Pokemon Go is an incredibly popular mobile game, but unfortunately it raises questions about data security. How can you protect yourself?

It's only been a few weeks since Niantic Labs released its Pokemon Go app to the world, but in that time, the app has become wildly, unprecedentedly popular. According to Nintendo News, total downloads of the app worldwide just surpassed 50 million among Android users alone. Pokemon Go only recently hit the market, and it's already the most beloved smartphone game of all time.

There is one significant drawback to this massive gaming craze, however. In your quest to "catch 'em all," you might have to worry about the security of your private mobile data. You can never be too careful when you're on a network of over 50 million users.

Fine print in the privacy policy

Gamers everywhere have had a blast playing Pokemon Go, but they probably haven't taken the time to stop and think about data privacy. According to the NZ Herald, that's a real issue. The news source revealed that in its privacy policy, Niantic stated that it has the right to users' email addresses, IP addresses, locations, websites visited and more.

This might not seem like a big deal - except what if Niantic were to be hacked? Suddenly, all your information would be in the hands of outside hackers, and you might be in real trouble.

Are companies mining for your data?

Of course, hackers aren't the only reason you need to be concerned about mobile security when playing games like Pokemon Go. The other relevant point here is that there's a chance of companies selling your information to other businesses for invasive uses.

This is a major industry nowadays. Scott Howe, CEO at data brokering firm Acxiom, told CNN that his firm collects people's private information and uses it for all sorts of marketing, advertising and sales purposes.

"We collect things like contact information, demographics and your preferences on things," he said. "And we'll aggregate that information to try to discern a picture of what people want."

Encryption may well be the answer

So what do you do? The best answer is probably this: By using file encryption software to protect your information, you can keep hackers and businesses alike from manipulating it.

At SafeSwiss, that's what we do. We use a unique encryption method to protect your mobile information in every realm, whether you're catching Pokemon or just texting a friend. Either way, you want a solution that will safeguard your data from end to end. We've got you covered.