The dominance of smartphones in our daily lives is so important that psychologists, psychiatrists and civil society are advising people to stay away from them
Post Date – 12:45 AM, Tue – 12/13/22
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Our lives are heavily influenced by smartphones due to their power, purpose and accessibility. The dominance of smartphones in our daily lives is so important that psychologists, psychiatrists and civil society are advising people to stay away from them for a while to avoid addiction.
With unprecedented access to various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Instagram, we are making ourselves vulnerable to hackers and stalkers who can attack anytime, anywhere with impunity.
The most important things that can make you smarter than your smartphone are:
(a) Don’t let your smartphone bother you
(b) Don’t let your smartphone distract you
(c) Don’t let your smartphone invade your privacy
(d) Don’t let your smartphone ruin your sleep
(e) Don’t let your smartphone ruin your morning
The smartphone is an amazing human invention, but you have to make sure it works for us and not let it rule our lives.
Smartphone use:
India has a population of 1.4 billion, of which 79% (1.1 billion) use mobile phones, 45% (624 million) use the Internet, and 32% (448 million) use social media, with an average online time of 6 hours and 26 minutes.
Of India’s 1.1 billion internet users, 96.7% watch online videos, 82% watch live broadcasts, 52% listen to FM radio, and 50% listen to podcasts. Notably, 86% of all spending happens on smartphones.
how to manage it better
* Update your smartphone software to improve security and remove weaknesses; when your system is compromised, the easier it is for hackers to target you
* Keep your device locked at all times.Your phone may contain sensitive business and personal information; implement fingerprint scanning or facial recognition, or a 4-6 digit passcode to unlock your phone
* Implement Find My iPhone and Android Find My Device in case of loss.You can program your phone to wipe all data after five to ten failed passcode attempts
*Most people would not hesitate to use a free public Wi-Fi connection in areas such as shopping malls, cafes, airports, parks or gyms, where security is often much less secure.It’s also a good idea to disable the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi options by default and only enable them when in use
* Use two-factor authentication (2FA) for all email and social media accounts handled on your smartphone
* Manage app permissions, including the most critical ones such as camera, microphone, contacts and location access.Track which permissions you grant to which apps and revoke them when they are not needed
* Ignore spam and phishing emails.We should not click on links or short links in promotional emails, open suspicious attachments or run updates prompted by email
* Always backup your data, it can protect your important documents and images from loss.For Android phones, make sure to enable “Back up my data” and “Auto restore” in settings and sync your data with Google
* Use an antivirus application with enhanced security for installed apps, PDFs, images and other files you download
* Know where your apps come from, only install apps from the App Store for iPhone and the Play Store for Android phones
Open source checks:
* Check how your smartphone app accesses your data – https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/
* Fact check images (reverse image check) – https://images.google.com
* Unshorten short web links – www.unshorten.it
* Check this site for phishing campaigns – https://isitphishing.org/
* Allow telecom users to confirm their registration numbers and delete numbers registered without their knowledge. https://tafcop.dgtelecom.gov.in
* Allows subscribers to identify senders of mass text messages. https://smsheader.trai.gov.in/
* A platform for judging the authenticity of videos. https://platform.sensity.ai/deepfake-detection
Take a digital break:
* Disable notifications on your smartphone
* Make your bedroom a smartphone-free zone
* Charge your electronic devices outside the bedroom
* Access social media from your computer instead of your smartphone
* Only keep important tools on the home screen
* Please stay away from mobile phones when dining with friends and family
* Create device-free meeting areas in your workplace
* Use grayscale mode on your smartphone to save you from using your smartphone for a long time
* Have more green time (playing physical games) than screen time (playing online games)
* Track your usage with the Screen Time app on your iOS smartphone.
* Track your usage with the “Digital Wellbeing” app on your Android smartphone
* Take advantage of productivity apps from the App Store and Play Store