WEBVTT - Check for Spying Phone Apps

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<v Speaker 1>It is time for a phone check up to see

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<v Speaker 1>if any of your apps are spying on you. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>rich Deimiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily. By now,

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<v Speaker 1>we're all pretty familiar with the idea of Facebook and

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<v Speaker 1>Google collecting loads of data on us, But what about

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<v Speaker 1>all the other apps on our phone? Now? I was

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<v Speaker 1>really surprised the other day when I downloaded Snapchat. I

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<v Speaker 1>started using it again after a very long period of absence.

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<v Speaker 1>This was on my Android device, and when I downloaded it,

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<v Speaker 1>it literally asked for every single permission available on my device,

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<v Speaker 1>all at once. I'm talking access to my microphone, my camera,

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<v Speaker 1>my location, basically everything. Now, I understand that Snapchat needs

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of these permissions to function properly, but ask

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<v Speaker 1>me one at a time. Ask me when I start

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<v Speaker 1>to use the camera, ask me when I start to

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<v Speaker 1>use the microphone. Now, I think is a good time

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<v Speaker 1>to do a little check up on your phone, just

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<v Speaker 1>like you might get your teeth checked up, just to

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<v Speaker 1>go through all the apps that you've installed to see

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<v Speaker 1>what access they already have. What these apps are doing

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<v Speaker 1>is they're trying to gather as much data as possible

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<v Speaker 1>on their users. That way they can make the most

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<v Speaker 1>money off of you because they can market to you better.

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<v Speaker 1>Our job is to just say no. All right, So

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<v Speaker 1>here's how to check these settings. If you're on iPhone,

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<v Speaker 1>go into Settings then Privacy. iPhone makes it really easy

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<v Speaker 1>to see all this stuff pretty much in a list.

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<v Speaker 1>You're going to see a bunch of things once you

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<v Speaker 1>go into privacy, starting with location services. That's a good

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<v Speaker 1>place to start. So look in here and you'll notice

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<v Speaker 1>a list of all your apps, and you'll see most

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<v Speaker 1>of the apps have three options. There's always, use your

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<v Speaker 1>location when you're using the app and never. Now. For

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<v Speaker 1>the apps that don't need your location at all, just

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<v Speaker 1>choose never. Sometimes you'll see a choice of always or

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<v Speaker 1>when using the app. Sometimes you don't. It depends on

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<v Speaker 1>how they've updated the app. But most of the time

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<v Speaker 1>you want when using the app. I mean, even for

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<v Speaker 1>something like Uber, they don't need your location all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>They basically need your location when you actively need a

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<v Speaker 1>car and you open the app the next Once you're

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<v Speaker 1>done with location, back out a little bit. Go back

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<v Speaker 1>into Privacy and go to the settings for photos, Contacts, camera,

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<v Speaker 1>and microphone. Those are the important ones, and just tweak

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<v Speaker 1>is necessary. It's pretty self explanatory. If you have a

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<v Speaker 1>game app, it doesn't need access to your microphone for

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<v Speaker 1>unless there's a specific reason why it would. Now you

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<v Speaker 1>might be wondering, can you break anything? Not really, Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>you're just shutting off access to these apps. Sometimes they

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<v Speaker 1>will need these permissions to function properly, like for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>like I said earlier, Google Maps probably won't work very

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<v Speaker 1>well without location access Instagram, but we're probably not gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be able to post anything if they don't have access

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<v Speaker 1>to your photos. But otherwise, if you cut something off

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<v Speaker 1>that the app actually needs, the next time you open

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<v Speaker 1>that app, they're just going to ask you again. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to Android, things are a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more complicated, just because there are so many different versions

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<v Speaker 1>of Android phones out there and versions of Android software.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you're on the latest version Android eight point zero,

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<v Speaker 1>this makes it pretty easy. You can just go into

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<v Speaker 1>your Settings, then Apps and Notification, and then App Permissions.

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<v Speaker 1>Here you're going to see a list of all the

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<v Speaker 1>sensors on your phone, including camera, location, microphone, phone, text messages,

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<v Speaker 1>and storage. Even things that the iPhone does not give

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<v Speaker 1>apps access to. You can go through and click something

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<v Speaker 1>like location and turn off access for apps that don't

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<v Speaker 1>need it. So once you click microphone, you'll see a

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<v Speaker 1>list of all the apps that could have access to

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<v Speaker 1>your microphone. You can turn off the ones you don't

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<v Speaker 1>think need it now. If you have an earlier version

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<v Speaker 1>of Android, you can check the step by step directions

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<v Speaker 1>on my website. Just go to richon tech dot tv.

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<v Speaker 1>And in the future, when you download an app, be

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<v Speaker 1>sure that you take a critical look at every app

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<v Speaker 1>that you install, so when they ask for those permissions,

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that you really think about why an app

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<v Speaker 1>needs those permissions. If it's a game, I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>why they would need access to your photos or your microphone.

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<v Speaker 1>I say, when you're in doubt, deny the app or

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<v Speaker 1>just go ahead and delete it. Lots of times when

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<v Speaker 1>I'm looking for a new app to do something that

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<v Speaker 1>I need some sort of functionality, and it you download

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<v Speaker 1>it and it asks for a bunch of permissions, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just like, Nope, I'll just find another app that does

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<v Speaker 1>the same thing. Thanks so much for listening. If you

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy this podcast, please share it with friends or rate

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<v Speaker 1>and review it in the Apple Podcasts app. Every review counts.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Rich Demiro If you want links to anything I

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned here, just go to my website. Richon tech dot TV.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll talk to you real soon.