“I don’t care because I am not doing anything wrong,” this is a common argument when people discuss mobile and data privacy. Many people also say that privacy is a myth. But is this really true? Let us understand that through technology, every conversation can be monitored, and it does not mean only advertising. In India, awareness about data secrecy is very less. People often do not hesitate to share their base information with anyone, while this base data is very important for privacy. If cyber criminals get your Aadhaar and other information, they can vacate your account. Such reports keep coming.
Why are scams like digital arrests growing?
Why are cyber crimes increasing in India these days? Why do cyber criminals arrested people so easily? This is because people have been sharing their data easily for years. The plan of cyber criminals is very slow. They work on a data set for years and then take advantage of it. This means that if your data was leaked five years ago, you may be cheated today or next year. Because your data can be handed over to a cyber criminal at any time.
How is the phone being threatened by itself? Your conversation, your data
You mention a product or place from your friends. Soon, you see advertisements related to that product or place on social media. This is called targeted advertisement. But is it limited to advertisements only? Large companies like Google and Amazon have already accepted that they listen to the conversation, sometimes through their employees. This means that someone is listening to you.
Unnecessary apps are dangerous
Your phone will probably have dozens of apps that you have not used for months, but they are reaching your data daily. People often download apps for a particular purpose and forget to delete them, even if they do not use them daily. Because once installed, they make access to your data forever.
Digital tracking is not just advertising
Microfone, camera and location permissions given to apps store and process your data. Many apps demand excessive permissions. As:
Microphone access for shopping apps
Location tracking for payment apps. These apps store and sell your data. This gives companies a chance to earn profits, but malicious people can use it for blackmailing and cybercrime.
Google has been sued earlier as well, in which he had admitted to recording a conversation to improve speech recognition. However, there is no particular accountability for small apps, and their server’s location is unknown.
How can your data be dangerous?
Blackmailing and cybercrime can be easily done against you.
The possibility of financial fraud increases significantly because all your data is stored with someone.
Anyone can easily violate your privacy.
Bulk data trading
User data on the dark web is sold at very high prices. The price depends on how sensitive the data is. Here, not just a user data, but the data of millions of users is purchased and sold. Cyber criminals buy this data at high prices and then gradually cheat people.
Who sells your data?
This problem started with the idea that you give a lot of permission to an app without thinking. Sometimes, app publishers themselves collect and sell user data. Or, if the company’s data is leaked, criminals sell data.
How to avoid this?
Only give microphone and camera access to the required apps. Each app canceled the required permissions manually. This feature is available in both Android and iPhone. You can remove permissions by going to settings and choosing the app in the apps section.
Do not use apps of incredible publishers. Find the apps you want to download on Google and read their reviews.
Regularly check the app permissions and remove unnecessary apps. Also, keep in mind which apps you no longer use. Immediately remove them from your phone.
There are also tools that tell you which apps have not been used for a long time. Some also work to remove your information from the Internet. These can remove your data from the database of any app. However, they are not free and they spend a lot of money.
If this has happened to you, please tell us in the comments.