ARE YOU UNKNOWINGLY SHARING PRIVATE DATA? If You’re Not Careful, Your Apps Can Share Your Information
In a recent series called “Futurography: Cybersecurity Self-Defense,” Slate.com featured an article on understanding how apps can track and use your data. Given that most people accept user agreements without reading the terms, you may already have apps on your phone exploiting your data to the creator’s own ends. Even worse, the same prying eyes could be snooping on your children’s activity. With that in mind, we wanted to share Slate’s four tips for managing the privacy settings for your app-related activities. NO. 1: CHECK YOUR DEVICE SETTINGS No matter the mobile operating system you use, there’s a way to check the privacy settings on an app-by-app basis. You should disable data tracking when apps are not in use. Your maps service, for example, doesn’t need to know your location at all hours of the day, only when you need GPS. As a bonus, limiting this sharing will extend your battery life. NO. 2: READ PRIVACY POLICIES, ESPECIALLY DISCLOSURES Asking anyone to read an entire user agreement is probably a fool’s errand, but at the very least, you should check that any app you download has a privacy policy. If you’re using the app to track SPOTLIGHT ONMAIAN PEDIATRICS We’ve only been working with Maian Pediatrics for a little over a year, but we’ve enjoyed every second of our working relationship. We’ve worked hand in hand with Lynda Tarsitano, the practice’s office manager, to help simplify their systems. That way, Dr. Erskine and his team can focus on what really matters: helping their patients. Here, in Lynda’s own words, is her take on our collaboration. “We were totally blown away by how thoroughly your company was able to totally understand the needs of our office. Your proposal addressed every single one of our concerns. You met all our criteria and have more than exceeded anything we had anticipated. Since the implementation of our network when we started this location, every little issue and detail has been taken care of. Everyone has been on the ball, paying attention, available, and awesome to work with. It’s like we have our own dedicated IT employee on staff to totally take care of all our needs. We feel so secure and protected with our network, all our computers work amazing. The entire experience has been phenomenal. We are really thankful we chose AZCOMP because everyone has been wonderful.” A PRACTICE USING OUR SERVICES “It’s Like We Have Our Own Dedicated IT Employee on Staff to Totally Take Care of All Our Needs.”
personal information, whether fitness, financial, etc., be sure to check the disclosures section for information regarding data encryption. You can find this at the bottom of the page on the marketplace you use to download apps. NO. 3: UPDATE REGULARLY When a company notices a security issue, they patch it out of their app via an update. If you don’t have the latest iteration of an app, you leave yourself at risk to vulnerabilities that should be obsolete. NO. 4: CONSIDER USING APPS THAT MAXIMIZE PRIVACY For nearly every category of app, there is a company that produces a version that doesn’t collect data. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that won’t collect your history and sell it to advertisers. Signal provides end-to-end encryption for texts and phone calls. If you’re particularly touchy about digital privacy, consider using some of those services. We don’t have enough space to cover all the relevant details of apps and data sharing here, but these are some of the essentials to help you get started.
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Lynda Tarsitano| Office Manager Maian Pediatrics | Cave Creek, Arizona
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