Privacy: 7 tips to know if someone has been using your phone

Many times we get distracted and leave our cell phones somewhere around the house or at work. However, we know that they are items full of personal information that, most of the time, we don’t want to share.

Even so, many people try to “take a look” at other people’s devices, trying to find something compromising.

This mainly occurs in romantic relationships, which, let’s be honest, don’t seem to be the healthiest. However, in general, we can’t know whether or not someone has been using our devices, only when the information comes to light during an argument. But you should know that it is possible to know.

7 Ways to Find Out if Someone Has Been Using Your Phone

Based on experiences described by men on Reddit, we’ve put together a list full of tips on how to tell if someone has been stealthily accessing your phone. Check it out:

1. Security applications

There are several free privacy and security apps that can be installed from your phone’s app stores. Many of them, such as “Intruder Detect,” can access the camera and take a photo whenever someone enters the wrong password. Some phones already have this feature built in, but others require external apps.

This way, you can see if someone has tried to access you with concrete evidence of the person’s face. But there may also be several images of you generated by the errors.

2. Widgets and applications

Many times, we end up moving a widget or application icon by accident while scrolling on our phone screen. And if you can do this, the attacker may have done it too. So, make sure that all the icons are in the correct place.

3. Pay attention to the words

If your partner is confronting you about something that she or he would not have access to, it may indicate that this person has invaded your privacy. Pay attention to the arguments used and the topics that your partner brings up. Sometimes, this is related to something that only you know about because it is in your conversations or apps on your phone.

4. Open applications

Another way to tell if someone has been using your phone is to open it and see if any apps you haven’t used are open or in your phone’s usage history. You know that little square or parallel lines in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen? That’s where you can see it.

5. Sudden anger

Many Reddit users have reported that their friends suddenly became angry after they left their phones near these people. This could indicate that the person saw something they didn’t like on your device.

6. Activity history

Google provides a history of all recent activity linked to your email account. So, if you are an Android user who uses your Google account in other apps, you can go to “Account Manager”, then “Data and Privacy” and finally “My Activity”.

But every cell phone also has a “task manager” in the settings that can show pretty much the same thing.

7. Look at fingerprints

Finally, if none of these tips are enough to prove that someone has tampered with your phone, but you still have doubts, then try checking the access fingerprints. If there is no evidence, it is possible that whoever tampered with your phone has unrestricted access.

When you enter the security settings, you will see the people with registered biometrics. If you think it is best to do so, delete them all and leave only yours.