Some apps are plain greedy-like a stranger you invite for a meal who insists on ordering everything on the menu.
Here's what upset me: After I downloaded the companion app that helps control it for my phone, the app wanted permission to make and receive phone calls.
Ask the critical questions of what an app needs, what it wants, and how useful the app is if you refuse to grant that permission.
Think of it as a New Year's resolution for your personal privacy: in 2024, I will force all my apps to mind their own business.
Even knowing this, I chose to keep Meta's apps on my phone and laptop.
Whether or not to keep an app, or to restrict its access to your data, is a very personal decision.
Knowledge is power, and being aware of the threats some apps pose can only be a good thing.
According to a New York Times investigation, some 200 million mobile devices report location data to smartphone apps, and some of those log a user's location as many as 14,000 times in a single day.
In addition to your location, some apps want access to your contacts, camera, microphone, text messages, phone logs-even your calendar.
If you want to post TikTok videos of yourself doing the Swag Bouncee dance move, the app is obviously going to need to access your camera and mic.
If you really want that safe-driver insurance discount from Farmers, you'll need to let the app track your movements.
If your location data shows you visit a CrossFit class three times a week, retailers and advertisers can use that information-combined with your online habits and other data sources-to target ads for the latest compression shorts or solid-soled training shoes.
Here are a few steps you can take to put greedy apps in their place.
Beware of apps that collect lots of personal data from you and are vague about how they use it.
Avoid apps that don't let you opt out of sharing data with third parties.
Even though your name won't be attached to anonymized data, your age, gender, shopping activities, and location will all be rolled up into mountains of aggregated user data that third parties can monetize.
Check your phone's permissions for installed apps.
In your Privacy & Security setting, you can select functions like Contacts, Photos, and Camera to see which third-party apps have requested permission to access this information.
Audit your apps from time to time and delete those you don't use anymore or don't recognize, especially if their data-sharing practices sound offensive.
Here's to a 2024 of well-behaved apps that know their manners.
This Cyber News was published on blog.avast.com. Publication date: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 11:13:05 +0000