Since the government announced that it was banning 59 Chinese apps as these were using personal data and storing it in their home country, and were collecting information without informing the users, there has been a general sense of paranoia of what apps can or cannot do. The allegations levelled against Chinese apps are not all wrong but do other apps function similarly. And, can a user protect her privacy. While it is difficult to save yourself from all app intrusions—the best way is not to download any app and go back to a feature phone—Android and iOS versions do accord some level of control to the user.
Can I use the apps without giving any access?
This is a highly improbable scenario. The way apps work is by accessing certain libraries and functions from your phone. If you are using an Instagram, for instance, it would require access to your camera and your gallery, if nothing else it would require access to your storage. A WhatsApp wants access to contacts. If you disable access to any of these, you won’t be able to access anything on the app. Once everything is disabled, even the core features, the app is useless, just consuming space on the phone.
So, how can I disable access to services, and which service to disable access to?
For Android users, this is very simple. Just go to the settings on your phone, then click on apps, and you will reach app management. There, for each app, you will see a separate tab, click on it, and you will see something called permissions. Now, just start switching off permissions for each app. It will either be in the form of a toggle bar or will give a simple allow or deny option. For iOS users, just go to settings and scroll down, and you will be able to see all apps. Once you click on the app icon, you will be able to disable features that the app uses. It’s a simple toggle control. Green means active. The choosing what to disable part is a bit more problematic. A web browser does not need to know your location; neither does it need access to the camera, so disable that. You can disable contacts for apps that do not need to run your contacts for any of their functions.
Can this be done on the laptop as well?
Indeed, it can. Go to settings, apps, apps & features. As you click on advanced options, you will be able to see permissions under the head ‘app permissions’, and from thereon you can toggle to keep or revoke permissions. Some antivirus softwares, like Norton, do it automatically. If you are using or planning to buy an antivirus, do check out its features.
Techsplained @FE features weekly on Mondays. If you wish to send in queries that you want explained, mail us at ishaan.gera@expressindia.com
