What My Phone Knows

Your phone answers questions about you before you touch it.

Open any app and it can read your phone model, your Android version, your screen, your language and your time zone. No permission, no prompt, nothing to agree to. What My Phone Knows shows you that list and explains, in plain words, what each line gives away.

Then it looks inside the apps you installed. It opens the code in the apps in your launcher and matches it against 405 tracking libraries catalogued by Exodus Privacy. Every app gets a card: what was found in it, what each library actually does, and how far that ordinarily reaches.

There is one ad, at the bottom of the first screen. Before it loads, the app lists what your phone sent to get it, field by field, and what each line lets a buyer target. Then it runs the same slot again with the advertising ID left out, so you can see the difference for yourself. Personalized advertising is not the villain here. A good recommendation is worth having, and this is a look at how one gets built.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO

It does not block anything. It shows you what is there.
It does not need root, and it does not run a permanent VPN.
There is no account, no sign-in and no server.
The scan runs on your phone. Nothing is uploaded.

ABOUT THE PERMISSIONS

The app asks for internet access, and the only thing that uses it is the ad. The ad code brings a few entries of its own: network status, your advertising ID, and one that keeps the phone awake while a request finishes. No location, no contacts, no storage. Anyone holding a copy of the app can check that list in about ten seconds, which beats a privacy policy you would have to take on faith.

Made by Pettigrew Lab.