Why should your mobile apps know everything you do and everywhere you go? Rob Beattie explains how to turn off default options that leak your personal info
Android and iOS apps have never been more useful. They can tell you how long it will take you to get home, find you a good place to eat, watch where you go online to make helpful recommendations, integrate with other apps to make sharing photos easier - heck, a lost device can even tell you where it is and let you lock it remotely. But this convenience comes at a price. To take advantage of these fancy features, you have to lay open your life to app developers and service providers, and that’s not always a good thing.
In this feature, we turn the spotlight on the snoops and show you how to stop your devices spying on you. We’ll kick off with the easiest ways to limit what companies can find out about you when you use your phone or tablet, then take a look at some advanced privacy controls.
Stop apps knowing where you are
One of the simplest ways to stop anyone spying on you is to turn off all the location-services features on your device. These use GPS satellites, along with your mobile network and wireless connection, to ‘triangulate’ your exact geographical position, so turning them off completely removes you from companies’ radars. Of course, it also means that convenient features such as step-by-step directions and accurate weather forecasts will stop working as well, so this anonymity comes at a price.
Both Android and iOS devices let you turn off location services (sometimes called ‘location tracking’) at a stroke. On an iPhone or iPad, simply go to Settings, Privacy, Location Services and switch the slider to Off. On Android, go to Settings, Personal, Location and switch the option to Off.
Alternatively, you can change the location settings for each individual app: Apple stores these in Settings: Privacy while Android users can usually find them in the Settings menu of each individual app. Depending on the app, you’ll usually be able to turn the option on or off, or select ‘While Using’.
Stop apps storing where you've been
Something else to bear in mind is that both Android and iOS devices keep a location history of places you’ve visited. For complete privacy, you should disable this as well. On iOS, go to Settings, Privacy, Location Services and then scroll all the way down to System Services. Tap Frequent Locations to see a list of the places you visit most often. Tap one to display a map with the locations marked on it. Tap Clear History to remove them.
On Android, choose Settings, Location, then Location History. At the bottom of the screen, tap Delete Location History.
Stop apps targeting you with adverts
If you’re fed up with adverts cluttering your screen, both Android and iOS devices give you some control over what appears and when. On Android, launch your app drawer and open Google Settings (which is different from the standard Settings app for Android). Tap the Ads option under Services to opt out of interest-based ads and reset your advertising ID. This prevents apps from building a profile of you and using this information to target you with ads they think you’ll be interested in, which you may (justifiably) regard as an invasion of privacy.
To do the same on iOS, go to Settings and choose Privacy. Scroll down to Advertising and tap it. On the next screen, tap Limit Ad Tracking to turn it on, then tap Reset Advertising Identifier. If Limit Ad Tracking is greyed out, open Settings, General, Restrictions and enter your PIN. Scroll down to Advertising and set it to Allow Changes. Go back to Privacy/Advertising and you’ll now be able to change the setting. Additionally, iOS lets you opt out of location-based adverts, so that apps don’t bombard you with offers as you stroll down the high street. You’ll find this option in Settings, Privacy, Location Services, System Services.
Frustratingly, changing these settings won’t mean the end of adverts on your device. You’re still likely to see ads but at least they won’t be targeted or as relevant, so you won’t feel like your own phone or tablet is in cahoots with the advertisers.
Review your app permissions
You can check individual app permissions to see what information they’re collecting from your device by reviewing them through the Settings screen on your phone or tablet, but it’s a bit of a slog. Instead, we’d recommend installing the excellent MyPermissions app for iOS and Android (mypermissions.com). This scans your device to find out which apps you’re running, then summarises potential information leaks, such as posting in your name, accessing your contacts and using your photos. Facebook and associated apps are, of course, particularly alarming in this respect. This kind of granular approach takes time, but it’s worth it if you want to strike the best balance between performance and privacy on your mobile device.
Browse privately on your mobile device
The simplest way to stop your iPhone spying on your browsing is to tap the Private option in the bottom-left of your screen when you open a new tab in Safari. You can also go to Settings, Safari, then scroll down and turn on Do Not Track to stop web sites snooping on your browsing habits. Similarly, in Chrome on Android you can open a new Incognito tab and go to Settings, Privacy to select Do Not Track.
Using public Wi-Fi also leaves you open to snoops who may electronically spy on your communications to harvest passwords and other sensitive information. The best solution is to use a VPN (virtual private network), which hides your IP address and geographical location, and also encrypts your internet traffic so you can use public Wi-Fi with confidence. Our favourite VPNs are TunnelBear (www.tunnelbear.com) and CyberGhost (www.cyberghostvpn.com), which offer feature-limited free options but are worth the monthly subscription fee for unlimited usage.
WHO'S SPYING ON YOU AND WHY
There are generally two kinds of ‘spying’ performed by your phone or tablet and the apps you install on it. First, there are companies that watch what you get up to so they can sell you stuff or pass on your information to other companies that want to sell you stuff. That’s why, if you search Google for ‘inkjet printer’, you’ll eventually have printer adverts turning up in Gmail; it’s not magic, it’s just marketing.
Second, there’s the kind of general-purpose prying that’s carried out routinely by government agencies such as GCHQ and the NSA. Why do they care whether you prefer to eat in KFC or Nando’s? They don’t, but in a shining example of the sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut principle, they scoop up billions of bytes of data a day ‘just in case’, so they’ve got it if you become a person of interest in the future. This is what scares campaigners the most, since what’s perfectly acceptable behaviour now (watching Britain’s Got Talent, say) may become unacceptable in the future and your past behaviour could be held against you. That example may be trivial, but our concern is genuine.