How to keep smartphone apps from spying on you

There have been rumblings recently about smartphone apps using your phone’s microphone to collect data on your TV- and movie-watching choices.

The New York Times wrote about software from a company called Alphonso that collects data to sell to advertisers.

The apps in question are mostly games. If you allow those apps to use your phone’s microphone, they can listen to your life through the phone — even when the app isn’t being used. How can you protect yourself?

1. Pay attention to what happens when you install a new app. The Google Play store and iTunes App store will ask you if you’d like to grant permission for the app to use your phone’s microphone. iOS apps will ask you during installation, while Android apps should ask the first time they launch.

2. Check your settings so you know which apps are using your microphone. On iOS devices, open Settings, then open Privacy and then open Microphone. You’ll see a list of apps that you’ve given permission to use the microphone. On Android 6 and newer, open Settings, then Apps. You’ll see a list of apps, but you’ll have to open each one and look for that app’s Permissions line to see what permissions you’ve given it. You can also get to each app’s permissions by pressing and holding on the app’s icon and then choosing App Info from the pop-up menu.

3. If you see an app using your microphone, touch the slider to turn off the app’s microphone access. To turn it on again, just go back to the same spot.

— The Dallas Morning News