DATCP Says Check What Apps You Have on Your Phone and Get Rid of Ones You Don't Need

Thursday, October 13th, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) Now is a good time to check the apps on your phone and make sure they're still doing what you want.

Now is a good time to check the apps on your phone and make sure they're still doing what you want.  Michelle Reinen with the state division of consumer protection says your phone carries a lot of data about you that you might not even realize you're sharing with companies. 

"Sometimes that's done illegally without permission from the user. And sometimes, it is done legally, where you have the knowledge and have consented, but you may not fully understand how much information is being collected and sold."

Reinen says you should feel free to turn off functions of apps that have the access they don't really need. "If you don't want it to access your camera. And there's no need that an app X accesses your camera, go ahead and turn that off.  If it's not a weather app or a workout app that's tracking your mileage, does it really need to know what your location is in order to function properly?"

Reinen says the apps on your phone could be used to track your data, or send off information to third parties. "Never store sensitive data on your phone, passwords, social security numbers, bank account information, because it's all susceptible to tracking."

Reinen says you should always be installing apps through the App Store or Google Play, in order to make sure that they've been vetted properly.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.