out to.
  • Low $2 minimum.
  • Instant Payments.
  • Nice Referral System.

Cons of Expense Rewards:

  • No PayPal.

Expense Rewards Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Bank Account/CC Transactions
Payout Speed Instant
Referral System Yes2
VPN Required No
Monthly Earnings $6.003

2 Referral system currently is $1 per person you refer to the app.

3 This is an estimate based on what I googled, which was an average of 4 credit card purchase per day per person on average, which is $0.20 per day, and $6 in a 30 day month. I've been finding way more than $6 per month, but I also spend about 10-30 times per day on my CC.

AppOptix (Android)

Whoaaaaa, we got an oldie boi here! AppOptix has been around forever am I right?

AppOptix is probably the most straightforward of all the data collection apps. Once you install the app you'll basically be stalked the hell out of, but you'll earn yourself 25 points (300 points = $10) every week you have the app installed. Once you reach 300 points you'll automatically receive an email with a $10 amazon gift card. That's it. Once you get paid, you start all over again and just keep going up from there. The app itself is terrible and hasn't been updated since Android Nougat was released, but it's extremely simple.

Pros of AppOptix:

  • Instant Payments.
  • Extremely easy.

Cons of AppOptix:

  • App is old and really clunky.
  • No choice for payment, just $10 Amazon GC.

AppOptix Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Everything about your device and device use.
Payout Speed Automatic & Instant
Referral System No
VPN Required? No
Monthly Earnings $3.334

4 Monthly earnings assume a 4 week month and 25 points per week, total 100 points per month, which equals rougly $3.33.

Panel App (Android | iOS) Ref

Panel App is another really old app that has been around or a long time. This app tracks your location, so as long as you have an internet connection and your GPS is on, you should be earning points! Panel App originally offered sweepstakes, but somewhere along the way they began to offer "guaranteed rewards" which value points anywhere from 1000 = $1 to 800 = $1, depending on cash out amounts. $1 cash out = 1000, but $25 = 20000.

Each day you have the app installed and running you should earn "up to 33 points" for a total of ~1,000 points per month. Here's an image that does a good job breaking the app down. All in all, you should end up getting about a dollar a month from this app. They also have a referral system that could help you earn a bit more. Their referral program is a classic 10% bonus program, so you'll get 10% of what your referrals earn. I don't really care about this app but if you're not using it feel free to use my ref link above. I appreciate it!

Pros of Panel App:

  • Low cash out minimum.
  • High cash out discount.
  • Easy to use app, lots of stats.

Cons of Panel App:

  • Really slow payments (2 weeks)
  • Not many cash out options.

Panel App Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Location Information
Payout Speed "Up to two business weeks"
Referral System Yes. 10%
VPN Required? No
Monthly Earnings $1

Smart Panel

Smart Panel is another site that will allow you to earn money passively each month for running their software on any device. If you'd like to you can run Smart Panel on your phone or you can run it on your computer. Regardless of the device, you'll be earning at least $5 every month that you have Smart Panel running. This is actually probably one of the highest, if not the highest paying panel on this list, but there are a couple drawbacks that I'll discuss later on.

One nice thing about Smart Panel is that you'll earn a "loyalty" bonus in addition (?) to the $5 you'll be earning each month. Per the site's FAQ:

You earn $5. Once the Smart App has been installed and active on at least one device per device category you own (PC's, tablets, smartphones) for 30 days, your rewards will become available to redeem. For every month that you use the Smart App, you’ll earn another $5. After your devices have been syncing with us for 90 days, you can earn a loyalty bonus of $5. After six months, you can earn a loyalty bonus of $10, after nine months $15, and every quarter after that another $15.

This is pretty nice because you'll be earning $30 (?) $5*3 + $15 bonus every quarter with the added bonus, after you've been a user for long enough.

The drawbacks? Smart Panel requires you to install a VPN to use it if you're planning on tracking smartphones and tablets. [Their FAQ]() references "VPN" 7 times, so if you have questions about the VPN use, I recommend reading that, but here's one quote:

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a secure, encrypted connection that allows your research data to be sent to us safely. The Smart App requires that mobile devices must have the VPN installed and active in order to be eligible to earn rewards.

If you're a frequent beermoneyer, you'll know that VPNs are often not allowed on sites/apps, and you could risk getting banned if you were to use them. I don't know what the implications of this VPN are, but know that you're using this at your own risk of getting banned on other beermoney apps/sites you use.

Historically there have been a lot of offers on GPT sites to sign up for Smart Panel. It might be a good idea to take a look at offer walls because you might be able to find an offer to get a bonus for signing up, why not stack beermoney?

Pros of Smart Panel:

  • High Paying
  • PayPal or Amazon :)

Cons of Smart Panel:

  • VPN Required

Smart Panel Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Everything.
Payout Speed ???
Referral System No.
VPN Required? Yes.
Monthly Earnings $105

5 Again this is taken from the conclusion of $30 per quarter (see my math above). I really hope that if this is inaccurate that someone will correct me. I'd like to again point out that I have never personally used Smart Panel.

MobileXpression

MobileXpression is very similar to Smart Panel, so I'm not going to write as much about it.

To sign up for MobileXpression you'll need to sign up online, and then download the app on your qualified phone. Just an important note to add, MobileXpression does require a VPN.

Each week you use the app you'll receive 2 points, and once you reach 10 points (just over a month) you'll earn a $5 gift card, or if you prefer you can save up 15 points for a $10 gift card. Payments are done in generally 1-3 days.

Historically there have been a lot of offers on GPT sites to sign up for MobileXpression. It might be a good idea to take a look at offer walls because you might be able to find an offer to get a bonus for signing up, why not stack beermoney?

Pros of MobileXpression:

  • Decent payouts

Cons of MobileXpression:

  • VPN Required

MobileXpression Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Everything.
Payout Speed 1-3 Days
Referral System No.
VPN Required? Yes.
Monthly Earnings ~$5.50

PhonePaycheck (Android)

Well, if you've been reading this post so far and you're curious why I say you can earn so much money each month from these apps, and you've been wondering what app is the one app that just crushes all the others in earnings, you're finally here.

PhonePaycheck came out last year and it only allowed 1000 users to join it. Just to clear any confusion here, it still isn't accepting any new users, so if you don't care to hear more about it, feel free to skip to the next app. If you still want to learn more, feel free read on so you know what this app is like once it does accept new people (assuming it will...).

This app is another one of those apps that borders being data collection or not being data collection, but I think I classified it as data collection so it could be in this post because I think that's its closest fit. This app isn't necessarily stalking you up like all the other apps, but this app does used your phone's processing power to help power their cloud. If you want to read more, check out their site.

If you get into this app you'll be able to use up to 5 devices, and if you have these running basically all day you should be able to earn ~$70-$80 per month. Payments done through PayPal.

Pros of PhonePaycheck:

  • High Paying af

Cons of PhonePaycheck:

  • Not accepting new users

PhonePaycheck Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Processor power.
Payout Speed ???
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $606

6 Extremely conservative.

Mobile Performance Meter (Android)

Mobile Performance Meter is probably one of my favorite apps on this list, not because it has any insane payouts, but because it's just an extremely well-rounded app in terms of how it works.

This app will track your cell service coverage and you'll earn a consistent $0.05-$0.20 every day you have the app installed and running, plus $0.50 each month you complete their really short survey. They pay you instantly via gift cards (Amazon) starting at just $1 (but you should save up for $5 because of the big fees at $1).

There's really not too much more to say about this app. It's one of the easiest to start using on this list for sure.

Pros of Mobile Performance Meter:

  • Easy to start using, 2 minute setup.
  • Instant Payments

Cons of Mobile Performance Meter:

  • No PayPal

Mobile Performance Meter Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Cell Data Coverage.
Payout Speed Instant
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $2-$8 (Average $3.50) 7

7 $2 is the payout for $0.05 per day, $1.5 in tracking per month plus $0.50 survey. $8 is the payout for $0.20 per day, $7.50 in tracking per month plus $0.50 survey. Most people who sign up will earn $3.50 per month, which is the payout for $0.10 per day.

Money SMS (Android)

Non-US users, rejoice! This app is for you! In fact, if you live in the US there's a really good chance you won't be able to use this app.

Money SMS is an app that pays you to receive texts... Here's their reasoning for it:

a lot of Telecom SMS providers and Mobile Network Operators need to send SMS test messages to foreign countries to verify and ensure proper delivery of their SMS routes.

It's actually really simple. Once you sign up you'll start receiving texts. From my limited experience with this app, you can probably expect to receive 1-3 texts per day, average likely being about 2. The texts are just random BS that you really shouldn't pay attention to.

Each text you receive is worth €0.02, so each day you can expect to earn about $0.05 with this app.

Pros of Money SMS:

  • Low cashout minimum.
  • For just about everywhere except the US.

Cons of Money SMS:

  • Not for the US.

Money SMS Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Text tracking.
Payout Speed ???
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $1.50

McMoney (Android)

Alright, I'm going to try and save some characters with this one. Scroll up and reread Money SMS and you've got something really close to McMoney.

McMoney is another app that sends you texts and allows you to get paid for it. This app is also not for the US (?) but I was able to sign up and I have been using it for a while, so YMMV.

This app is actually a bit better than Money SMS. Each text you receive is worth $0.06, and you can expect to receive anywhere from 0-5 texts per day, and i'd push the average to 2 per day, so $0.12 per day. $6 minimum.

Pros of McMoney:

  • PayPal
  • International users welcome!

Cons of McMoney:

  • Not for US users?

McMoney Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Text tracking.
Payout Speed 1-2 weeks.
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $3.608

8 Average of 2 texts per day for a month.

Desktop Passive Data Collection Sites

I've managed to find 2 passive data collection sites. There aren't too many sites that track your computers as much because most of what we do happens on our phones now, but there are a couple places that might be worth checking out so you can try and earn a bit more from your computers totally passively.

DataCoup

DataCoup is probably the closest thing there is on this list to DataWallet. DataCoup is a site that allows you to link various social media sites/apps or credit/debit cards (basically everything) to the site and you'll get paid for the more that you link. Every month you should get your data purchased, and depending on how much you have linked your projected value is probably going to be ~$1.

I do want to warn you. This site is actually sketchy and I actually want to recommend you not sign up for this site at this time. Last week I emailed them asking why they had not bought my data since 2016 and they never responded. I recommend scrolling to the comments to see if anyone has any recent experiences with this site, because if they've gone missing, there's no point in giving them free data. If anyone can confirm this site is working still or not working, please let me know so I can update this post.

Otherwise, this site has a $5 cash out minimum, they pay to your debit card, so instant payment? And direct to your bank account? I don't know. I've been stuck at $4.14 since 2016.

Pros of DataCoup:

  • Instant bank account/ debit card deposit (?)
  • Sell the data you want to sell.

Cons of DataCoup:

  • Dead?

DataCoup Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Social Media/Bank Accounts.
Payout Speed Instant (?)
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $1

Gomez Peer Zone

Gomez Peer Zone is similar to the oldest version of LoadTeam, if any of you remember that. Essentially they're collecting data about website load times. Here's their description of what they do:

PEER is a secure java application that runs in the background of your PC and leverages your system’s idle resources (such as unused processing power, RAM, and bandwidth) to test the performance of many of the world’s most popular websites.

Like a few other apps/sites on this list, I actually have not used Gomez Peer, so I can't be 100% confident with my information here, but I believe you either get paid for the time Gomez is running, or you get paid for the amount of time they are running tests while you have it running plus a $0.08 daily bonus.

If you're in the US, per their rates sheet, you should expect to earn $10.95 per month from Gomez Peer (number of minutes in a month * current rate == 43800*0.000249942). So, either that's what you should expect to make in a month, OR it's $0.08 * 30, or $2.40 per month + the bonus for when tests are running. I'm more confident it is the second of the two, so that's how I'm averaging the monthly earnings below. If anyone is an active user of Gomez Peer, please help me out with this so I can get this information as accurate as possible.

Again, I don't use Gomez PEER, but they do have a referral system where each user you refer will get $1 after they start earning.

Pros of Gomez Peer Zone:

  • INTL!
  • PayPal

Cons of Gomez Peer Zone:

  • Slow Payments
  • Uses processing power (in the background)

Gomez Peer Zone Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Website Loadings.
Payout Speed 10-15 days after cycle (45 days max?)
Referral System Yes.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $3.50

Desktop & Mobile Passive Data Collection Apps

Alright, we have finally made it to the final portion of the post. These are all apps & sites that will allow you to earn passively from both devices (ish?). There's one exception to this rule, and that's Cross Media Panel, but we'll talk about that once we get down there.

Nielsen Mobile Rewards

I want to be perfectly clear here. I have never used Nielsen Mobile Rewards, and I find the sign up process too complicated, so I've never bothered with it. A lot of the information I have about the app is done based on my own research as well as research done by /u/Garwald in his original post from 2 years ago that I have kindly borrowed for this post.

Nielsen is a massive company that is willing to pay you to let them take your data. They have a mobile tracking app, but they also have an app for your computer. From my research it seems like the one that gives you the good rewards is the mobile app, but if you still want to use the desktop app you can still earn entries to weekly/monthly sweepstakes. I wouldn't bother with the desktop version because it is probably extremely unlikely you'll win anything from that. The mobile version advertises $50 per year for using their service. The following information might be outdated/inaccurate, but according to /u/Garwald's original post, "All active members will receive up to 6,600 points per year for participating in the panel. As an example of how much the points are worth: 640 points = $5 amazon; which is about $50 a year."

Historically there have been a lot of offers on GPT sites to sign up for Nielsen. It might be a good idea to take a look at offer walls because you might be able to find an offer to get a bonus for signing up, why not stack beermoney?

Pros of Nielsen:

  • Consistent/old program.
  • Lots of gift card options.

Cons of Nielsen:

  • No PayPal (?)

Nielsen Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No (?)
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Mobile data &/o Desktop data
Payout Speed (?)
Referral System No
VPN Required No (?)
Monthly Earnings $4.16

Achievemint (iOS | Android) Ref Link

This app is another app that isn't totally a pure data collection app, but again I think that it is close enough that it deserves a spot on this list.

Achievement is an app/site that allows you to link up to 30+ apps that track your health, and earn up to 80 points per day. (10000 points = $10). I think if I ever get around to making a post just about apps that pay you to exercise this will also appear on it for sure.

Achievement has actually been around for a while now, and you'll be able to link just about any exercise app to it, so it's really basically passively getting paid for the exercise you do.

While they say you can earn up to 80 points per day ($0.08) you'll likely find yourself earning closer to $0.03 per day with natural walking habits, but you should see more if you link multiple different apps.

They actually just released a referral system, which advertises 100 points for each user who signs up and refers. It's a cute referral system and as always I do appreciate it when you use my referral link.

Pros of Achievemint:

  • Finally getting paid to exercise? yes pls

Cons of Achievemint:

  • you're getting paid to exercise what's not good about that?

Achievemint Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Step tracking.
Payout Speed ???
Referral System Yes.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings ~$0.90

SavvyConnect

Alright, I'm late in the post and I'm honestly really tired. I wrote a lot about SavvyConnect a couple years back and I'm honestly deleting all of it just because I feel like it might not be accurate, but I'm going to restate things, but with lots of (?) because I don't see anything about the information and it might not actually be accurate at all anymore.

SavvyConnect is a panel that pays you to connect devices and just use them as you usually do. According to what I've seen and wrote, you should be able to earn $5 per month per device (?) and use up to 3 devices (?).

If you're interested, I really recommend you take a look at their site, even though their FAQ actually says nothing about a $5 monthly incentive??? What?

If anyone can help me out here if you're an active user, that'd be fucking awesome.

Pros of SavvyConnect:

  • Easy $5-15 per month.
  • PayPal

Cons of SavvyConnect:

  • Slow Payments (?)

SavvyConnect Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? Yes
Gift Cards? No
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Web browsing habits.
Payout Speed Slow (?)
Referral System No (?)
VPN Required No (?)
Monthly Earnings $59

9 Doing $5 because it's conservative, the bare minimum, but you should easily be able to get $15, of course, that is, if this is still active.

Cross Media Panel

Cross Media Panel (formerly Screenwise Trends) is probably one of the most trusted sites/apps on this list because it is offered/managed/sponsored? by Google. Currently you can earn $1 per week by allowing tracking of your mobile device. They actually just recently turned off Tablets and Desktop tracking, which does suck, but you can still earn $4 per month.

Payments are done instantly to various gift cards starting at $5.

Pros of Cross Media Panel:

  • Instant Payments
  • Easy

Cons of Cross Media Panel:

  • No PayPal

McMoney Info:

Payment Methods Y/N
PayPal? No
Gift Cards? Yes
Crypto? No
Specification Result
Data Being Collected Everything.
Payout Speed Instant
Referral System No.
VPN Required? No.
Monthly Earnings $4

Conclusion

I don't really know how to conclude this post. At this point we're already 30,000 characters in, or over 5,000 words in... and according to wordcounter.net, this post was written at a "college graduate" level. But here I am taking English 101 in college, learning the basics of english.

Anyways enough about that. I'm just really tired of typing, especially since I basically ended up re-writing everything I originally had...

As a statistical conclusion, if you are lucky enough (for PhonePaycheck at least) to be able to use all of these apps, you should be able to earn ~$113 (~$53 without PhonePaycheck) per month + 35 DXT, or ~ $1356 per year + 420 DXT ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (~$636 without PhonePaycheck). Keep in mind that a majority of these earnings are actually conservative, so you might very well actually make more than this.

Anyways that's just about all I have to say. If you like this post, I really want to stress that this post is extremely similar, and you'll probably like it too.

As always please correct me with my inaccurate information. I always strive to get things right, but I slip up a lot.

Check out some of my other posts!

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Submitted April 12, 2018 at 04:48PM by Fishering https://ift.tt/2qs3vm2

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