1 GasBuddy

Unfortunately, heaps of useful and practical apps are some of the most serious threats to your own data security. That's because they depend on data, period.

Take GasBuddy, for example. It's meant to help you save precious cash at the pump by letting you compare prices at gas stations nearby—wherever you are—but that also means it's gathering loads and loads of location data to make those calls.

The company recently told its users about a privacy policy change through an email and a push notification, the company's general counsel told Popular Mechanics.

“If you access the Service through a mobile device, and if your preferences are set to permit collection of the information, we will also automatically collect information about your driving habits, including, but not limited to, driving distance, speed, acceleration and braking habits," the privacy policy reads, in part.

That portion of the privacy policy relates to a feature called "Drive," which collects information to tell you about your driving habits. GasBuddy said it's an opt-in service.

Still, if you want to use the app at all, you've gotta fork over at least some of that precious data. That's true of any services that use geolocation.

Sure, just the gas station location data could be used to triage locations like where you work, live, and go out, but explicitly collecting data on your whereabouts in the background all the time feels like a full-on manifestation of Big Brother.