In today’s digital world, one of the golden rules is to keep yourself and your data safe while using your devices.
With most modern smartphones, iPhones, and Androids, there are a whole bunch of safety features in place that can keep you protected. However, they can’t necessarily keep you protected from everything, including apps that might expose your data more than you may realize. Using information from tech pros, we’re listing two apps you should consider deleting, as they put your privacy at risk. Read more about them below.
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1. Snapchat
Snapchat is not the same social media app it used to be. Gone are the days when the app was all about sending temporary photos back and forth that would disappear in seconds. Now, there's the Snap Map and other features that can end up putting your data and privacy at risk. Therefore, if you don't use it much anymore, it's likely worth getting rid of.
"The Snap Map feature is one way Snapchat tracks people's location," explains tech pro Baruch Labunski. "Unless you activate Ghost Mode, your current position is visible to friends, and possibly data analytics companies, whenever the app is open."
2. TikTok
TikTok has quickly become one of the most famous and well-known social media apps out there today, as you can get all sorts of both short and long-form content from it. Despite its popularity, there are certain settings on TikTok that, if you don't adjust, you can end up putting yourself in a rough place privacy-wise.
"The permissions that the TikTok application has on your device are a little deeper than users realize," notes tech safety expert Rory Bokser. "It uses your IP address, your device's movement behavior, and even approximates your position while you have location access disabled. Its geotagging system is running silently in the background and feeding TikTok data on what content to push to you, and what content to push to people around you. So when you upload a video, it's not just your content that's getting broadcast live. It's your general area being pinned down, stored, and logged for future reference, for recommendations, and for ad placement. That's how their algorithm "feels" local without needing to ask for permission every time."
