Spring Cleaning
Spring has sprung! And right now is an excellent time to clean up your digital devices.
## Subtraction Makes You Safer
When we think about improving security and privacy, we tend to add things: password managers, VPNs, encrypted communication apps. But one of the most effective ways to protect yourself is much simpler: remove what you don’t need. Subtraction, not addition.
Over the years, our computers and smartphones gain apps and plugins through steady accretion, like barnacles. Every app you install exposes you to more data collection and security vulnerabilities. Over time, these apps can automatically update, collecting more data and adding new exploitable features. Worse yet, the apps may be abandoned – any existing security bugs will become well known but will never be fixed. Even apps you don’t open can still sometimes make you vulnerable – especially if they include background services, auto-start components, or helper functions that still run, even if you don’t launch the app itself.
Furthermore, over the years there have been many apps that we had to install for a special purpose, but those functions have since been built into the operating system or pre-installed apps. For example, almost every modern web browser can display PDF files now – you don’t need a specialized, proprietary app like Adobe Acrobat Reader. Also, you used to have to install a special app to read QR codes – but both iOS and Android will do this using the built-in camera app now.
And finally, companies relentlessly push us to install their apps because apps don’t benefit from the privacy protections built into modern web browsers like Safari, Brave or Firefox. In fact, many apps have a built-in web browser so that if you click a link in their app, it opens using their own browser – bypassing your chosen browser, which could block their ads and tracking.
## Out with the Old
So let’s take a few minutes to look through all the apps we have installed and get rid of anything we don’t really need. What you don’t install can’t track you, leak your data, or get hacked. You don’t need to spend hours on this. Just start with the obvious wins. (Remember that you can always reinstall the app later – and in many cases, your data and settings will come back automatically if the app uses cloud sync.)
You should look at both your smartphone and your computer here. You want to look through _all_ your installed apps (see below for help with this). You want to find…
* Apps you haven’t used in months
* Apps you installed as a free trial or just to try them out
* Apps some restaurant or store coerced you to install for a sign-up deal or free appetizer or whatever.
* Apps that can be replaced with a web version that you access with a browser (especially social media apps)
* Apps you installed to solve one specific problem that you no longer need
* Apps with a special purpose that can be replaced with a more private or secure built-in app
Again, some examples of that last category include PDF viewers, QR code scanners, flashlight and calculator apps. And if you can get by with just using a website instead of a dedicated app, you’ll be better off in your chosen browser where you have more control over tracking, ads, and permissions.
Here are some articles that will help you view all your installed apps and then remove them. Sadly, just looking at your smartphone’s home screen and secondary ‘pages’ won’t give you a complete list anymore – nor will looking in your ‘Applications’ folder on your computer.
* iOS (iPhone, iPad)
* Settings → General → iPhone Storage → select app → Delete App
* Or long-press icon → Remove App
* Android
* Settings → Apps → select app → Uninstall
* Enable “All” or “See All Apps” to see everything
* macOS
* System Information → Software → Applications
* Drag app from Applications → Trash
* Apps can live in multiple locations on macOS, which is why this more advanced view is helpful.
* Windows
* Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Uninstall
* Or right-click from Start menu
On macOS, AppCleaner is a lightweight, widely trusted tool for removing leftover app files on macOS. It’s generally safe – but only download it from the official site, and take a moment to review what it’s deleting before you click “Remove.”
## Going Further
Browser plugins (or “addons” or “extensions”) are very popular today – and you should treat each one like an application. They often have the ability to track all the sites you visit, alter web pages, steal information you put in web forms, and much more. And if that weren’t bad enough, there are many outright malicious plugins that mimic popular, legitimate plugins. You should absolutely review all the plugins you have installed in your browser(s) and remove anything you don’t absolutely need.
For any apps or plugins you just can’t bring yourself to uninstall, you should carefully review the permissions you’ve given them. Yes, even browser plugins have permissions.
You should try to also close out any old online accounts you have that you no longer use, including finding all the really old ones you’d forgotten you even had. Depending on where you live, you will have different data deletion rights – but in all cases, it’s worth asking data brokers to delete your data. You don’t have to do this yourself – for as little as $20 a year, you can have EasyOptOuts do it for you.
Spring cleaning isn’t about perfection – it’s about being intentional. Every app you remove, every extension you uninstall, every account you delete is one less way for your data to be collected, misused, or exposed. It will improve security, too, by reducing your attack surface. Subtraction makes you safer.
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Spring Cleaning Spring has sprung! And right now is an excellent time to clean up your digital devices. Subtraction Makes You Safer When we think about improving security and privacy, we tend to ad...
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