Abstract
With plenty of free security software options out there, it’s easy to wonder why you would want to pay for online protection. We all love free apps, right? The idea that one has to pay for software can drive away many users, whereas applications that offer free services, are always enticing. However, a basic fact which is often neglected is that the application owners advertising their creations for “free”, have to generate profits in some way. Mobile devices are stores of sensitive information and believe it or not, we are constantly sending a lot of information to some third-party app all the time. Installing a free app on our device(s) may not seem like a big deal at first but we need to understand the monopoly and concentration issues surrounding companies that own these apps, and how these companies are tracking & handling our data. So, Next time you find a free software, take a pause and think…is this free software truly free? Maybe if you are not paying for something, YOU are the product.