The last time was marked by a big fuss around security and privacy issues in the App Store and Google Play provoked by some Chinese apps. As a result, the Biden administration has lately adopted a law targeting Chinese tech companies deemed to pose a threat to the United States. The main issue here is that letting apps access more data on your phone than required can lead to security risks and sensible information exposure. iScanner team — the AI-based mobile application with 60M downloads designed to scan, keep, and transfer documents — shares helpful tips on how to keep your personal information secure.
- Find out where the publisher is headquartered
It helps to be sure that your personal information is taken seriously. It should be a matter of concern if a government admits to withdrawing personal data without user consent. Publishers may use such a right in the law for their own benefit. So it’s important to check in which country the intellectual property rights of an app has been registered.
- Check the way your documents are stored in the app
Many developers use third-party storage which location can not be identified. Today, for example, there’s a real buzz about ClubHouse, but nobody knows how secure it is and where the developers of this new social network store their data. Additionally, it may bring some inconveniences to storage systematization — a user may just experience problems with finding the documents they need at the moment.
The best solution will be to keep documents in the phone’s storage, Google Drive or iCloud, or to use credible storage safeguarded by a publisher. Check this information in the app’s description.
- Check the information about developers and applications
You can easily check if the application complies with security and privacy rules by addressing third-party security companies. You can check it, for example, here.
- Be careful with phone features to which the application is requesting access
When you install a new app, it’s common for it to ask for certain permissions. A scanner app may ask for access to your microphone, hyper-casual games — to your camera. These are examples of collecting your private information and you should allow this kind of access for companies you trust.
- Use passwords
The good idea is to protect some of your folders with documents in apps by a secure password, touch or face ID
We would be happy if you were the first one to share the information about checking privacy and security in business apps. In the iScanner app (which is originally from the US), all users store their docs securely on their devices. We have also ensured the option to protect sensitive documents by passwords and storage optimization.
