Flashlight App
Generally speaking, iOS is much better at protecting users’ security than Android — but that isn’t always the case. A seemingly innocent app like the Flashlight App is unnecessarily attempting to gather more info about you than it needs, according to PureVPN.
“You’d mostly find these apps asking for unnecessary permissions such as access to your phone book, storage or location.
These apps don’t need such permissions since their job is to enable flash whenever the user wants. The only reason why these permissions are still asking is that they siphon the users’ personal data and use it for nefarious purposes.”
WhatsApp Messenger
According to Business Today, WhatsApp Messenger isn’t exactly safe. In addition to being the recipient of Malware threats, the message service has been the target of hackers altering photos and fake and fraudulent news.
Angry Birds
What started as an innocent way to pass time has become one of the worst known apps for security and privacy.
“We’ve been reminded time and after time that nothing comes for free, especially on the Internet,” reports PureVPN. “If it is free, then it must be using you to make revenue. The same mechanism holds true for free mobile games such as Angry Birds. One of the most popular mobile games ever, Angry Birds faced severe backlash from prominent media publications as well as users for collecting and leaking their personal data.”
DoorDash
Convenient when you want food delivered to your doorstep, sure, but DoorDash has been busted for breaching users’ security by using their personal info and preferences to target food-related advertisers their way.
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is not end-to-end encrypted — and what that means is that only two participants engaged in a FB message can see their content. But the government is seeking to break this in order to gain access to what it considers to be criminal message exchanges. If this happens, it will also mean that your messages are less secure.
Facebook
The Facebook app has so much information about you — your relationships, interests, likes, you name it. And, naturally, any app that knows that much about you should be regarded with a healthy amount of skepticism at all times.