In many apps or websites we come to see a large number of permission pop-ups or cookies that are required by these apps or websites every time an application or site is opened for the first time, and which we often do not pay attention to. However, why does that happen? It’s basically because these apps or websites want more, more control, more privileges and more data.
Also, most people tend to accept pop-ups, yet you may not always realize what you are accepting, or perhaps your opinion and level of trust in an application or site have recently changed. But now let’s see what you can do to retrace your steps and reevaluate those decisions when you accept permissions or cookies.
How to change app permissions
Most devices, whether Android or Apple, ask for permissions when they are first needed in apps, but not when they are initially installed. So it’s possible that a social networking app won’t request access to the camera until you need to take a photo, send a media file, check the location, etc.
Android:
On an Android phone, you must:
- Open Settings.
- Then touch Security and privacy.
- Then Permissions Manager to see which apps are associated with which permissions, eg camera, contacts, microphone, notifications, etc.
In case you want to change a configuration you must:
- Select an application in one of the lists.
- Choose from the options displayed: For Location, for example.
- Those options are Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app, Ask every time and Do not disallow.
Apple:
On the other hand, with the iOS operating system you must do the following:
- Go to Settings.
- Touch Privacy and security.
- There you will see a long list of permissions that can be granted to apps, from being able to use the camera to accessing data stored in the Apple Health app.
- Select a permission.
- Then choose an app to set the app privileges; in the case of Photos, for example, you can choose Selected Photos, All Photos, or None.
There is also another option where you can disable certain permissions in all your apps, for example, access to the camera and microphone.
Android:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Location (to disable location access)
- Or choose Security and privacy.
- Then in Privacy and Privacy Controls, to disable other options.
Apple:
- You can only disable location access.
- You must do it through Privacy and security.
- Then Location Services in Settings.
How to change website permissions
Here we can find the permissions to access your computer system, which are the integrated webcam, or the notifications in Windows or macOS. Or on the other hand there are permissions to store certain types of cookies associated with your visit, such as keeping track of what you have looked at, what you might have in your shopping cart on a retail site, etc.
Google Chrome:
To manage them in Google Chrome you must do the following:
- Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Then select Settings.
- Click on Privacy and security.
- Then under Site Settings: You can click on one of the permissions listed, for example as Location or Camera, to manage which sites have that permission.
- You can also click on Cookies and site data.
- Then View All Site Data and Permissions, there you will be able to manage cookies for a particular website.
Microsoft Edge:
In this browser you can do the following:
- Click on the three dots at the top right.
- Then select Settings and open the Cookies and Site Permissions tab.
- There you will see permissions like Camera and Microphone listed.
- Click on one of them to edit which site has that access permission.
- You can also click Manage and delete cookies and site data to see a list of all sites that have saved cookies, and delete them if you want.
Mozilla Firefox:
- If you wish, through this browser you can do the following:
- Click the menu button, it’s on the three horizontal lines, top right.
- Then select Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, choose Settings next to any of the permission entries, such as Location or Camera, to change which sites can access that permission.
- You can also click Manage Data under the Cookies and Site Data heading to see which sites are storing cookies and delete those cookies if necessary.
Apple Safari:
- If you do it through the Apple Safari browser, you must do the following:
- Open Settings.
- Then Websites to control which sites have access to permissions like Camera and Microphone.
- To make adjustments to the cookies stored by specific sites, from the Settings dialog, you must choose Privacy and then Manage website data.
- There will be a list of websites that have stored cookies on your computer, along with the option to delete them.