Best Mobile Apps to Protect Online Privacy

Mobile App Development | 25-07-2022 | Vanessa Venugopal

best mobile apps to protect online privacy

It is a challenge to keep your online activities safe. Multiple individuals track, steal or spy on whatever you do online. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot keep your activities private.

Fortunately, some companies create software or mobile apps that can help in securing a user’s online activities. Instead of being cautious online always, you can keep them secure and hide from spying eyes.

In this article, you’ll get to know applications you can download to keep your identity and activities safe. Since mobile devices are very prone to attacks, you’ll need to increase your protection level on these devices.

Why Do You Need to Protect Your Online Activities?

At first, you might think that cybercriminals aren’t interested in you. However, it is crucial to remember that they do not care about a person’s background. The more targets they have the better for them. Therefore, privacy online is an essential matter.

- It protects from social media breaches. It keeps you safe from clicking on links sent to you via a message or stops scams.
- Your identity online is vulnerable to threats. Therefore, securing them can prevent identity theft and loss.
- Add protection to businesses and security of their customers’ information
- Keeps you in control of your privacy and data. Therefore, government bodies, large corporations, and hackers cannot control or spy on you.
- Maintain your reputation.
- Helps in creating social boundaries

If you want to keep your online activities safe from all threats, start securing your mobile device by using applications that are safe and encrypted.

Mobile Apps to Protect Your Privacy and Online Activities

Antivirus Software

For these tools, we will keep it in general terms. Antivirus applications or software are programs created to detect, block, and protect your device from threats. You can perform a daily scan or allow the application to run automatically in the background.

Antivirus applications for mobile devices are not as fully-featured as those that exist on computers. Therefore, you’ll need other software to add protection to your device.

Some good examples of antivirus tools are Bitdefender Mobile Security, ESET, and Malwarebytes. Make sure to download these software apps on your respective apps store to prevent the installation of malware.

Proton Mail

Email is the major source of phishing scams and the installation of infectious malware into a device. You can spot malicious emails, but they are sometimes difficult to differentiate as hackers utilise artificial intelligence to help them target millions of users.

One of the best email providers is Proton Mail. It is a Switzerland-based email service that is known for its strong security features. It requires two-step passwords if you log in to your account. The first step is to log in and the second is to encrypt and decrypt messages.

It’s an excellent option for businesses to protect their information and keep their employees away from threats. You can download Proton Mail on Google Play Store and Apple App Store for free.

ExpressVPN

If you want to secure your online searches and activities, VPN is a tool of choice for many. Virtual Private Network protects users connected online.

It creates tunnels that encrypt data to hide the identity of the user and their IP addresses. Hence, it keeps you safe whenever you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network.

ExpressVPN is one of the fastest and best VPN services that offer protection for both businesses and individual users. It has servers all over 94 countries, allowing you to connect to locations that you desire. It’s a one-click online connection with no internet interruption.

It is available for download on Android and iOS devices.

DuckDuckGo

Online searches are essential and mobile devices are taking up space when it comes to searching online. There are multiple online browsers that you can install on your device. However, not all offer excellent online privacy.

Google Chrome is a popular and convenient tool. However, it collects data that allows annoying targeted adverts each time you visit a website.

Naturally, some of Google's practices are blatantly intrusive, and many users sign up without realizing they are essentially consenting to ongoing monitoring of their digital footprints.

DuckDuckGo on the other hand offers much safer online browsing. It doesn’t store data and limits the information it collects. It blocks advertising companies that are trying to track your activities. In addition, it encrypts the connection when available.

LastPass

Using complicated passwords is crucial to secure accounts from brute force attacks. When a password is easy, hackers can guess them quickly. It can even get them a few seconds to decipher the password.

When using complicated passwords, it can be a bit difficult to remember all of them for your accounts. Therefore, you’ll need a password manager to keep them safe.

LastPass is one of the best tools you can use to store your passwords, credit card number, and other confidential login credentials. There is no need to remember them at all. They can autofill the login field to access your accounts. The only thing to keep in mind is the single master password.

You can download it for free at Google Play and Apple App stores. There are paid plans to get more access to features, but the free plan has enough security for individual users.

Applock

You can add extra protection to your device. Aside from the screen lock you have, make sure to activate the application lock on your phone to secure images and video on your device.

AppLock is a photo vault tool that can keep your images and video safe from sneaky people. You can use a password or biometric measures to lock your content.

In addition, it automatically deletes the browser history to keep your online activities private.

This application is available for download at Google Play Store and Apple App Store for free.

Bouncer

You can temporarily grant rights to Bouncer. As soon as the app is closed, Bouncer will immediately revoke the permission so you can return to your normal activities without worrying about apps wasting your energy or compromising your privacy.

You can activate Bouncer on apps that you want to grant permission. So, it’s not only an app that saves battery life but keeps your identity secure.

This application also doesn’t require permission from other apps so it cannot access content within the application, keeping your data safe.

It is free for download at Google Play Store.

Signal

Want to communicate privately without the app or developer having access to your conversation? Signal is a popular encrypted messaging app like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Signal is a free messaging app that you can send and receive in real-time. In addition, it has a high-quality video calls, voice chat, and more. You can share files, images, and links.

It has an end-to-end encryption feature, and no ads, you can customize your alerts, and use the built-in editing tool.

Signal is available on Android and iOS devices.

2ndLine

You need to expand your network if you're self-employed or freelance, but you don't want to give out your cell phone number carelessly. When you give your phone number to a salesperson only to receive a barrage of follow-up calls, it is very frustrating.

When you wish to protect the privacy of your number or when making business calls, 2ndLine provides you with a backup phone number.

They work on any mobile device. You get unlimited texts, calls, and image messaging. Meanwhile, international calls are cheaper and you can earn money free to convert into calls.

Other features to enjoy are voice calls, caller ID, stickers, call forwarding, and more.

2ndLine is available for Android users. There are other versions for iOS devices.

Syncthing

If you want to access files from different devices, Syncthing is a tool that can encrypt your files between two machines in real-time. You have control over how your data is transmitted over the internet, where it is stored, and whether it is shared with any third parties.

No central server is available for the storage of files, usually, they are stored locally on your device. When shared with other computers, it utilizes the TLS security to encrypt communication. In addition, there is a cryptographic certificate that allows you only to accept those devices that can connect to you.

It is only available on Android devices.

Ad Blocker

Sudden pop-ups and intrusive ads are such an annoyance when you open an app or browse online. That’s why the use of an ad blocker on your device can keep you safe.

Ads can collect user data which can be sold to other advertising companies, used to send annoying sales, or worse when hackers get access to them.

An ad blocker can get rid of intrusive and annoying ads when you browse online. In addition, it keeps your data safe from tracking cookies online. However, there is still the presence of ads but they aren’t intrusive.

The ads present are used to support content creators but you can still choose to block them if you want. It also blocks ads from downloading. Therefore, it has a faster internet connection and long battery life for your device.

This tool is free to download at Google Play Store.

Conclusion

Securing your privacy from your mobile device can help you secure your identity from threats online. For businesses, it can keep them safe from dangers that can ruin their reputation and finances.

Since mobile devices lack the security that most computers have, using the applications stated above is a means to keep your device safe. These tools may not be 100% effective, but they can reduce the chances of becoming the next target of cybercriminals.

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Author

Vanessa Venugopal

Vanessa Venugopal is a passionate content writer. With four years of experience, she mastered the art of writing in various styles and topics. She is currently writing for Softvire Australia - the leading software eCommerce company in Australia and Softvire New Zealand.