You use your phone for practically everything. That little device knows more about you than most close friends and family — including your banking information, all of the names and numbers of every person you know, every private text and email exchanged between you and the rest of the world, and so on. It has your shopping habits recorded, can tell a story about your political affiliations, and knows that every Tuesday at five you head out to yoga class.
All of this is to say: you really don’t want your personal iPhone data getting out in the world because some of this information is extremely confidential. And yet, some apps you could be using that seem otherwise innocent enough could be doing just that: collecting data they have no right to possess.
What’s the solution? Delete those apps. What do you need to do before you can delete those apps? Know which apps are the greatest offenders. Here are four iPhone apps that may surprise you — but are putting your personal data at risk.
Flashlight App
Who would think that a seemingly innocent Flashlight app could be so intrusive? This app requests permission like location, your contacts, and your storage. As a general rule, unless you can justify why an app might need more information than it requires to do its job, don’t give it those permissions.
Angry Birds
A number of gaming apps request permissions they didn’t earn and don’t need to take. But Angry Birds takes the cake as one of the original mobile games that was found to be collecting users’ data and leaking it for personal profit. As a general rule, if a game is free, it will find ways to collect your data and profit from it.
Siri
Although it’s not actually an app, there’s no doubt that Siri provides convenience in your life. Unfortunately, your personal assistant has also been found to record conversations and deliver them to third-party sources. The next time you wonder why your phone knows that you’re in the market for a new car or washing machine, it may just be Siri that delivered that news to advertisers.
Food Delivery Apps
Another of life’s greatest conveniences, food delivery apps allow you to click a few buttons, add your credit card information, and receive food at your door. But there are a few privacy and security drawbacks to these apps: they now have your credit card information, locations, and, perhaps less distressing, your food preferences. You may not want to delete these apps because the convenience factor is too much of a drawer, but deleting a few of them so that you only have one that you rely on is a way to protect your data.
