Unless you live under a rock you have probably have used TrueCaller at some point to identify unknown callers. Released in 2009, TrueCaller has faced a lot of privacy concerns in the past, but what you’re about to read today will actually show that this application is actually dangerous.

TrueCaller is spying on you, Sharing your phone activity with everyone

Despite the fact that truecaller gets access to your contacts and make them public to everyone, there is another feature that actually freaks me out. Install the application and let it sync your contact, you will find out that you are able to see their last seem in the application. Yet unlike Whatsapp, true-caller’s last seen doesn’t actually indicate the last time your contacts have used the app, instead it shows the last time they used their devices. Once installed, the application will run in background mode, and update your phone usage status without notifying you, so if let’s say you’re trying to avoid being seen online by your boss or psycho ex, they’re still going to know exactly the last time you used your phone.

What should I do?

Your first instinct should be to delete this application from your phone, but in case you really need to keep using TrueCaller, the only solution for now is to stop the application from running in background. This way it will only update your status when you actually use the application.

On iPhone, go to Settings >> General >> Background App Refresh, Look for true caller and turn the green color off.

On Android go to Settings>> data usage >>Tap the 3 dots on the top right>> Restrict Background Data , and confirm