The vast majority of phones sold on the market are equipped with numerous features and applications which, if wrongly used or compromised, can become tools for spying on and stealing data from its users.
For example, the applications you download may request access to various aspects of your phone, such as your contacts, messages, location, and even your camera or microphone. This can, of course, also involve your networking activity, your visits to websites and internet searches, your connections, your social networks, etc. If these applications are not trustworthy, or if they have been designed with malicious intent, they can collect and send your personal information to third parties without your consent.
In addition, phone operating systems themselves, if not regularly updated, can have security vulnerabilities that allow hackers to access your data. Unsecured public Wi-Fi networks are also a risk, as they can be a breeding ground for cyberattacks aimed at intercepting data transmitted from your smartphone.
Finally, the default privacy settings on many phones and apps may not be protective enough for their users, allowing more extensive collection and sharing of your information with advertising companies or other third parties. The combination of these factors makes smartphones potentially vulnerable to spying and theft of private data.
With Murena and its /e/OS operating system, mobile applications will no longer spy on you:
Your smartphone, an everyday companion, poses significant risks to your privacy due to subtle mechanisms used by third parties. On the occasion of Data Protection Day, we’d like to draw attention to an important issue: the covert tracking and data collection practices employed by various apps on your device. It’s essential to recognize that your phone can be used as a surveillance tool.
In this context, we’ll look at how our tools in /e/OS can act as a shield, preventing these applications from invading your privacy. We’ll also look at the crucial importance of protecting your data.
Murena and its /e/OS operating system take a privacy-centric approach to reducing the risk of spying by mobile applications. At the heart of this approach is an operating system based on Android, but designed to minimize the collection and sharing of personal data.
/e/OS moves away from the standard Google services and applications that are often integrated into Android. By replacing these services with privacy-focused alternatives, /e/OS reduces the amount of data collected by default by applications and services. What’s more, the operating system comes with features that give you greater control over application permissions. This means you have the ability to limit applications’ access to certain data or features on your phone, such as location, contacts and camera..
In addition, Murena and /e/OS focus on transparency and user control. They provide clear information about the data collected by applications and offer options for managing that data. This creates an environment where applications are less likely to collect data without the user’s explicit consent, reducing the risk of spying and theft of private data.
How can you limit your data exposure when using your phone?
We often neglect the default security settings, exposing ourselves to in-app tracking, IP address exposure and geolocation. To remedy this:
– In-application tracking prevention: Proactively use the privacy options in the application settings or install anti-tracking applications. Do Not Track” options in browsers and applications such as “Advanced Privacy” in /e/OS offer complete protection.
– Hiding your IP address: Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and regular IP address resets protect your digital identity. You can hide your IP address by using the “hide my real IP address” function in Advanced Privacy.
– Location concealment: In Advanced privacy, you can disable location services for non-essential applications and use location concealment applications to protect your privacy.
On this European Data Protection Day, let’s not forget that relying on legal regulations is not enough. Play an active role in protecting your data.
About Advanced Privacy:
Advanced Privacy is a specific tool that we have developed in /e/OS, an open source, de-Google-enabled mobile operating system, to limit the exposure of your data once you have installed third-party applications. It gives users greater control over the permissions granted to applications, allowing access to personal data and phone functionality to be restricted. Applications use trackers to record your activity, even if you are not using the application. The application also collects your IP address, which allows it to link your Internet activity to a specific device and person, and finally it tries to determine your exact location. Advanced Privacy allows you to manage in-app trackers, IP address and location. It is available as a widget and in the operating system settings. You can continue to use your applications while reducing the unnecessary collection of data about you.
More information
Learn more about Advanced Privacy: https://edevelopers-blog.medium.com/advanced-privacy-6ea06f179dc8 See compatible phones with /e/OS to install on your phone for free: https://doc.e.foundation/devices Discover Murena smartphones powered by /e/OS: https://murena.com/products/smartphones/