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Lesson 2 of 13

What it can work out

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8 min

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A shop gives you an app card. The card lives in the shop's phone app. You type your name and phone number once.

You type: name, phone number.
Step 1 of 4
  1. You type: name, phone number.
  2. The app records: the time you pay, the day you shop.
  3. The app works out: you shop with a friend.
  4. The app holds all three.

The rule

An app can hold more than you typed. It records what you do, and works out more.

Data is what an app keeps about you. Data privacy means you have a say in who gets your data.

Your name and phone number are data you gave. The time you pay is data the app recorded. "Shops with a friend" is data the app worked out. The app compared two records.

A phone also has sensors, such as a microphone and location. A sensor lets a phone detect things like sound, light and place. An app may ask to use them. That ask is a permission.

Three ways an app gets data
The wayExampleWho did the work
You give itYour nameYou
It records itThe time you payThe app
It works it outShops with a friendThe app, from records

Read each permission before you tap allow. Allow only what the app needs. If you are unsure, ask a trusted adult.

Sort six cards from a made-up shop app.

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