Ever considered what data your apps phone home with?

It's common knowledge some applications and services are a little too interested in what we the users and customers are doing. I would say it's fairly common to have experienced a situation where you are talking to a friend or colleague about a product you might be interested in and soon start seeing adverts for that exact thing soon after.  

You might think it's a coincidence, or even think you are more aware of it now you are thinking of the product but could it be something more?

Until recently, we haven’t really had a lot of control over what information our apps are gathering. Android and iOS have stepped up private giving the end user more control by allowing choice on sensitive things like the mic and camera, but up until recently, laptops have had less control.

The good news is Microsoft has started to add features to Windows 11 to put that power back with the customer. The feature called "Privacy Auditing" allows you see which apps have accessed hardware like the camera and microphone and if they have accessed files such as screenshots, messages, contacts and location information.

Whilst this feature isn't rolled out yet we think this is a great step forward. Being able check periodically to help you avoid malicious activity and to make sure your sensitive data remains in the right hands.

In the meantime, if you’d like someone to look over the data permissions on your business’s devices, get in touch.

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