NordVPN investigates: Are smartphones spying on their owners?
PR92822
LONDON, Nov. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
Your phone is listening and helping marketers to target you. What can you do
about it?
Last year, there was a 5% increase in the installation of monitoring apps, a
study by NordVPN [ https://nordvpn.com/blog/rise-of-parental-monitoring-tools/] shows.
Yet some users suspect that their smartphones are spying on them even
if they have no monitoring apps installed.
This is true. Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa listen
to their users all the time. They have to constantly listen so they can hear
the voice command and assist. However, some of the things people say are being
recorded for companies' own benefit, like improving the service quality or for
marketing purposes.
"When you ask Google Assistant or Siri to find something, this information is
used for online advertising. It's no different from typing something into
Google Search. If you're looking for car dealerships in your city, related ads
will start chasing you across the internet. In a way, virtual assistant is just
another search engine," says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN
[ https://nordvpn.com/download/ ].
The expert shares how you can check if your phone is spying on you
[https://nordvpn.com/blog/phone-listening-test/ ].
How to test your phone?
The best way to see if your phone is helping marketers target you is by setting
up a trap.
- Select a good topic.
- Isolate the topic from your phone.
- Select keywords.
- Discuss the topic out loud next to your phone.
Once you set up the trap, notice if any new ads have started targeting you on
social media or other digital channels. If they have, then your phone is
probably helping these ads reach you.
How can you protect your privacy?
First of all, you should review your app permissions.
"Once access is granted, the app can do whatever it wants with that data. So,
build a routine to review your phone's app permissions and think twice before
agreeing to an app's demands," Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at
NordVPN [ https://nordvpn.com/ ], emphasizes.
Some apps might want to access your microphone without any reason. This might
allow bad actors to spy on you in the background or collect ad-targeting data
when you don't want them listening.
Also, clear your activities once in a while and turn off the audio recording
function.
Finally, install a VPN on your smartphone and enhance your privacy. A virtual
private network masks your IP address and encrypts traffic.
Source: NordVPN
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