The convenience of signing up for apps to get all sorts of benefits has become commonplace. We get “digital coupons” for the supermarket, pay for stuff with our phones, use fitness programs and GPS software. The list is endless. Each app asks us for permissions regarding our phone and some won’t function without granting them. There are a number of times I didn’t load an app because their permissions looked too all-encompassing, but it’s hard to protect against every eventuality and still make use of the full functionality of a cell phone.
Yet another reason to keep your “old” phone. Put the junk stuff on the old phone, and use the new phone as your real phone. Only carry the old phone to those stores that need to show the coupon in real time. Connect to local wifi or to real phone hotspot when necessary. I’ve been doing this for years.
There is one app that I deleted years ago and will never allow on any of my phones due to egregious behavior regarding permissions (like contacts, etc). That was the FB app. I only use FB in a protected browser at this point, and only sparingly so.