In order to raise general awareness around privacy, we are thinking of sharing on a weekly basis privacy tips that might be useful to protect yourself from tracking.
We usually share tips in our newsletter on a monthly basis, but we’d like to also share them with the whole community.
We’d like for you also to participate in this activity by sharing any activity that you may have picked up that you noticed is very useful for privacy protection and tracking prevention.
These are the tips shared in the newsletter for the last few months:
Privacy tip #1: Audit app permissions
Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager and read through each section to make sure no apps have access to services they don’t need. If you’re running Android 12, you can also go to Settings > Privacy > Privacy Dashboard to see an overview of what things your apps have accessed recently.
Privacy Tip #2: Hide activity status
Social media apps use your current location for many reasons, such as delivering appropriate ads and notifying you about nearby events. They also can share your location, which you might want to turn off to keep private.
Snapchat is a great example of this. On the Snapchat map, you can find yourself and your friend’s whereabouts. To turn this off:
- Tap the or your Bitmoji icon in the top left
- Hit the in the top right
- Click See my location
- Toggle Ghost Mode on
Privacy tip #3: Be Aware of Apps Infected with Malware
Mobile apps can be infected with malicious code, or malware, that is intended to gain access to your mobile phone when you download the app.
In one estimate, 2 percent of the top 1,000 App Store apps are malicious, according to a report by the Washington Post.
- Always research apps before you download them
- Only download apps that are needed
- Understand what data apps are collecting from you
- Delete apps when you no longer use them.
Don’t forget to let us know what you think about these tips and share new ones.