
In fact, these ones in particular make up the top 10 flashlight apps for Android. There is no need to rummage through tons of apps available on Google Play to find flashlights that want to find out everything about you.

The apps included in the table are not selected at random. A simple glance at the table compiled by SnoopWall could make your hair stand on end: This is particularly true of phones running Android as the operating system, because Windows and Apple restrict the capability of apps to spy on us (always with your permission, of course).Īccording to a report from SnoopWall, a company dedicated to smartphone security, flashlight apps are surprisingly quite demanding as regards permissions. This gives many of the apps installed on smartphones permission to know your location using GPS data, to take pictures, record sounds and even read your text messages. The worst thing is that if it does this, it is because you have allowed it to.īefore downloading any app you have to give it certain permissions. Flashlight 007, with a license for everythingĪs already mentioned, you do not tell your flashlight app anything but it is capable of shedding light on a good handful of conclusions about your movements. It is true that you do not have to register or provide any data in order to use them but the flashlight on your phone knows a lot about you, which makes it an interesting target for cyber-crooks. However, and surprising as it may seem, perhaps we should not be so much afraid of the lack of light as of the app that we use on your phone to shed light.Īpps that control the flashlight on the phone – there are thousands in the app stores – are not as harmless as they may seem. We have all used the flashlight on our phone to shake off the uneasiness (not to say fear) caused by the dark. Useful –in its own way– when taking pictures and even more so when you need to light up a dark corner. Despite all of the innovative things it does, one of the best features of smartphones is something as simple as it is old: the flashlight. The smartphone you keep in your pocket is amazing.
