How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
When it comes to loan apps accessing customers’ contact information, it’s essential to understand the reasons behind this feature. Loan apps usually request access to your contact list in order to provide a more convenient and streamlined user experience. Let me explain further.
By accessing your contacts, loan apps can offer features like automatic verification of your references, making the loan application process faster and more efficient.
Instead of manually inputting contact details, the app can simply cross-reference the information you provide with your existing contacts.
This helps to verify the authenticity of the information you’ve provided, ensuring a smoother and more secure lending process.
But today, with the increasing number of loan apps, it’s becoming too delicate for people to authorize these loan apps to access their contacts. Many loan sharks have flooded the internet and app stores making it difficult to know the real loan companies.
With these loan sharks when they’re authorized to access customers’ contact, they go the extra lengths in defaming customers who were unfortunately unable to repay their loans on time.
There have been reports of these apps accessing users’ contacts and sending unwanted messages to their contact list when loans go unpaid.
Read: Which Banks Have The Best Mobile App and Online Banking in Nigeria in 2023
This issue is particularly prevalent among fake loan apps that impose unreasonable repayment durations, such as 61-90-120 days, and resort to threatening tactics after just a week.
Therefore in this article, I will be of help by showing you how to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts then you can have peace of mind.
Without further Ado, let’s delve into knowing how to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts.
How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
Before going too deep into learning how to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts, I’d encourage you to be mindful of any loan app you will download, particularly, you must check their customer’s review, this will help you to be on safer side but if possible you already had one on your phone, this article should go a long way in knowing the right step to take.
Step 1: What to do to stop loan apps do access your contacts
- Go to Settings on your phone.
- Open the Apps section under settings.
- Click on Permissions.
- Select Contacts under permissions.
- Choose the loan app you wish to disable.
- Click on Remove permissions.
- Repeat the same steps to revoke other permissions like location access, if desired.
It’s important for you to understand that when you borrow money from a loan app, your contacts are often used as collateral for loan repayment.
Therefore, your contact information, including your name, passport photograph, BVN, and phone number, is immediately downloaded into the loan app’s external database upon borrowing.
Even if you uninstall or delete the app afterward, your contacts remain accessible to them.
However, if you act swiftly, you can definitely prevent any loan app from accessing further information on your mobile phone.
Read Also: How To Check First Bank Account Number Via SMS
By disabling the permissions you previously granted, you can limit their access.
Quickly navigate to your phone’s settings, locate the app permissions, and disable access to your phone storage, gallery, contacts, or SMS.
Time is of the essence, so you must act promptly for this method to be successful.
By doing so, loan apps will only have access to your name and phone number, allowing them to interact with you solely.
Step 2: How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
Another effective strategy to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts is to repay your loans promptly and uninstall the app from your phone afterward.
By settling your dues first and then deleting the app, you free yourself from potential embarrassment and harassment.
To address the issue of loan apps sending messages to your contacts, it’s crucial to differentiate between authentic loan apps and fake ones.
Genuine loan apps do not engage in such practices.
In contrast, fake loan apps often resort to sending threatening and defamatory messages to your contact list when you fail to meet payment deadlines.
Therefore, it’s essential to patronize legitimate loan apps and steer clear of fake ones, as they only bring about humiliation and reputational damage.
Be vigilant in your selection and ensure you choose trusted and reputable loan apps.
Other Helpful Tips On How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
Other helpful steps to take if you really want to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts are the following:
Grant Permissions Manually
Some loan apps ask for contact access when they need it, such as during the reference verification process.
In such cases, you can choose to manually enter the necessary contact details instead of granting direct access to your entire contact list.
This way, you retain control over which specific contacts are shared.
Use Virtual Phone Numbers
Consider using virtual phone numbers or secondary phone numbers for loan app registrations.
These services provide you with an additional phone number that can be used for app sign-ups, helping to keep your primary contact list separate and protected.
Research Privacy Policies
Before using any loan app, thoroughly read its privacy policy.
Look for information on how they handle and secure your personal data, including contact information.
Choose apps that have transparent and robust privacy practices, ensuring that they prioritize user data protection.
FAQs On How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts
Here are some frequently asked questions on the topic” How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts” with answers:
Can loan apps access my contacts after uninstalling?
Generally, once you uninstall an app from your device, it should no longer have access to your contacts or any other data.
Uninstalling an app removes it from your device completely, including any permissions or access it had.
However, it’s always a good idea to review the permissions an app requests before installation to ensure it doesn’t have unnecessary access to your personal information.
How do loan apps get access to your contacts?
Loan apps usually request permission to access your contacts during the installation process.
When you grant this permission, the app can read and synchronize your contacts’ information with its own servers.
The loan app may use this access to identify potential borrowers, analyze social connections, or enhance its user experience by providing personalized recommendations or contact-based services.
What makes loan Apps to defame people?
These loan apps commonly defame people for two reasons.
Firstly, when a borrower refuses to make repayment and refuses to reply to calls and messages.
Secondly, When a borrower’s loan interest increases on a daily basis and no sign of repayment from the borrower.
