If you’ve been following the news this month you may have heard that Apple recently pulled over 250 privacy infringing apps from their App store. The apps, largely from Chinese-based developers, were discovered to use a malicious third-party advertising network that was able to steal user’s private data including their email addresses. The story came just days after Apple also removed apps that were able to spy on encrypted traffic, highlighting a startling trend that the trusty phone apps we use on a daily basis can quite easily betray our privacy.

It’s easy to brush off these stories when a handy plethora of news, games, maps, shopping, fitness and banking apps (to name a few) sit in the palm of your hand. In the last few years, the time we spend for online activities on our phone has significantly overtaken what we spend on computers/laptops. However, although undoubtedly convenient, apps do come with a catch that may be tough to swallow. The reality is, these programmes are able to build a sophisticated profile of every user and use or sell what they collect to frankly whoever they like.

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What can be done to protect your privacy?

It is definitely worth weighing up the benefits of an app against its privacy risks before downloading onto your phone. Only download and use apps from reputable sources and when possible, update the settings on your device so you can choose which apps can and can’t collect your data.

It may not be music to your ears but the best solution is to have a good read of the app’s privacy policy. It can seem like a chore but is really the only way to know exactly what you, as a user, are giving up when you dutifully accept a company’s terms.

Case and point is Snapchat, the social network best known for its disappearing images. The app’s original appeal was centred on its privacy policy “Delete is our default” – but oh how times have changed. On 28 October 2015 the company’s new privacy policy and terms of service were released, dramatically broadening the scope of what it can do with users’ material. I took to the world of Twitter to ask snapchat users if they’d read the policy before accepting it and a shocking 96% admitted to bypassing the T’s & C’s without a glance.

Now, if they had given the policy a look they would have seen they were granting the company a license to:

“host, store, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, create derivative works from, publicly perform, broadcast, distribute, syndicate, promote, exhibit, and publicly display that content in any form and in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).”

All in all, when it comes to our apps, the responsibility and decision making lies with us. You need to decide if a shopping app trumps concerns for your privacy or if you’re happy with a company storing the selfies you send to your nearest and dearest. If not, delve into your phone’s settings and only download programs you trust.