Your smartphone is a device that takes a focal point in your daily routine. It’s a device that you never part with (even when you shower), something you’ll never leave your home without, and even something you cannot lower even while watching a movie or having a conversation.
It’s how you talk/chat with your friends, pay your bills, and get most of the information about the world around you.
Still, it’s not all sunshine and roses here, either. Here are the top five risks that this miraculous device is exposing you to.
- Data breach
A data breach sounds scary, but it’s not nearly as scary as when it affects your own home. This just hits too close to home.
First of all, we all have that one group/private chat which, if leaked, would cause a massive problem in the local social group. People exchange information, gossip, and even share their most controversial opinions when in an environment they can trust. However, you do not want these opinions and chats to go public.
Another thing you need to keep in mind is that your private gallery is there. Now, we don’t want to make presumptions, but it would be a safe guess that this gallery needs to stay private at all costs (for your sake and that of others).
Finally, you are probably logged into a company account (on the project management platform that you use), your business Slack account, Skype, etc. All of this needs to stay private for a wide variety of reasons.
A data breach, in any of these scenarios, is a huge problem.
This is why you need to be very cautious of which networks you access, what you download, which sites you access, and, most importantly, who has access to your device. Also, having a good anti-malware on your device is a priority.
- Spy apps
When someone installs a spy app on your device, they can check your logs, monitor your chats, find out your location at any time, and more.
Most often, these are the apps that your partner or a parent is installing on your phone in order to keep an eye on you (clearly because they mistrust you). The reason why this is the case is because they’re the people who have the opportunity to do this. It’s something that can’t be done remotely; they have to take your phone physically and download a spy app on it.
Now, there’s one more scenario in which an external party will be able to install this on your device. Namely, if someone asks to borrow your phone, they have a chance to install a spy app or a keylogger.
So, make sure to check every now and then which apps are running on your phone. We say apps that are running since they’ll likely delete the icon. Also, keep in mind that spy apps for iPhone users are slightly different than those for Android users. So, make sure to check the lists for your app, so that you can learn how to recognize it.
- Physical theft
A physical theft of your device is a problem. Namely, while you can track your device via your account, and even the police can help out in this regard, you should never underestimate the ability of a thief to swipe your device clean and make it impossible to crack.
The more expensive the phone, the more appealing the target it becomes. In fact, this is one of the reasons why people sometimes opt to use older smartphones rather than switch to a new, more expensive version right away.
Sometimes, your password or PIN won’t be complex enough, and the version of the smartphone you’re using won’t have a mandatory biometric requirement to unlock. This means that the thief will be able to access your device, steal all your data, and even blackmail you.
Just think about someone who wants to blackmail you. You don’t cave in, and they actually do follow up on their threat by posting something sensitive you have on your phone through your own account. How hard will it be to prove that it wasn’t actually you? Will it even matter?
Just misappropriating your phone is a big problem enough. After all, there are all your apps, all your accounts, and even your work-related data. Just not having access to it is bad enough, let alone the idea of someone else being able to access it.
- Social engineering
This is a very difficult topic, especially since a lot of people underestimate the importance of receiving information from opposing sources. For many people, one of the must-have apps on their device is one that further personalizes the news they’re getting.
The problem is that the news they’re receiving is already personalized.
This creates a further divide in society since the algorithm is already tracking your previous interests, search history, and subscriptions. Just take a look at a platform like Reddit or X (formerly known as Twitter). The thing is that your feed will completely depend on who you follow.
This creates epistemic chambers where you only receive cherry-picked information that reinforces beliefs you already have. Hearing affirmation of a belief you already hold gives you a serotonin hit, and this serotonin hit can, sometimes, be more important than the truth.
Fortunately, with just a bit of effort, you can find a way to avoid this. You can download a VPN tool to avoid geo-location as a factor, use incognito mode, or even just follow channels/accounts that hold views opposite to your own.
Being a critical thinker is hard, but it’s completely impossible when you’re spoon-fed information that someone wants you to have. It’s even harder when you’re doing this voluntarily. Sure, you have the right to be blissfully ignorant, but this has to be a choice.
- Mobile use addiction
Lastly, no matter how skeptical you are about mobile use addiction, you need to understand that the data doesn’t lie. In fact, you don’t even need a sophisticated time-management app to get an insight into this. Chances are that your own device has some sort of analytics. Perhaps you even get notifications on a weekly basis that you’ve used your phone for X more/less this week (compared to the previous one).
A lot of people check their phones while engaged in a face-to-face conversation. It’s not even that hard to enter a coffee shop and see a table with four/five people sitting there in silence, everyone on their own phone. Sure, this is the modern societal norm, and it’s no longer considered as rude as it once would be, but still… it’s a problem.
A lot of people can’t even watch a movie without going back and forth between the big screen and the small one. In other words, the use of a smartphone is quickly becoming a serious societal issue.
There are currently roughly 3.8 billion smartphone users in the world, and according to one estimate, roughly 6.3% of them show signs of a smartphone addiction.
Take care of your phone, and it will take care of you
Your phone is one of the most important assets you have. We’re not suggesting that you reduce your reliance on it or just forsake it completely (this is impossible in the modern world). Just be more mindful of how you use it, protect it from those who would do you harm, and take steps to protect yourself from its harmful influences.
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