So it's been a while since I've written a new article so today I thought I'd talk about app permissions. You know, when you go to your apple or google play store and download that cool new app you heard about or update to the most current version from your social network? Yeah, those apps. Some people tend to be a bit paranoid and carefully inspect what that app is asking for permission to access, but many others don't even pay attention. Below is an older image of what facebook use to ask for permission to access on your phones:

Look at that, three pages of permissions from one application used to interact with your facebook contacts. In technical terms this is the equivalent of becoming an "administrator" on your smartphone. These are the things you need to pay attention to. Would I install this app on my phone? Absolutely not, granted I'm not a facebook user to begin with and this is part of the reason why. But there's other more curious things out there as well. Have you ever downloaded one of those nifty flashlight apps for your phone? Did you ever check the permissions it asked for before you downloaded it? I was getting ready to grab one myself one day and noticed that it was asking me for access to my wi-fi connections and SMS messages along with full network access. Um, what? Why? Well I flagged the app and a week or two later it no longer existed. There is ZERO reason an app that does nothing more than to turn a light on or off on your phone needs access to networks, text messaging, and antennas. None.

Remember, guard your information and guard your identities online. Don't give random pieces of software permission to access things it has no earthly reason to access. Lines of code can be malicious and sometimes those lines of code are able to fall through the cracks of even the toughest app store policing. And read those user reviews! People are often very honest about their experiences with technology and hold nothing back. Use that to your advantage, they may bring up topics about the application that you never even thought of.

Stay safe. Stay secure.

-Dominic

Let's Talk About App Permissions...