With ‘Data Privacy Day’ upcoming, it’s never too early to check privacy settings

We all have a plethora of apps on our smartphones, with most of them having access to our information. “Data Privacy Day” is on Thursday so this week may be a good time to check the privacy settings on those apps.

When is the last time you checked the privacy settings on every app you use? From food delivery apps, like Uber Eats, to Zoom, from Apple to Amazon, your music, movies and so much more.

Each of these applications has its own specific privacy settings. So, unfortunately, you can’t adjust the privacy settings one time on one app and expect the rest to be taken care of.

Carrie Kerskie is an identity theft expert, and she strongly encourages people to check their privacy settings on a regular basis.

“You could be unwillingly and unknowingly giving information to organizations and those organizations then, in turn, take that information and could be selling it to others,” Kerskie said. “That free app you are using, you are now the product, you are the commodity.”

This page from the National Cyber Security Alliance has links to privacy settings from many popular apps. Or you can go straight to your apps and adjust the settings.

Also, if you change your privacy settings from the computer, there are usually more options.

When you read the terms of service, which seems to go on for pages, search for “collection” or “collecting.” This is a shortcut to find out what they do with your information once they obtain it.