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These apps on your phone are 'spying' on you: How to protect your data

Remember when you chatted with a friend—offline—about buying a new pan, and suddenly your social feed was flooded with pan ads? Sometimes it feels like your phone is reading your mind. But, as Netflix's 'The Great Hack' points out, it's not that your phone is eavesdropping—it's that apps are eerily good at predicting your behaviour. They can be, because they have that much data on you. According to the documentary, even back in 2019, companies had access to 70,000 data points on every individual. That figure, by all accounts, has only grown. Data-hungry ecosystem Recent research by Apteco shines a spotlight on some of the most data-hungry apps. Meta's trifecta—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—tops the list. Others include LinkedIn (Microsoft), Pinterest (Pinterest Inc), Amazon and Alexa ( Inc), YouTube (Google), X (formerly Twitter, owned by X Corp), and PayPal. Globally, over 8.9 million mobile apps are available. With every download, click, and tap, apps collect different forms of data—location, contacts, browsing history, device information, financial details, and more. This data is then stitched together to create a digital profile of you—your preferences, routines, fears, aspirations—and used to target, influence, and monetise. Why should you care? You might think: "It's just data. And if it improves my user experience, what's the harm?" The problem is what happens next—and how little control you have over it. One cautionary tale is the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The political consultancy harvested data on millions of American users via social media, analysing emotions, preferences, and anxieties to manipulate political opinions. That data reportedly played a key role in Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. When data is used to subtly influence your decisions—what you buy, whom you vote for, what you believe—that's not convenience. That's control. What you can do Right now, users have limited tools to fight back. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself: • Review app permissions. When installing an app, don't blindly hit 'Allow All'. A photo-editing app doesn't need your location. Deny irrelevant permissions or look for alternative apps. • Manage cookies carefully. Websites often prompt cookie acceptance with bright 'Accept All' buttons. Look harder for 'Reject All', 'More Options', or 'Only necessary cookies'. These are often deliberately harder to spot. • Be cautious with uploads. Asking an AI to turn your photo into anime art might seem harmless. But it gives the provider consent to access your facial data. The same goes for documents, recordings, or messages shared online. • Understand dark patterns. Design tricks push users toward decisions that favour platforms over privacy. Recognising these patterns is the first step toward resisting them. • Stay data literate. Awareness is key. As long as legislation lags behind technology, staying informed is your best defence. The internet was built to be open—but in its current form, it's a surveillance economy. Data is power. And if you're not paying, you're probably the product.