Need to chat with family? WhatsApp. Watch videos? YouTube. Navigate? Waze or Google Maps. Many of these apps are “free” to instal and use, but as the saying goes, if you are not paying for the product, you are the product.
Free at surface level
The most common way this happens is through advertising and data collection such as users’ location, browsing history, contact list, device details and even usage patterns, such as what they click on or how long they spend on a page.
The collected data is then used to tailor ads or are sold to third-party marketers as part of the business model called data monetisation.
Even relatively insignificant or harmless apps like camera or photo editing apps can sometimes request unnecessary permissions, such as microphone access, with the more extreme end being apps disallowing usage if these permissions are not granted.
Globally, awareness about this hidden trade-off has been growing. In 2018, Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal highlighted how data from millions of users was harvested through a free personality quiz app and then used for targeted political ads during the 2016 presidential campaigns of US politicians Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has also flagged rising cases of online scams linked to data leaks.
At a glance, the aforementioned data being compromised or sold may not seem harmful, until it eventually is with the following effects:
Have you ever looked up a town, city or country and then suddenly see travel ads littering your social media feed, YouTube videos and on Google Search? That is the result of data-driven advertising.
Once sensitive data such as NRIC numbers, phone numbers and addresses are exposed, scammers can easily impersonate victims to open fake accounts or commit fraud.
Constant location tracking can reveal patterns of where you live, work or shop. Over time, this builds a detailed profile of your daily life.
While regulation is catching up, individual users can take steps to protect themselves, such as checking app permissions and only allowing access to features the app really needs. Another way is reading privacy policies, where if it says “shared with partners”, that often means advertisers.
Additionally, be selective with the apps you want. You do not need more than one picture filter app, after all. Finally, keep apps updated as each new update will typically patch security flaws in prior versions.
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