Mostly, the apps you use are just that: apps you use and enjoy. As soon as you stop using them, you probably won’t think about them again until the next time you want to use them. But some apps are worse than others at respecting your privacy and could use your data for profit. While this is now common practice, you should still feel like you have some control over your device and what you allow it to do with your data.
If you’re concerned about your privacy and security, think twice before using the following apps — or, at the very least, change your settings to give them less access to your location, contacts, and other data.
The Facebook app has access to a lot of your personal information including: your location, Wi-Fi, contacts, call logs, text messages and internal storage. It’s no coincidence that as soon as you get hold of any content that has to do with sandals, you’re bombarded with 100 ads for sandals. Facebook has always been free to join and use, but its users have always been a product that brings them big profits. You can set your preferences to minimize the amount of data that Facebook can access and what it can do with that data.
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Time applications
Your phone comes preloaded with a weather app that is basic but accurate. If you’d rather download a weather app that boasts other cool features, you might agree to give away some of your data. Weather apps require your location data for obvious reasons, but they may also sell your location data to advertisers for profit. Make sure the weather app you’ve downloaded gives you the ability to control your settings and lets you stop it from selling your data.
Multiplayer games
Multiplayer gaming apps often collect a lot of information about you, including your email, date of birth, contacts, location, the content of any messages you send or receive from other players, and even your IP address. Before you download any gaming app, especially a free one, check its permissions to make sure you can control the amount of data it stores.
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Uber Eats
What negative can come from an app whose sole purpose is to deliver delicious food to your doorstep? Unfortunately, Uber Eats is one of those free delivery apps that can sell your location data and information about restaurant websites you visit to third-party advertisers. The app was found to be selling this data to popular sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Make sure any delivery app you download has permissions you can control, and take the time to adjust your settings to be as private as possible.