How to know your Apps know much about you

An application program (app or application for short) is a computer program designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user. Examples of an application include a word processor, a spreadsheet, an accounting application, a web browser, a media player, an aeronautical flight simulator, a console game or a photo editor. The collective noun application software refers to all applications collectively. This contrasts with system software, which is mainly involved with running the computer.

Now, with the advancement of technology in the real world, App developers have got to the extent of making Apps that knows much about its users.

The steps to know if your app knows things about is below, just read.

The insta-obsession over “Pokémon Go” hasn’t just forced gamers to leave their homes and explore the outside world, it’s also yielded a teachable moment about privacy.

After Niantic’s smartphone game took off, Adam Reeve, principal architect at the Baltimore security-analytics firm Red Owl, saw something squirrelly in its iOS version. His Google settings showed that signing into “Pokémon Go” with his Google account had given the game access to almost all of his Google account’s information, from his e-mail to his photos.

Other security researchers, such as Trail of Bits’ Dan Guido, looked into this and confirmed that the game sought far more info than needed to verify a player’s identity.

Niantic said it wasn’t reading anything more than Google usernames and e-mail addresses and quickly shipped an update to curb its access.

That developer did the right thing commendably fast. But other companies with apps that invite or require you to sign in via your Google or other social media account might not – and at worst could wind up being able to peek at parts of your online persona you want private. Don’t take a new app’s word for it; check what parts of your accounts it can see and, if necessary, cut off that access. Here’s how.

Google: a series of on/off switches

To check which sites can see your Google account information, sign into your account from a desktop browser, click the avatar for your account in the top-right corner, then select “My Account”.

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