A new service was released last week that aims to help consumers really get to grips with how apps use their information.
Called Verify.ly, the service breaks down what information apps have access to and what they do with user data.
It is designed to educate users on just how safe the apps they have on their phones really are, as many are oblivious to just how much apps know about them.
For example, ephemeral photo-sharing app Snapchat not only knows your location, but also has access to your calendars and information from telephone calls.
Verify.ly co-founder Will Strafach told TechCrunch: “Apps are essentially a ‘black box’ that users must trust with no way to know what it might do.
“I want anyone to be able to look at what their apps are doing. That’s really important information and people deserve that.”
Verify.ly aims to clear up what information apps have access to and what they do with it, whether keeping it for their own consumer analysis or passing it on to third parties.
It does this by offering insight into things like software, source code and third party code libraries.
Strafach said: “If an app was a book, the similar services [to Verify.ly] are only reading the ‘table of contents’ and getting a vague, okay understanding of things, while we are reading front-to-back and learning absolutely everything.”
And even if consumers don’t know the first thing about SDKs and APIs, Verify.ly will break it down for them, letting users know just where their information is going.
At the moment, Verify.ly is a free service, however, it plans to monetise by vetting apps for enterprise devices and debugging apps for developers.
Find out more about Verify.ly here.