Android devices are at the very cutting edge of technology. The power of computer processor that could only be imagined in the early 1990s, now readily and affordably available in the palm of your hand. An amazing and useful feature of Androids is the app store. The app store is an open market that offers thousands of applications (free or purchased) that can be immediately downloaded to your mobile android device. Apps such as games, productivity tools, enhancements and security apps, can all be found for either a small price or usually completely free.
Android security applications are often overlooked by the casual user, mainly because they believe that the app will weigh heavy on their android process and slow down their device considerably. But If they did their research, they would find that providers of protection apps have already dealt with this problem by making “lite” versions of what were previously heavy apps.
So is your android app betraying you? Or have you let a vital part of your online protection slip?
Protection apps
Downloading a free security app is the very first step you should take in protecting your privacy online. Just think of all the games, novelty apps, boosters and enhances that you download on your android device. Did you ever stop to think of who was publishing them? Not all app publishers in the app store are 100% legitimate, meaning that many of them will try to phish private information from your phone. When you download any application, google app store gives you a pop up warning of what you are agreeing to if you download your chosen application. This means, you get a preview of what you are actually allowing to be done to our personal android device and all of its contents.
Some apps require access to your data files, to your photo gallery, to your current location, or contacts list. Sometimes, depending on what app you are downloading, these requirements won’t seem odd. If for example you are downloading a photo editor, of course they will require access to your photo gallery. If you are downloading a call blocker, then they will ask for access to your contact list etc… But what if you are downloading a game just for the entertainment value? Why then should the producer of the game, request from you to allow access on your contact list? If it doesn’t make sense, then you should not download the game. A few hours’ entertainment isn’t worth risking your privacy.
What you should do to protect your privacy
It’s as easy as can be, you simply need to pay greater attention to what you download and what you allow the publisher of the app to access on your phone. Downloading a protection app can do so much for you, while you are online and offline. Hackers and cyber criminals always seem to be one step ahead, and for the average android user with no advanced knowledge of code or applications, the best thing is to secure your phone with the latest protection applications. For the most part, they are the experts, not us, they will ensure that your voyages online are happy sails and not deep sea disasters!
