Are Apps Putting You at Risk?

Tablets, smartphones, and other personal mobile devices have become the norm for most people in today's society, to the point that they don't know how to function without them. But, are those apps putting your personal information at risk? It is important to read over what information mobile apps have access to before downloading and installing them. This is because some have access to your credit card, bank account information, or other personal information that could lead to financial ruin, or even legal trouble. Information that your mobile apps have access to could be sold, traded, or even broadcast to the public, the first of these is the most dangerous.

The biggest issue with mobile apps is that much of the time your information is flying across the web un-encrypted, which means anyone can view it if they have the right skill set. Over the past year hundreds of apps have needed an update because of issues such as this. One of the most popular apps, The Coupons App, which serves a staggering 10 million people, was in need of an update just a little over a month ago due to encryption issues. The app was transmitting personal information and locations of persons using the app every time they used it. While you might think that it’s just coupons, and the only information that is being transmitted is public information anyway. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, by looking at the types of coupons a person uses, a hacker or other nefarious person could figure out what your habits are, an approximation of how much you spend at the grocery store per week/month, whether or not you have children, and many other things. Basically, they can figure out what you do, buy, and where you shop.

Another issue is Open ID sign in for Google, Facebook, and Twitter, while this makes it very simple to sign into just about everything, it also puts you at risk. If one of your social media accounts is hacked, it could cause serious problems. This is especially true for Google, because they offer so many services. Hacking into someone’s google account would give a person access to credit card/bank account information, personal or business email, friend’s information, address, phone number, and other personal data that you might not want floating through space.  If you decide to use an Open ID it is important that very little or no personal information is linked to it.

Most people think that it won’t happen to them, but the unfortunate truth is that it only takes one person to hack into an account and get a hold of precious personal information to send your world into a tailspin. So, the next time you decide to download and install an app, check to see what information it is requesting access to. If the app is seeking access to personal information such as your phone number, location, and other information that isn't necessary for the app to run, it might not be a great idea to install it. 

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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