Free Your Phone
During August's Tech Talk, one of our engineers delved deeper into the widespread issue of mobile phone tracking and presented practical solutions to improve your privacy. The session, titled "Free Your Phone," offered an eye-opening look at the hidden trackers built into many everyday apps.
The talk revealed that the average app user is tracked by five different companies, and that one in six apps contains more than ten trackers. This underscores how important it is to be critical of app permissions and to look for privacy-conscious alternatives.
To combat these privacy violations, various tools were highlighted. IzzyOnDroid and F-Droid are repositories offering a wide range of open source apps that respect privacy. Specific replacements for commonly used apps, such as Buienradar, were also mentioned to reduce dependence on privacy-invasive applications.
However, even after removing such apps, Google tracking remains an underlying problem. For those who want to escape the Google ecosystem, the advantages of custom ROMs were discussed. Tools such as Aurora Store and microG were discussed to restore functionality lost when removing Google. In addition, compatibility checkers such as Plexus and Sapio were mentioned, which allow users to assess how feasible the use of a custom ROM is for them.
The session concluded with a comparison between Apple and Google. Although Apple tracks less, both companies still use user tracking. Exodus Privacy was recommended as a useful tool for identifying the most privacy-invasive apps. Droid-ify and Neo Store were mentioned as the easiest ways to find privacy-friendly apps on Android.
All in all, it was another strong Tech Talk with valuable insights and concrete steps for anyone who wants to gain more control over their digital privacy.
Would you like to participate in one of our Tech Talks, either as a speaker or as an attendee? Let us know, and we will contact you.
