{"id":942,"date":"2012-06-01T03:30:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T07:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/?p=942"},"modified":"2014-02-05T22:28:03","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T02:28:03","slug":"techtrends-beware-your-smartphone-apps-are-watching-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/tech-life\/techtrends-beware-your-smartphone-apps-are-watching-you\/","title":{"rendered":"TechTrends: Beware! Your smartphone apps are watching you…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I think mobile apps are the best thing since sliced bread. \u00a0They make life so much easier by offering convenient ways to get organized, take great photos, manage your finances, or just kill some time playing games. \u00a0But they can also be sneaky little thieves, collecting your personal information without your knowledge and using it for who-knows-what.<\/p>\n

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There have been several high-profile cases<\/a> of apps that were collecting personal data, and just this year a class-action lawsuit was filed against 18 companies including Facebook, Foursquare, and Yelp alleging negligence on their part for failing to notify users of collected information. \u00a0So what can you do to stay informed about where your data goes? \u00a0Fortunately, there’s an app for that!<\/p>\n

Clueful<\/a> is a security app that doesn’t want you to get caught out there. \u00a0Developed by anti-virus software maker BitDefender<\/a>, the app will tell you what your other apps are up to. \u00a0If your contacts list has been used, if your location information was collected, or even if an app is causing a drain on your battery, Clueful ‘clues’ you in. \u00a0But it’s not just the bearer of bad news – Clueful also lets you know when your apps do something good, like encrypting your data.<\/p>\n

Clueful does have a couple of drawbacks though. \u00a0First, it only currently works on free apps so anything you’ve paid to download won’t be scanned. \u00a0And at $4, it is relatively expensive. \u00a0Reviews from Wired<\/a> and PC Magazine<\/a> have been mixed.<\/p>\n

But by all accounts, this is a much needed start to providing some kind of privacy protection for app users. \u00a0If you don’t want to shell out the dough, just be very careful about what you download. \u00a0Only download apps from trusted sources, and even though none of us do it, it’s worth reading that disclaimer that you usually just scroll through before you click ‘Accept and Install App’. \u00a0Check and double-check all of your privacy settings and just remember that what’s done usually can’t be undone. \u00a0Once your personal information is out there, you can’t get it back.<\/p>\n

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I think mobile apps are the best thing since sliced bread. \u00a0They make life so much easier by offering convenient ways to get organized, take great photos, manage your finances, or just kill some time playing games. \u00a0But they can also be sneaky little thieves, collecting your personal information without your knowledge and using it for who-knows-what.Read More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[70,13,42,7,282,45,281,283,97,33,44,184,287,286,284,195,6,4,285],"class_list":["entry","author-admin","has-more-link","post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tech-life","category-techtrends","tag-a-matter-of-life-and-tech","tag-app","tag-apple","tag-apps","tag-bitdefender","tag-cell-phone","tag-clueful","tag-data-collection","tag-facebook","tag-high-tech","tag-ios","tag-iphone","tag-mashable","tag-pc-magazine","tag-privacy-protection","tag-smartphone","tag-stephanie-humphrey","tag-technology","tag-wired"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1060,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions\/1060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amatteroflifeandtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}