3 Dangerous Apps Tech Experts Say You Should Never Download—They Draw In Hackers & Security Risks: Games & More

The App Store is a wide, vast banquet of app options, but not all choices are equally safe and secure. Even when you’re within a specific category, like games or weather apps, there can be unique differences among them in terms of which permissions they request and what they do with your data. Doing your homework before downloading an app and not granting apps all permissions is a way to keep your data safer. When tech experts consider which apps deserve caution, these three come to mind.

Weather Apps

Of course your iPhone comes with its very own built-in weather app that is simplistic, but fairly decent at providing basic weather predictions and other details about what’s happening outside your window at the moment. But a lot of people chat online about how Apple’s weather app isn’t accurate when you want specific information. So naturally, many have been exploring other weather app options to download instead.

Maybe your weather app of choice is WeatherBug, AccuWeather, The Weather Channel — or you prefer to download all three and compare the results they provide. Be careful before downloading new weather apps because some are notorious for selling data about your location. Read reviews and find out which permissions they request and what they claim to do with your data.

Games

Games, including multi-player games that have access to your location and contacts, are among the riskiest apps to download. If the games are being purchased via the App Store and are legitimate, they pose less of a risk, but if you are visiting torrent websites or other unofficial sources to download games, you run the risk of exposing your device to spyware, malware, or ransomware. Only download games from the App Store and make sure you read reviews beforehand to find out if others are complaining about privacy risks and other issues like bugs.

Facebook

If you have Facebook downloaded on your phone, consider this: it’s considered the worst social media app for privacy. This app is known for tracking users across all of its websites and apps, even after you’ve logged off of Facebook. And if you’re a fan of Facebook’s social media cousins — Instagram, Messenger, and Threads — the unfortunate data shows that these Meta apps collect 86% of personal information.

Protecting your data and privacy sometimes takes a bit of sacrifice, but avoiding these apps is a smart first step.