In a word, yes. It’s not a surprise to most of us that smart phones are capable of a great deal of surreptitious transmission of our activities to unknown people and organizations that may not have our best interests at heart. Some of this is the bargain we make for the amazing features we just can’t live without, but we don’t have to accept all of it.
In addition to reporting what you do on websites and with your various apps (usually just to the provider of those apps), your phone is reporting all kinds of data about you and your behavior, even while you sleep.
Despite iPhone’s claim that they “are in the business of protecting your privacy,” your iPhone isn’t only running data trackers while you sleep. In a single week, a Washington Post researcher encountered over 5,400 trackers, mostly in apps, not including the incessant Yelp traffic. According to privacy firm Disconnect, those unwanted trackers would have spewed out 1.5 gigabytes of data over the span of a month. That’s half of an entire basic wireless service plan from AT&T.
Here are a few things you can do to stem the flow:
1) Conduct an inventory
In iOS 12, go to Settings, then to Privacy, turn off location services for apps that don’t really need it — surely the ones that asked to access it “always.” (This is important because apps will wake up periodically if you give them “always” location access.”)
Follow the same process for other sensitive information, such as your contacts and medical data — as well as permission to access to your microphone and camera.
It’s advisable to just delete any apps you don’t use regularly.
2) Limit ad tracking.
Go to Settings, then to Privacy — and then at the bottom under the heading “Advertising.” Turn on “limit ad tracking.” This won’t stop all unwanted actions, but it will slow it down considerably.
3) Get Privacy Pro for iOS.
This app works a bit like a tracker blocker you add to a Web browser — except for your entire phone. It may affect the functioning of some apps, but Privacy Pro’s makers have tried to balance privacy and functionality. (The subscription version is not necessary, but provides a virtual private network to help keep your data secret from your Internet service provider.)
If you are an Android user, Samsung phone owners can download a version of Disconnect’s software called Pro Privacy and Performance for $25 from the Galaxy Apps store. The Android app isn’t available in the wider Play Store, due to Google restrictions.
4) Turn off “background refresh”.
Go to Settings, then General, then Background App Refresh. Switching them off will prevent them from sending out data at night but won’t necessarily stop them from sharing your data with third parties while you use the apps themselves. (Manually force-closing apps doesn’t stop tracking by apps that you’ve allowed background refresh access.)
5) Use Apple’s native apps.
Apple’s own software, such as Photos and Maps, keep a higher privacy standard than other apps. In most cases, your data is encrypted in transit and less of it is collected in the first place. Sorry Android users, can’t say as much for your phones.