Privacy and apps
Your smartphone or tablet contains all sorts of personal data. Apps may need some of these data. Or else the app won't work. But do you provide more data than necessary? Then this may entail a risk for your privacy. And there are other risks as well. On this page you can read what those risks are and what you can do yourself to prevent or limit these risks.
On this page
Risks related to apps
Apps may entail a number of risks for your privacy. These risks apply for free apps as well as paid apps.
Tip: Install apps from reliable sources, such as the Google Playstore and the Apple app store.
These are the privacy risks of apps:
- More data than necessary
- Not properly asking for consent
- Poor security of the app
More data than necessary
Often you have to provide data for the proper functioning of an app. But many companies collect more data than they actually need. By using the app, you therefore give away more data than you maybe want. Think carefully about, for example:
- whether you really must give a social network site access to your profile;
- whether you feel that the ease of using your account of a social network site for logging in everywhere outweighs the risk that you unnecessarily distribute and link your data.
Not properly asking for consent
Apps have to ask you for consent for each type of your data that they want to use. Is this not done properly? For example, because the app does not ask for consent for each type of data? Or asks for consent in a way that is not permitted? Then an app could, without your knowledge:
- have access to your personal data;
- store information on your smartphone or tablet;
- track your use of apps on your smartphone or tablet;
- share the information about your use of apps with advertisers, for example.
Tip: Every app has the option to turn off access to certain data. Even if you have already installed the app. Check the settings of your telephone to see how this can be done.
Poor security of the app
Poor security of an app may result in (sensitive) personal data falling into the hands of others. For example, because an app transmits your data over the Internet without encryption. As a result, others can intercept your data.
Privacy rules for apps
When reading a privacy statement and reviews, you can pay attention to the (legal) privacy rules for apps. The most important of these are that an app:
- asks you for consent for the use of your personal data before the app retrieves information from or places information on your device;
- separately asks you for consent for the different types of personal data that the app uses;
- indicates clear and understandable purposes for which the app uses your data and does not change these purposes in the interim without your consent;
- does not retain your data longer than necessary;
- gives you the option to withdraw your consent, to de-install the app, and to remove the personal data collected;
- only collects data that are really necessary for the functioning of the app;
- adequately secures your personal data, both technically (for example, by means of encryption of your data) and organisationally (for example, who has access to your data);
- has a readable, understandable and properly accessible privacy statement.
Apps for children
Apps for children have to meet a number of additional requirements:
- Parents of underage children have to give consent for the processing of personal data of their child. An app is not allowed, for example, to ask for an email address without having obtained consent from the parents.
- Apps are not permitted to use data of children under the age of 16 for advertisements specifically targeting children.
- The information about the app must be offered in a simple manner, with use of language that is in line with the age of the children targeted by the app.