Delete These 7+ Apps Right Now If You’re Worried About Privacy
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Apple has doubled down on privacy in recent months. Its ongoing mission to create a more secure platform for people's private information has given many tools to Apple users to control their personal information and what apps can do with it. A recent example is iOS 14's App Tracking Transparency feature, which allows users to choose whether or not they want to grant apps permission to track their activity, giving us a little more authority.
Although this feature is helpful for users, many companies didn't agree with this feature. Facebook didn't like this feature, and the company started showing notifications explaining that granting permission to track this information has many benefits, including keeping Instagram and Facebook "free."
Despite these features, there are still apps that take advantage of users' information. And although Facebook has a poor reputation when dealing with users' information, it isn't the only app that takes users' information and uses it for different purposes. Recently, FTC Guardian shared the worst apps for privacy concerns based on a PrivacyGrade Score. There's a lot that goes into these scores, but the general rule is that the lower the score, the more an app can track you.
Some apps on the list might not surprise you, but there are others that you probably didn't suspect. Continue reading to browse more than seven apps you might want to delete from your iPhone immediately.
Words With Friends
If you're like me, you've probably played this game before, but you may want to stop as soon as possible. This game is similar to Scrabble; you write words based on the letters the game gives you, and the better the word, the more points you'll get. It seems like a really fun and innocent app until you learn that it asks your permission for "Precise location," which really shouldn't be necessary.
Draw Something
Apps like Draw Something became increasingly popular during the pandemic because of how easy to use they are and their ability to connect and play with friends online. This app is similar to Pictionary, you draw something, and your friends try to guess what it is. However, this app asks permission to read your phone status and identity, allowing the company to access your phone number or call log and share that with advertisers.
Angry Birds
Angry Birds has dealt with its fair share of issues in the past regarding user privacy. Because of its poor security, this game has been targeted to get users' information. This is because most Angry Birds games ask permission to access the user's phone identity, call logs, device ID, and even phone number.
My Talking Tom
There's no more popular digital pet than Talking Tom. Many users, both adults and children alike, love this game. And even though it looks just like a fun game on the surface, My Talking Tom asks for a bunch of information from its users. The app asks you to grant access to track your purchase history, location, your iPhone's identifiers like your user ID, and even how you use your data. If you or your kids have this app, it may be time to get rid of it.
Games aren't the only apps you should be worried about. There are other apps on the following slides that you should consider deleting if you care about your privacy. A recent list made by pCloud features the top apps that share your data with other third-party companies. You'll be shocked to know that most apps on the list are from social media platforms (notice the sarcasm).
This popular social media app for employees and employers collects up to 50% of your personal data, including your purchase history, location, contact information, and your iPhone's identifiers, which isn't as much as number one on this list.
Uber Eats
Although Uber Eats needs to know your exact location for the service to work correctly, this app asks for more information than it probably needs. From your location to your contact information, and your device's identifiers. Uber Eats asks for this data and shares up to 50% of it with third-party companies.
Facebook + Instagram
At the top of the list are Instagram and Facebook, to no one's surprise. Both Instagram and Facebook collect a total of 79% and 57% of personal data, respectively. On top of that, both apps practically want access to everything on your iPhone, like purchase history, location, contact information, search history, financial information, and much more.
There are many other apps that ask and use your personal data, but these apps are the ones you should worry about the most. Fortunately, with iOS 14.5, you have a little more control over your information. But you might still consider deleting these apps and games if you worry about your data.