Q: Do top apps steal your data?

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Apps you use every day could be stealing your data without you knowing it. Researchers compared the top 100 apps on the Google Play store and found that many of them ask for your location information, contact lists and identifying details about your gadget.
Though the researchers looked at Android apps, almost all of these apps have iOS versions.
Which apps are the worst of the bunch? Researchers said these 10 took the most information.
- Talking Tom Virtual Pet
- Backgrounds HD Wallpaper
- Dictionary.com
- Mouse Trap
- Horoscope
- Shazam
- Pandora
- Google Maps
- Brightest Flashlight
- If you use these apps, make sure to check out the app pages in the Google Play store. Google makes developers reveal what permissions they ask for
- For iPhone apps, you can deny certain permissions to the app. To do it, go to Settings>>Privacy and choose the permission. It will show you what apps have permission to access that feature of your phone. Slide the slider to "off" to deny that permission to that app. Google users can turn off GPS and location services to stop an app from grabbing those. Go to Settings>>Personal>>Location Services and uncheck any checked boxes.This makes some apps - especially maps app - not work. In the case of Brightest Flashlight, I tried it with GPS off and it still worked.As for apps that read your contact data, make sure the app needs it for a legitimate reason. For example, voice calling apps like Skype or Google Voice have a reason to ask for it. However, a music app like Pandora probably doesn't.The bottom line is that you should treat apps like regular programs. Research them online. Find out exactly what they are meant to do. Make sure the permissions they request are in line with their purpose.

apps iphone-5 google

xptrish (rep: 35.4k) posted Jan 18, 2013

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1 Answer

This is very informative and useful post. Thank you for sharing this. It's like everything is included in your post. I like it!

SamanthaW (rep: 1) posted Jan 24, 2013

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