Most apps don’t just provide services — they collect, analyze, and sometimes sell your data. Location, contacts, browsing habits, shopping preferences, even microphone and camera activity can all be fair game if permissions allow. The app may be free to download, but your personal information is the real currency.
What Apps Commonly Collect
Location data: From GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth signals.
Contacts & calendars: Sometimes shared without realizing it.
Search & browsing history: Used to build advertising profiles.
Behaviours: How long you scroll, where you click, what you ignore.
Canadian Context
Privacy laws: Canada’s PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) governs private-sector data use, but enforcement is limited.
Popular apps: TikTok, Instagram, and mobile games raise recurring debates about how much they collect.
Provincial differences: Quebec has stronger digital privacy protections; other provinces lag behind.
Emerging trend: Some Canadian banks and health providers now have apps — raising stakes around security.
The Challenges
Consent fatigue: Users often click “accept all” without reading.
Limited control: Even after permissions are revoked, some data may remain stored.
Normalization: Many assume, “That’s just the way apps work.”
The Opportunities
Permission awareness: Regularly check what apps have access to on your device.
Stronger defaults: Push app stores to require clearer consent and better privacy-by-design.
Education: Teach digital literacy as part of civic literacy — knowing what you give up when you download.
Regulation: Advocate for Canadian laws with real enforcement teeth.
The Bigger Picture
Every tap builds a profile. Sometimes that profile is used to show you cat videos; other times, it’s sold to advertisers or leveraged by data brokers. Understanding what apps know about you isn’t just about avoiding scams — it’s about reclaiming agency in a digital world.
The Question
If apps have become the new “utilities” of daily life, should Canadians demand a bill of digital rights that sets limits on what they can know and share?
What Apps Know About You
The Hidden Price of “Free”
Most apps don’t just provide services — they collect, analyze, and sometimes sell your data. Location, contacts, browsing habits, shopping preferences, even microphone and camera activity can all be fair game if permissions allow. The app may be free to download, but your personal information is the real currency.
What Apps Commonly Collect
Canadian Context
The Challenges
The Opportunities
The Bigger Picture
Every tap builds a profile. Sometimes that profile is used to show you cat videos; other times, it’s sold to advertisers or leveraged by data brokers. Understanding what apps know about you isn’t just about avoiding scams — it’s about reclaiming agency in a digital world.
The Question
If apps have become the new “utilities” of daily life, should Canadians demand a bill of digital rights that sets limits on what they can know and share?