无论您是否意识到，您授予已安装的Android 应用程序(Android apps)的权限都很重要。他们可能需要各种权限，具体取决于他们的目的是什么以及他们的开发人员想了解您的什么。Android 应用程序(Android apps)所需的大多数权限都是必需的，因为应用程序需要它们来完成它们应该做的事情。例如，电话呼叫者应用程序(phone caller app)需要访问您的联系人的权限。但是， Google Play(Google Play) 商店(Store)中有一些不可靠的应用程序要求的权限比实际需要的要多。你如何(How)识别那些要求超过他们需要的应用程序？如何(How)您是否轻松了解哪些应用程序具有哪些权限？幸运的是，Bitdefender开发了一款名为Bitdefender Clueful的(Bitdefender Clueful)安全应用程序，可帮助您轻松查看有关(security app)Android 设备(Android device)上安装的应用程序所使用权限的所有详细信息。让我们看看它是如何工作的，以及它如何帮助您更好地决定要保留哪些应用程序以及从您的Android 智能手机或平板电脑(Android smartphone or tablet)上卸载哪些应用程序。
为什么要关心哪些Android 应用程序(Android apps)使用哪些权限？
您拥有或想要在Android 设备(Android device)上安装的每个应用程序都需要您授予它一些权限。根据应用程序的设计目的，它所需的权限可能是必要的，也可能不是。如果某个应用需要权限才能从您的Android 设备(Android device)访问和使用与该应用的目的毫无共同之处的东西，那么该应用很可能正在执行不那么透明的操作，例如试图窃取个人信息，或者它只是另一种形式的恶意软件方式到您的Android 设备(Android device)。
例如，相机(Camera)应用程序可能会要求您访问相机、互联网(Internet)甚至您的位置（以标记您拍照的地方）的权限。但是，相机(Camera)应用程序不太可能需要使用您的联系人或SMS消息。您不应该允许它这样做。
尽管您从Play 商店(Play Store)安装的每个应用程序都会告诉您它需要哪些权限，但每次安装应用程序时，了解和阅读所有这些权限是大多数人忘记或避免做的事情。
一个不错的选择是使用一个好的移动安全解决方案(security solution)，比如Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus，它包括一个隐私顾问(Privacy Advisor)模块，或者使用一个专门的应用程序来帮助你了解哪些应用程序使用(apps use)了哪些权限以及为什么。如果您的Android 设备(Android device)上尚未安装Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus，一个很好的选择是使用Bitdefender的免费应用程序Clueful，在本文的下一部分中，我们将向您展示它是如何工作的。
如何使用Bitdefender Clueful了解您的应用程序请求的权限
当您在Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus中打开(Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus)Bitdefender Clueful或Privacy Advisor模块时，您会看到一个很大的隐私评分(Privacy Score)和三个主要部分，这些部分显示了您的Android 设备(Android device)中哪些是“风险更高”的应用程序。
考虑到您的应用程序需要(apps require)的详细信息量，Bitdefender会创建一个隐私分数(Privacy Score)。分数越高，您的应用所需的权限就越少。如果分数较低，则您的应用程序大大超出了您的隐私，您应该考虑详细评估每个已安装的应用程序。
根据您的应用程序所需的权限，Bitdefender Clueful将它们分为三个不同的类别：高风险应用程序、中等风险应用程序(High Risk apps, Moderate Risk apps)和低风险应用程序(Low Risk apps)。这些类别也以相应的颜色在视觉上表示：风险应用程序用红色着色，中等风险应用程序用橙色表示，不构成隐私风险的应用程序使用淡绿色列出。
点击应用程序部分会使Bitdefender Clueful打开包含该类别下所有应用程序的完整列表。
对于列表中的每个应用程序，您可以看到一个主要权限及其使用的附加权限数量。
当您打开应用程序的屏幕时，Bitdefender Clueful会显示它使用的所有权限，以及对其隐私需求的简短描述，如果该应用程序的版本已被Bitdefender分析过。
Bitdefender Clueful也让你Dislike!一个应用程序，如果你发现它太侵犯你的隐私。不喜欢某个应用意味着Bitdefender可以让您直接（通过电子邮件、短信(SMS)等）或在Facebook等社交网络上与其他人分享您对该应用的负面印象。
如果您发现某个应用程序风险太大而无法保留，Bitdefender Clueful可让您直接从其权限屏幕卸载它。只需轻按一下“卸载(Uninstall)”按钮，应用程序就会消失。
查看应用程序如何侵犯您的隐私的另一种方式
(Bitdefender Clueful)Bitdefender移动安全和防病毒中的(Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus)Bitdefender Clueful和隐私顾问(Privacy Advisor)模块包括另一种查看Android 设备(Android device)上应用程序的有用方法，具体取决于它们使用的权限以及它们如何侵犯您的隐私。
在右上角(right corner)，您会找到一个看起来像圆锥形的过滤器按钮。(Filter)点击它。
点击过滤器(Filter)按钮后，Bitdefender将显示一个菜单，允许您“显示以下应用程序：”("Show apps that:")
- 将您的身份发送给陌生人
- 使用侵入性很强的广告
- 将您的私人数据发送给陌生人
- 可以花你钱
- 发送未加密的数据
- 跟踪您的位置
- 有权访问敏感数据
- 显示所有应用程序。
选择这些选项中的任何一个都会使Bitdefender Clueful仅显示属于所选应用类别的应用。这是一种非常有用的方法，可以从隐私的角度(privacy point)准确查看哪些应用程序存在风险。
当您查看完您的应用程序使用的权限，或者您卸载了那些您觉得太干扰您喜欢的权限时，您可以通过点击返回(Back)按钮返回所有应用程序的列表。
如何提高您的隐私分数
您可以提高从Bitdefender Clueful和Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus中的(Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus)隐私顾问(Privacy Advisor)模块获得的隐私分数(Privacy Score)。如果您想知道怎么做，答案很简单：尽可能多地卸载侵犯隐私的应用程序。需要您授予他们访问基本功能或从您的Android 设备读取敏感信息的权限的应用是(Android device)隐私得分(privacy score)较低的应用。即使是单个这样的应用程序也会让您获得较低的隐私分数(Privacy Score)。
直接结果是，获得更好分数的唯一方法是卸载此类应用程序。我们建议使用Bitdefender查看您的哪些应用程序最侵犯隐私并列出它们。
然后，卸载您并不真正需要的应用程序。对于您需要的应用程序，请在Play 商店(Play Store)中进行一些搜索，看看是否有这些应用程序的替代品。您应该寻找要求较少权限的替代应用程序。如果您找到这样的应用程序，并且如果您足够喜欢它们以考虑将它们替换为原始应用程序，那么请务必继续这样做。卸载原始应用程序 - 要求太多权限的应用程序 - 并安装您最喜欢的替代方案，当然，它使用较少的权限。
尽管可能需要一段时间，但使用Bitdefender Clueful来了解哪些应用程序使用(apps use)了哪些权限并卸载或替换那些往往会为他们并不真正需要的东西请求权限的应用程序，肯定会帮助您拥有更私密的安卓体验(Android experience)。一个未被太多应用程序跟踪和监控的应用程序。
结论
考虑到有多少Android 应用程序(Android apps)在您不知情的情况下侵犯了您的隐私，我们建议您安装Bitdefender Clueful或Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus 并检查您的Android 智能手机或平板电脑(Android smartphone or tablet)上的每个应用程序。借助此隐私相关功能，您可以了解哪些应用程序会泄露您的电话号码(phone number)，哪些应用程序往往会填满您的通知栏(notification bar)，或者哪些应用程序会导致您在智能手机上不断收到那些非常烦人的广告。试试看，看看它是如何工作的，并 使用下面的评论表分享您对Bitdefender Clueful或Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus的看法。(Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus)
Learn what your Android apps know about you, using Bitdefender Clueful
Whether you realize it or not, the permissions thаt you give to your installed Android apps are a big deal. They can require all kinds of permissions, depending on what their purpose is and what their developers want to know about you. Most of the permissions Android apps require are necessary, as they are needed for apps to do what they are suppоsed to do. For instance, a phone caller аpр needs permission to access your contacts. However, there are dodgy apps in thе Google Play Store that ask for more permissions than they actually need. How do you identify those apps that ask for more than they need? How d o you easily learn which apps have which permissions? Luckily, Bitdefender has developed a security app called Bitdefender Clueful that helps you easily see all the details regarding the permissions used by the apps installed on your Android device. Let's see how it works and how it can help you make better decisions on which apps to keep and which to uninstall from your Android smartphone or tablet.
Why would you care about which Android apps use which permissions?
Each app you have or want to install on your Android device requires you to grant it some permissions. Depending on what the app is designed to do, the permissions it requires may be necessary or not. If an app requires permissions to access and use things from your Android device that have nothing in common with the app's purpose, it's very likely that that app is doing less transparent actions like trying to steal personal information or it's just another form of malware making its way onto your Android device.
For instance, a Camera app may ask you for permissions to access your camera, the Internet and even your location (to mark the place where you take photos). However, it's quite unlikely that a Camera app needs to use your contacts or SMS messages. You should not give it the permission to do so.
Although each and every app you install from the Play Store tells you which permissions it needs, understanding and reading all of them, each time you install an app, is something most people forget or avoid doing.
A good alternative is to either use a good mobile security solution that like Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus , that includes a Privacy Advisor module, or use a specialized app that can help you make sense of which apps use which permissions and why. If you don't already have the Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus installed on your Android device, a very good alternative is to use Bitdefender's free app Clueful and, in the next section of this article, we will show you how it works.
How to use Bitdefender Clueful to make sense of the permissions requested by your apps
When you open Bitdefender Clueful or the Privacy Advisor module in Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus , you are greeted by a large Privacy Score and three main sections that show which are the "riskier " apps from your Android device.
Taking into consideration the amount of details your apps require, Bitdefender creates a Privacy Score. The higher the score, the fewer permissions are required by your apps. If the score is low, your apps overstep your privacy a lot and you should consider evaluating each installed app in detail.
Depending on the permissions your apps require, Bitdefender Clueful organizes them into three different categories: High Risk apps, Moderate Risk apps and Low Risk apps. These categories are also visually represented by corresponding colors: risky apps are colored in red, moderately risky apps are orange and the apps that pose no privacy risks are listed using a calm green color.
Tapping on an app section makes Bitdefender Clueful open the complete list with all the apps that fall under that category.
For each app in the list you can see one main permission and the number of additional permissions used by it.
When you open an app's screen, Bitdefender Clueful displays all the permissions used by it, as well as a short description of its privacy needs, if the version of the app has been analyzed by Bitdefender.
Bitdefender Clueful also lets you Dislike! an app if you find it to be too intrusive on your privacy. Disliking an app means that Bitdefender will let you share your negative impression about that app with other people, either directly (via email, SMS, etc.) or on social networks like Facebook.
If you find an app to be too risky to keep, Bitdefender Clueful lets you uninstall it directly from its permissions screen. All it takes is one tap on the Uninstall button and the app is gone.
Another way of looking at how apps violate your privacy
Bitdefender Clueful and the Privacy Advisor module in Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus include another useful way of viewing the apps on your Android device, depending on which permissions they use and how they violate your privacy.
On the top right corner, you'll find a Filter button that looks like a cone. Tap on it.
Once you tap the Filter button, Bitdefender will display a menu that allows you to "Show apps that:"
- Send your identity to strangers
- Use very intrusive ads
- Send your private data to strangers
- Can cost you money
- Send data unencrypted
- Track your location
- Have access to sensitive data
- Show all applications.
Selecting any of these options makes Bitdefender Clueful display only the apps that fall under the selected category of apps. It's a very useful way of seeing exactly which apps pose risks from a privacy point of view.
When you're done viewing the permissions used by your apps, or you're done uninstalling the ones you find too intrusive for your liking, you can go back to the list with all your apps by tapping on the Back button.
How to improve your Privacy Score
You can improve the Privacy Score you get from Bitdefender Clueful and the Privacy Advisor module in Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus. If you are wondering how, the answer is simple: uninstall as many privacy intrusive apps as you can. Apps that need you to grant them permissions to access essential functions or read sensitive information from your Android device are apps with a low privacy score. Even a single such app can make you get a low Privacy Score.
As a direct consequence, the only means to get a better score is to uninstall such apps. What we recommend is use Bitdefender to see which of your apps are the most privacy intrusive and make a list of them.
Then, uninstall the apps that you don't really need. In the case of the apps you need, make some searches in the Play Store and see if there are any alternatives to those apps. You should be looking for alternative apps that ask fewer permissions. If you find such apps and if you like them enough to consider them to replace the original apps, then by all means go ahead and do so. Uninstall the original app - the one that asks too many permissions - and install the alternative you like best, and of course, that uses fewer permissions.
Even though it will probably take a while, using Bitdefender Clueful to make sense of which apps use which permissions and uninstalling or replacing the ones that tend to ask permissions for things that they don't really need, will surely help you have a more private Android experience. One that's not tracked and monitored by too many apps.
Conclusion
Considering how many Android apps violate your privacy without you even knowing, we recommend that you install Bitdefender Clueful or Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus and check every app from your Android smartphone or tablet. With the help of this privacy related feature, you can learn which apps leak your phone number, which apps tend to fill your notification bar or which apps are responsible for those very annoying ads you keep getting on your smartphone. Try it, see how it works and share your opinion about Bitdefender Clueful or Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus using the comments form below.
