Spying Apps You Should Uninstall Immediately

Today, apps are available for nearly every task, but many demand extensive permissions that seem unwarranted. For instance, a torch app doesn’t need access to your microphone (and if it does, you should be cautious). Frequently, unseen ad trackers operate in the background, recording your activities, collecting data, and selling it to third parties.

This article will identify particularly problematic apps and explain how to review the permissions you’ve granted on Android and iPhone devices.

Some data-hungry apps to delete

1. Torch apps

Since smartphones come equipped with a built-in torch, downloading an additional app is unnecessary. If you have a third-party torch app, it’s best to uninstall it. These apps often leak data far beyond their simple function of providing light, requesting permissions like access to your contacts, microphone, or location—none of which are needed to illuminate.

Note: This advice also applies to apps for other standard functions available on your phone. For example, there’s no need for a third-party camera app if you can use the pre-installed one from your phone manufacturer.

2. Lifestyle and health apps

Apps for sleep tracking, step counting, or calorie monitoring may appear useful, but they often require permissions unrelated to their actual function. Besides the expected location access—often 24/7—many also ask for access to your microphone, photos, or contacts. While there’s no technical necessity for this, there are economic incentives.

Under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, an EU law), health-related data is classified as requiring special protection. Despite this, many fitness app providers sell aggregated user profiles to insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, or employer platforms. This is possible because some providers include data-sharing permissions in their privacy policies. By tapping “Accept” when starting the app for the first time, users may unknowingly consent.

The extent of this issue was highlighted in a 2020 investigation by US publication Vice, which revealed that the US military bought location data from brokers via seemingly harmless apps, including Muslim Pro, a prayer times app with nearly 100 million downloads worldwide.

3. Navigation apps

Popular apps like Google Maps need your location to offer accurate directions, which is both legitimate and technically necessary. The concern arises from these services storing your entire location history permanently and analyzing it. Advertisers can purchase detailed movement profiles, including information such as when you leave home, which supermarkets you visit, or how often you go to a particular doctor.

GPS navigation apps from lesser-known providers pose additional risks, as location access is often directly transferred to data broker firms that link your movement data with other data points for resale.

To protect your privacy, regularly delete your Google Maps location history and disable the Timeline feature if you do not use it. As an alternative, consider the open-source app OsmAnd, which offers privacy-friendly navigation and works offline.

OsmAnd

4. Shopping apps

Major shopping platforms like SHEIN and Amazon have long been suspected of demanding excessive permissions. Experiencing situations where products appear online soon after a casual mention is not coincidental.

While all major providers officially deny using the microphone for targeted advertising, the combination of location data, search queries, and purchase history enables them to make accurate predictions about your preferences. Consider reviewing which shopping apps are truly necessary, or better yet, shop on your computer.

5. Weather apps

Weather apps are notorious for embedding advertising trackers. Although location access appears reasonable to provide local weather updates, many of these apps also request access to contacts, photos, or the device’s camera—permissions unjustified by their function but valuable for building user profiles to sell to advertisers.

Two cases illustrate the severity of the issue. The Weather Channel, a globally recognized weather app, collected detailed location data from users around the clock and sold it to third parties without clear user consent. Following legal action, the case concluded with a settlement in 2023.

German users faced a similar issue with the “Wetter Online” app, which appeared in a dataset from a US data broker. In Germany alone, over 34,000 users were tracked in a single day, sometimes with precision down to a meter.

The Data Protection Commissioner for North Rhine-Westphalia intervened, finding that the company had shared location data without valid consent. Following the authority’s intervention, Wetter Online updated its data protection practices.

The positive news is that you don’t need a third-party weather app. Most smartphones have built-in weather functions that are as reliable as third-party apps, without requiring additional permissions.

How to check your apps’ permissions

With a better understanding of which app categories may be problematic, it’s important to review the permissions on your smartphone. Both Android and iOS provide clear menus for this purpose.

Android: Open Settings and tap ‘Apps’. Select an app and tap ‘Permissions’. This will show you which areas the app can access and allow you to disable specific permissions directly.

iPhone (iOS): Navigate to Settings > Privacy & Security. Here, you’ll find all permission categories such as Location, Microphone, Camera, or Contacts. Tap a category to review app access and adjust settings as necessary. You can also access individual app permissions via Settings > Apps > [App Name].

As a general guideline, only grant apps the permissions necessary for their core functions. Location access should be limited to ‘while using the app,’ and not allowed to run constantly in the background. Grant access to the microphone, camera, and contacts only when actively using those features within the app. For apps requesting unrelated permissions, it’s best to delete them.

Additionally, consider exploring which Android privacy settings can be adjusted for better phone protection. If you’re considering upgrading your device, check out our top picks in our guide to the best phones we’ve tested.