The advancement in smartphones has been revolutionizing communication in both businesses and relationships. However, if you’re not careful enough, it can also lead to some sort of new form of addiction.
In fact, there many people who are now social media addicts. But there’s one more thing that is somewhat creepy. Business Insider Australia reports about a study that your smartphone may be sending info to third parties.
What Sorts of Info Do Smartphones Collect Secretly?
It is a common practice for big companies to capture some sort of analytics via applications to analyze user behaviors. Companies do this in order to improve the user experience. However, it somewhat breaks someone’s privacy unless the developer of the app declares it in their privacy policy.
For instance, Facebook is using these set of analytics tool in the app. However, the privacy policy states it. Unfortunately, although a lot of people care about their privacy, on a few cares about considering turning off some of these analytic features.
Yes, we have options to turn off many of these privacy-related issues within an app. However, in this study, one app has been found sending screenshots and recordings to third parties.
The good news, on the other hand, the researchers found no evidence about turning on the smartphone’s microphone and capture audio without the user’s consent.
On the other hand, sometime in late 2016, researchers also found one Chinese smartphone collecting and sending personal data.
For an average user who simply wants communication, they are the common target of these threats. Hence, minimizing your use of smartphones can be helpful. The less often you are using it, the less you can be spied.
After all, the excessive use of a smartphone is bad, particularly for the eyes.
Lastly, make sure you know well the apps you are installing in your smartphone. Plus, keep them updated always.