Tips To Secure Your Privacy In 2020

By on August 10th, 2020

5 min Read

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Nearly all of us keep some private and personal staff on our phones. From passwords and names to credit card information, messages, photos, you name it. But did you know that about 60% of app vulnerabilities are on the users’ side?  Ask any great mobile app development company in Sydney and the response won’t be any different. 

Whether you are an Android or iOS, user, this is a fact that affects you. Right now, mobile apps are among the big targets for online malicious activity. 

While it is true that some businesses and tech companies are doing this deliberately, mobile app developer mistakes also play a role in this. 

Attackers are always keen to exploit any mistakes a developer might have made when they developed and wrote code for a mobile app. So, the developer behind the app should always be your concern, both as a mobile app user and as a business owner who may be planning to create an app for their brand. 

To help keep you safer, we let you in on tips that will help to secure your privacy today as a mobile app user. 

Be Careful About App Permissions

When installing an app, this is one of the areas you should always double-check and scrutinise. Before giving the app all the permissions it asks, ask yourself whether it makes any sense to do so. Some permissions are definitely necessary for the app to fulfil its purpose, like a food delivery app requesting access to your location. 

However, if an app is requesting access to data that has very little to do with its core functions, consider that a red flag. A good case in point is a fitness app requesting access to your messages. Such permission doesn’t seem valid and should be treated with suspicion. 

When you deny such permissions, you are protecting your private data and information from unauthorised access.

That aside, pay close attention to how your phone acts after you grant an app specific permissions. If it starts lagging or the battery life becomes poor, that could be a sign that the app is doing something it is not supposed to behind the scenes.  

Learn More About The App And The Company/Developer Behind It 

When you want to download an app you have never heard of or know very little about, spare time to first know about it. Do a quick search online. Be very specific. Include search terms such as scam and scandal to be sure the app is clean. 

If you come across a previous case(s) of data breaches, find out how the company responded and actions they have taken to prevent that from ever happening. 

Also, check out the developer behind the app. Do they have several other apps or is this their only app? Be wary of developers with only one app and no experience.  It would also be best to avoid apps that come from an app development company in Sydney that has a questionable past. 

Update Your Apps and Operating System 

Not many of us are keen to keep our system and applications up to date. Whenever updates pop up, we defer the installation to a later date. What you probably don’t know is that such updates are mostly an effort to keep the app or system more secure and stable. 

New cybersecurity threats emerge almost daily and it is only through these updates that apps and systems can patch security holes and maintain their resistance to such attacks. If you happen to run a business app, hire a mobile app developer Australia to help you keep your app up to date and more secure. 

Usually, companies explain the new updates to users and justify why they are necessary. Attackers more often use such information to exploit the vulnerabilities in the previous version. Unless you install the OS and app updates as soon as they become available, you become more vulnerable to their malicious activities. 

Do Not Download Apps Outside Of Google PlayStore and Apple App Store

Even though the two platforms still carry apps that cannot be trusted, that should never be an excuse to get apps from unofficial app stores. 

Both Google and  Apple vet apps before they allow them to operate in their mobile app stores. They have put in place strict policies and standards that apps must follow and meet before being approved and published. One of the requirements is that an app must have a dedicated privacy policy for users that explains how they will protect your data. 

For apps outside of these two platforms, this is the least of their concerns.  It’s rare to find such measures in a third-party app store. When you get such apps, you increase the risk of exposing yourself to viruses, ransomware and malware that will exploit your mobile system’s vulnerabilities. It is possible for a hacker to have full access to all your personal and private stuff through such an app. 

These four tips sum up our list and are sure ways to secure your privacy as a mobile app user. If you run a business app, share the same advice with your consumers. To guarantee their privacy, only work with companies that offer quality mobile app development services in Australia.

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