March 30, 2018 • 4 mins
We're pretty familiar with how much data companies like Facebook and Google are collecting on us - but what about all of those other apps on your phone? Here's a quick and easy way to make sure they're not spying on your personal info.Step by step instructions:http://ktla.com/2018/03/30/manage-iphone-android-app-permissions-privacy-gps-photos-microphone/Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontechNEW! You can add the Rich on Tech Daily Update to your Alexa Flash Briefing! Just search for the "Rich on Tech" skill in your Alexa app and add it to your briefing! You'll get a daily dose of tech news each day and a longer show on the weekends!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
It is time for a phone check up to see
if any of your apps are spying on you. I'm
rich Deimiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily. By now,
we're all pretty familiar with the idea of Facebook and
Google collecting loads of data on us, But what about
all the other apps on our phone? Now? I was
really surprised the other day when I downloaded Snapchat. I
started using it again after a very long period of absence.
(00:27):
This was on my Android device, and when I downloaded it,
it literally asked for every single permission available on my device,
all at once. I'm talking access to my microphone, my camera,
my location, basically everything. Now, I understand that Snapchat needs
a lot of these permissions to function properly, but ask
me one at a time. Ask me when I start
(00:48):
to use the camera, ask me when I start to
use the microphone. Now, I think is a good time
to do a little check up on your phone, just
like you might get your teeth checked up, just to
go through all the apps that you've installed to see
what access they already have. What these apps are doing
is they're trying to gather as much data as possible
on their users. That way they can make the most
money off of you because they can market to you better.
(01:10):
Our job is to just say no. All right, So
here's how to check these settings. If you're on iPhone,
go into Settings then Privacy. iPhone makes it really easy
to see all this stuff pretty much in a list.
You're going to see a bunch of things once you
go into privacy, starting with location services. That's a good
place to start. So look in here and you'll notice
a list of all your apps, and you'll see most
(01:32):
of the apps have three options. There's always, use your
location when you're using the app and never. Now. For
the apps that don't need your location at all, just
choose never. Sometimes you'll see a choice of always or
when using the app. Sometimes you don't. It depends on
how they've updated the app. But most of the time
you want when using the app. I mean, even for
something like Uber, they don't need your location all the time.
(01:55):
They basically need your location when you actively need a
car and you open the app the next Once you're
done with location, back out a little bit. Go back
into Privacy and go to the settings for photos, Contacts, camera,
and microphone. Those are the important ones, and just tweak
is necessary. It's pretty self explanatory. If you have a
game app, it doesn't need access to your microphone for
(02:15):
unless there's a specific reason why it would. Now you
might be wondering, can you break anything? Not really, Basically,
you're just shutting off access to these apps. Sometimes they
will need these permissions to function properly, like for instance,
like I said earlier, Google Maps probably won't work very
well without location access Instagram, but we're probably not gonna
be able to post anything if they don't have access
(02:36):
to your photos. But otherwise, if you cut something off
that the app actually needs, the next time you open
that app, they're just going to ask you again. Now,
when it comes to Android, things are a little bit
more complicated, just because there are so many different versions
of Android phones out there and versions of Android software.
But if you're on the latest version Android eight point zero,
this makes it pretty easy. You can just go into
(02:57):
your Settings, then Apps and Notification, and then App Permissions.
Here you're going to see a list of all the
sensors on your phone, including camera, location, microphone, phone, text messages,
and storage. Even things that the iPhone does not give
apps access to. You can go through and click something
like location and turn off access for apps that don't
need it. So once you click microphone, you'll see a
(03:18):
list of all the apps that could have access to
your microphone. You can turn off the ones you don't
think need it now. If you have an earlier version
of Android, you can check the step by step directions
on my website. Just go to richon tech dot tv.
And in the future, when you download an app, be
sure that you take a critical look at every app
that you install, so when they ask for those permissions,
(03:39):
make sure that you really think about why an app
needs those permissions. If it's a game, I don't know
why they would need access to your photos or your microphone.
I say, when you're in doubt, deny the app or
just go ahead and delete it. Lots of times when
I'm looking for a new app to do something that
I need some sort of functionality, and it you download
it and it asks for a bunch of permissions, I'm
(03:59):
just like, Nope, I'll just find another app that does
the same thing. Thanks so much for listening. If you
enjoy this podcast, please share it with friends or rate
and review it in the Apple Podcasts app. Every review counts.
I'm Rich Demiro If you want links to anything I
mentioned here, just go to my website. Richon tech dot TV.
I'll talk to you real soon.
It is time for a phone check up to see
if any of your apps are spying on you. I'm
rich Deimiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily. By now,
we're all pretty familiar with the idea of Facebook and
Google collecting loads of data on us, But what about
all the other apps on our phone? Now? I was
really surprised the other day when I downloaded Snapchat. I
started using it again after a very long period of absence.
(00:27):
This was on my Android device, and when I downloaded it,
it literally asked for every single permission available on my device,
all at once. I'm talking access to my microphone, my camera,
my location, basically everything. Now, I understand that Snapchat needs
a lot of these permissions to function properly, but ask
me one at a time. Ask me when I start
(00:48):
to use the camera, ask me when I start to
use the microphone. Now, I think is a good time
to do a little check up on your phone, just
like you might get your teeth checked up, just to
go through all the apps that you've installed to see
what access they already have. What these apps are doing
is they're trying to gather as much data as possible
on their users. That way they can make the most
money off of you because they can market to you better.
(01:10):
Our job is to just say no. All right, So
here's how to check these settings. If you're on iPhone,
go into Settings then Privacy. iPhone makes it really easy
to see all this stuff pretty much in a list.
You're going to see a bunch of things once you
go into privacy, starting with location services. That's a good
place to start. So look in here and you'll notice
a list of all your apps, and you'll see most
(01:32):
of the apps have three options. There's always, use your
location when you're using the app and never. Now. For
the apps that don't need your location at all, just
choose never. Sometimes you'll see a choice of always or
when using the app. Sometimes you don't. It depends on
how they've updated the app. But most of the time
you want when using the app. I mean, even for
something like Uber, they don't need your location all the time.
(01:55):
They basically need your location when you actively need a
car and you open the app the next Once you're
done with location, back out a little bit. Go back
into Privacy and go to the settings for photos, Contacts, camera,
and microphone. Those are the important ones, and just tweak
is necessary. It's pretty self explanatory. If you have a
game app, it doesn't need access to your microphone for
(02:15):
unless there's a specific reason why it would. Now you
might be wondering, can you break anything? Not really, Basically,
you're just shutting off access to these apps. Sometimes they
will need these permissions to function properly, like for instance,
like I said earlier, Google Maps probably won't work very
well without location access Instagram, but we're probably not gonna
be able to post anything if they don't have access
(02:36):
to your photos. But otherwise, if you cut something off
that the app actually needs, the next time you open
that app, they're just going to ask you again. Now,
when it comes to Android, things are a little bit
more complicated, just because there are so many different versions
of Android phones out there and versions of Android software.
But if you're on the latest version Android eight point zero,
this makes it pretty easy. You can just go into
(02:57):
your Settings, then Apps and Notification, and then App Permissions.
Here you're going to see a list of all the
sensors on your phone, including camera, location, microphone, phone, text messages,
and storage. Even things that the iPhone does not give
apps access to. You can go through and click something
like location and turn off access for apps that don't
need it. So once you click microphone, you'll see a
(03:18):
list of all the apps that could have access to
your microphone. You can turn off the ones you don't
think need it now. If you have an earlier version
of Android, you can check the step by step directions
on my website. Just go to richon tech dot tv.
And in the future, when you download an app, be
sure that you take a critical look at every app
that you install, so when they ask for those permissions,
(03:39):
make sure that you really think about why an app
needs those permissions. If it's a game, I don't know
why they would need access to your photos or your microphone.
I say, when you're in doubt, deny the app or
just go ahead and delete it. Lots of times when
I'm looking for a new app to do something that
I need some sort of functionality, and it you download
it and it asks for a bunch of permissions, I'm
(03:59):
just like, Nope, I'll just find another app that does
the same thing. Thanks so much for listening. If you
enjoy this podcast, please share it with friends or rate
and review it in the Apple Podcasts app. Every review counts.
I'm Rich Demiro If you want links to anything I
mentioned here, just go to my website. Richon tech dot TV.
I'll talk to you real soon.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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