What kind of data are your apps pulling? Talking Tech podcast

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Hey there listeners, it's Brett Molina. Welcome back to Talking Tech.

I know I can't see you obviously, but raise your hand if you're among those who see a cool app, you want to download it and you just add it to your phone without looking at anything else like what information is it getting? What data is it accessing? I've done it, I'm guilty of it, there are a lot of people that are guilty of it too. They see a cool app, they download it, and maybe after the fact, or if at all, they're checking what are the privacy data details that I'm missing here?

My colleague, Kim Komando, talks about this. She writes about it in a column for tech.usatoday.com. It's called How to keep apps from accessing too much data on your phone. Now, to be clear, the stores for Apple and for Android spell out a lot of those details. So, if you want to get a sense of what kind of data are these apps looking at when you install an app, it's right there before you even do that.

I would advise anybody, if you are downloading any app and you're very privacy-conscious, check that page out. Just give a good read and just give a sense of, okay, what is the data that they actually need from my device? What do they say they're going to look at when I download this app?

So Kim offers a couple tips, a couple things to look for. We'll go through one or two of them right now, and you can read the rest about them in her column. Let's start here. Watch out for those always on permissions. You might see that, especially with location. I've had this happen with weather apps, with fitness apps, anything else.

It'll give you a prompt on your iPhone or Android, it'll basically say how do you want this app to use your location? It might say only use it when I'm using the app or always have it on. So, that happens a lot. Again, some apps will say the app will work better if it's always on, but for yourself you're thinking, "I only need the location on when I'm using the app, I don't need it any other time." So, that's something to check.

The best way to check that is to go into your settings and just double-check and see what kind of permissions you're allowing for an app. For Android, you'll go to settings, you'll go to apps and then you'll select the app that you're focused on, then you'll tap permissions. Then in there, you'll see what the app has access to.

Same thing for iPhone. You'll go to settings, then privacy, select the category, it's broken down by photos or microphone or camera. Then for each category, you'll see the list of apps that'll request the permission, and then you can toggle whether you want it on or off.

Same for location too. When you see location, pick that and you'll see what apps can use your location, and then you can drill down and figure out how much you want to give them. Do you want to do it only while you're using the app? Do you want it to be on all the time or do you just not want to use your location at all? So, that's something to keep in mind if you're worried about your privacy.

Another tip that Kim mentions is protecting your contact list. That's another thing I get a lot with social media apps, where it's like just import your contact list over so you have a bunch of contacts already there that you can send TikToks to or Instagram, or whatever the app is. One thing Kim mentions and it's important to keep in mind is this is giving away other people's private information. This is the phone numbers of your friends, the emails of your friends, your family, everybody else.

So as tempting as it might be to have all that there, it's easy, it's ready, think twice about considering adding your contacts. As just a general rule of thumb for myself, I never do it. I figure if somebody's on Instagram, for example, I'll just reach out to them directly say, "Hey, what's your Instagram account? I'll add you," instead of doing the contact thing and importing all these details over that really the app doesn't necessarily need.

If you want to read more about tips and advice on tracking what data apps pull from your phone, be sure to read Kim's column on tech.usatoday.com. Listeners, let's hear from you. Do you have any comments, questions, or show ideas? Any tech problems you want us to try to address? You can find me on Twitter @brettmolina23.

Please don't forget to subscribe and rate us or leave a review in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, anywhere you get your podcasts. You've been listening to Talking Tech, we'll be back tomorrow with another quick hit from the world of tech.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What kind of data are your apps pulling? Talking Tech podcast