🚨 The Hidden Cost of Free App Downloads 🚨
🤔 If you’re not paying for a product, you are the product. In today’s digital age, the allure of free apps for our phones and free plugins for our websites and computers is hard to resist. But what is the true hidden cost of these free technologies that have become part of our everyday lives as instructors?
💡 Companies need to monetize their offering somehow, so when we download these freebies, we’re entering into an unspoken agreement where we exchange our personal information for a product. Then, other entities will pay for access to our user data, which can include anything from our browsing habits to our personal preferences, location data, and even our contact list.
Now, this information is a goldmine for targeted advertising and market research, making us, the user, a valuable asset to be traded and sold. So what can we do? We want the apps. We love the apps.
1️⃣ First off, read the privacy policies and the terms of service. 📚
Now, I know, in the past, reading a company’s privacy policy has felt like a 350-page, onerous task that requires the services of a mega lawyer. So everybody just clicks accept. But now, you can just copy and paste the full agreement into an AI, like ChatGPT, and ask it— ChatGPT, give me the top three ways this company might violate my privacy.
2️⃣ Secondly, consider using the paid version of an app. 💰
I know it feels like just one more expense, but paid services are more likely to treat us like a valued customer, with our privacy and our user experience as a top priority. #PaidApps #ValuePrivacy
3️⃣ Then lastly, limit the app permissions. 🔒
Instead of just hitting accept all, review the permissions each app requests. And grant it only the permissions that are essential for the app’s functionality. So, for example, a weather app might need your location, but a simple gaming app probably does not. #AppPermissions #DataSecurity
🍎 So, hopefully today’s video has got you thinking about ways you can protect yourself from exchanging your personal data when you are downloading and using new apps and plugins.
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