App Permissions: Which Apps Can Use Your Camera, Mic and Location

Your phone already keeps a log of which apps used the camera, microphone and location, and checking it takes about 10 minutes. On Android it’s the Privacy dashboard, on iPhone it’s Settings > Privacy & Security, and both let you cut access app by app.

Most apps on a typical Indian phone don’t need half of what they were given on the day of install. The part that matters most is in section 5: the handful of app permissions that give away a fake loan or “KYC update” app before it does damage.

Why Camera, Mic and Location Are the App Permissions to Check First

Every app asks for something. Most requests are harmless: a photo editor needs your photos, Google Maps needs your location. The trouble is that we tap “Allow” in a hurry, usually while setting up a new phone, and never look again.

Camera, microphone and location are the three that can tell a stranger the most about you. Where you sleep, what your room looks like, what’s being said at the dinner table. Contacts and SMS come a close fourth and fifth, and they matter a lot in India because of loan and KYC scams, which section 5 covers.

This guide is narrower than our 15 smartphone privacy settings list. That one covers ad IDs, lock screens and account settings. This one goes deep on one job: finding out which apps can watch, listen or track, and taking that away from the ones that shouldn’t.

How to Check App Permissions on Android (Step by Step)

Menu names below are from Google’s Android Help pages. Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo and others rename things slightly, so if a menu isn’t where I say, type the bolded name into the search bar at the top of Settings.

Step 1: Open the Privacy dashboard

Go to Settings > Security & privacy (or Privacy) > Privacy dashboard. Tap Camera, Microphone or Location and you’ll see which apps used it, and when. Google says the history covers 7 days on Android 13 and later, and 24 hours on Android 12.

Anything surprising? Tap the app right there to change its permission.

Step 2: Go through the Permission manager

Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy > Permission manager flips the view. Instead of app by app, you see each permission and the full list of apps holding it. For each one you get four choices:

• Allow all the time (location only): the app can use it even when you’re not using the app.
• Allow only while using the app: the right default for almost everything.
• Ask every time: good for apps you open twice a year.
• Don’t allow: the app can’t use it at all.

Step 3: Switch off precise location

Under Settings > Location > App location permissions, tap an app and turn off Use precise location. Google’s help page says the app then only knows your phone is in an area of about 3 square kilometres. That’s plenty for weather, news or a shopping app’s “deliver to” pincode.

Step 4: Watch the green dot and use the kill switches

On Android 12 and later, Google says a green indicator appears at the top right of the screen when an app uses the camera or mic. Swipe down and tap it to see which app it is.

Swipe down twice from the top of the screen and you’ll find the camera access and microphone access tiles. One tap blocks both sensors for every app. If you don’t see them, tap Edit at the bottom of Quick Settings and drag them in.

Also readIs My Phone Hacked? 9 Checks for Android and iPhone Users

How to Check App Permissions on iPhone

Apple’s version is simpler because almost everything lives in one place: Settings > Privacy & Security.

The orange and green dots

Apple’s support page says that on iOS 14 or later, an orange dot in the status bar means an app is using the microphone. A green dot means the camera, or the camera and microphone together. You’ll see the orange dot during normal calls too; that’s expected.

If the dot appears while you’re on the home screen with nothing open, think about which app you used last, then check the Camera and Microphone lists below and switch that app off.

Camera, microphone and other categories

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security and tap Camera, then Microphone. Apple says each category shows the apps that asked for access, with a switch to turn it off. Do the same for Contacts and Photos while you’re there.

Location Services and Precise Location

Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services lists every app. Tap one to choose Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always (apps only show the options they support). Apple’s guide says to leave Precise Location on only for apps that need your exact spot, and turn it off for the rest.

App Privacy Report

This is the iPhone feature most people have never opened. Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report shows how apps are using the permissions you gave them, plus their network activity. Turn it on today, then check back in a week.

Safety Check

Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check > Manage Sharing & Access walks you through what you share with people and apps. Apple says it can reset system privacy permissions for apps, and it works on iOS 16 and later. It’s the fastest route if you’ve just bought a second-hand iPhone or suspect someone set yours up “for you”.

Which Apps Really Need Each Permission (and the Red Flags)

This table is the part to screenshot. The middle column covers apps that need the permission to do their main job. The right column is when you should say no, or uninstall.

A note on caller ID apps. They ask for contacts and call logs because that’s how they put a name to an unknown number. That’s a real trade-off rather than a scam, and it’s your call. If you only want to filter spam, India’s DND and 1909 route does part of that job without any app.

The Catch: Loan Apps and Fake KYC Apps Give Themselves Away

Here’s why it matters. The RBI warned the public back in December 2020 about unauthorised digital lending apps, flagging “misuse of agreements to access data on the mobile phones of the borrowers”. In plain words, some apps grabbed borrowers’ contact lists and photos and used them to pressure people into paying.

Google’s Personal Loans policy now blocks loan apps from reading contacts, precise location, photos, videos, phone numbers and external storage. For India it adds one more rule: only apps on the RBI’s list of “Digital lending apps (DLAs) deployed by Regulated Entities” may offer personal loans on Play.

How to check a loan app before you install

• Search the app’s name on the RBI website under Citizen’s Corner > DLAs deployed by Regulated Entities. The RBI said in May 2025 that the list goes up there, filled in by banks and NBFCs themselves. The RBI doesn’t validate it, so treat it as a first check, not a guarantee.
• See which bank or NBFC the app names. The RBI’s 2020 warning says lending platforms must disclose their partner bank or NBFC to you.
• If an app has already harassed you or misused your data, the RBI points to its Sachet portal (sachet.rbi.org.in) for complaints, as well as the police.

The APK problem

“KYC update” and “bill pending” apps usually arrive as an APK file on WhatsApp or SMS, not from the Play Store, so none of Google’s Play rules apply to them. The first thing they ask for is SMS access, which is how OTPs get read. No bank, electricity board or telecom operator needs you to install an app from a forwarded link. If one is already on the phone, our phone hacked checklist shows what to do next.

A 10-Minute App Permissions Cleanup for Your Parents’ Phone

Parents’ phones are where this goes wrong most often. Every “good morning” app, cricket score app and “free recharge” link from the family WhatsApp group adds another icon, and each one was given whatever it asked for.

Sit with them for 10 minutes and do this together, so they know why each thing changed:

1. Open the Privacy dashboard (or App Privacy Report on iPhone) and look at the last 7 days of camera, mic and location use. Ask about every app they don’t recognise.
2. Uninstall what nobody uses. Torch, cleaner, “RAM booster” and duplicate wallpaper apps go first. A phone from the last few years already has a torch in Quick Settings.
3. Set location to “While using the app” for everything except Maps and any family location sharing app you actually use.
4. Turn off precise location for weather, news and shopping apps.
5. Check SMS and Contacts in the Permission manager. Only the SMS app, the phone app, WhatsApp and their bank app should be on these lists.
6. Search for loan and “KYC” apps and remove any they didn’t knowingly install. If they did take a loan from one, check its name on the RBI’s DLA list before deleting.
7. Show them the green and orange dots, and tell them to call you if one appears when they’re not on a call or taking a photo.

Doing this on the same day you set up a new phone is easier still. Our new phone setup checklist has the rest of that routine.

Also readPhone Safety for Parents: 9 Settings to Fix on Your Diwali Visit

My Verdict: The Defaults Worth Setting Today

Honestly, you don’t need a privacy app or a paid “security scanner” for this. Both Android and iOS now show you more than most third-party apps can, and those apps ask for broad app permissions of their own. That’s the opposite of what you want.

What about the quick-settings camera and mic kill switches? I’d use them in specific moments: an exam hall, an office meeting, a sensitive family conversation. Leaving them off permanently breaks video calls and UPI QR scanning, and you’ll end up switching them back on in a rush.

The one thing I wouldn’t skip is the loan-app check. A torch app with location access is annoying. A loan app with your contact list can call your boss and your relatives, and that’s the case the RBI and Google wrote their rules for.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I see which apps used my camera recently?

On Android 12 and later, open Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy dashboard and tap Camera. On iPhone, turn on Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report, which then logs how apps use the permissions you’ve given them.

Is the green dot on my phone a sign of hacking?

Not by itself. On Android it means an app is using the camera or mic, and on iPhone a green dot means the camera is in use. On Android, swipe down and tap the indicator to see which app it is. On iPhone, check Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera and Microphone. If it’s an app you didn’t open, remove its permission.

Should I turn off location completely?

Not usually. Find My Device, maps and emergency features need it. Set each app to “While using the app” and switch off precise location where it isn’t needed, which protects you more than one master switch you’ll keep turning back on.

Why does my loan app need my contacts?

It shouldn’t. Google Play’s policy bars personal loan apps from reading contacts, photos and precise location. If one asks, don’t grant it, check the app on the RBI’s DLA list, and report misuse on the RBI’s Sachet portal.

The Bottom Line

Ten minutes in the Privacy dashboard or App Privacy Report tells you which apps used your camera, mic and location, and the Permission manager lets you take it back. Start with “while using the app” as your default and precise location off.

Then do the same on your parents’ phone this weekend, and set up passkeys for their main accounts while you’re at it.

Sources

• Google Android Help: Change app permissions on your Android phone
• Google Android Help: Privacy dashboard
• Google Android Help: Check if your camera or microphone is on or off
• Google Android Help: Manage location permissions and approximate location
• Android Developers: App hibernation and permission reset for unused apps
• Apple Support: About the orange and green indicators
• Apple iPhone User Guide: Control the location information you share
• Apple iPhone User Guide: Control access to information in apps (App Privacy Report)
• Apple iPhone User Guide: Safety Check
• Google Play Console Help: Financial services policy (personal loans)
• RBI press release, 23 Dec 2020: caution against unauthorised digital lending apps
• RBI press release, 8 May 2025: directory of digital lending apps