Are your apps listening to or watching you?
Updated | By East Coast Radio
In the famous words of The Police: "Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you."
For some while, there were memes about FBI agents making their way around the internet.
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The joke? That the government is always watching and listening to you.
Whether through your phone, your computer, or any other technological equipment.
Then you also have super personalised ads popping up after you just mentioned something to your friend.
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How did your phone know?
This is of course much more applicable to other countries and not South Africa, but you just never know.
Now Apple has announced that their new iOS update will put a stop to this panic.
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This update will show you a 'warning dot' at the top of your phone which will appear if an app is activating your camera or microphone.
(See below)
In iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, there’s an easy way to tell if an app is using your camera or microphone.
— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) September 17, 2020
Just look for this indicator at the top of your iPhone or iPad. Like this. pic.twitter.com/jZuO6A5UzY
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This won't be all.
You will also be able to access privacy information on the App Store that will help you understand the privacy policies of every single app before you download it.
To prevent an app from using your microphone or camera, all you have to do is go to Settings and change the app's permissions.
Or of course, delete the app.
Hopefully, this will put an end to the endless flood of perfectly curated advertisements!
Main image courtesy of Pexels
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