For those who don’t know, Google gives you some authority over how and when it accesses your Android-related information. And we say this because Apple has been bragging for years about being the company that respects user privacybut Google has improved a lot in this regard over the last 4 years.
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Ultimately it’s about being informed of the possibilities and then determine what balance of privacy and functionality works best for you.
And the responsibility falls squarely on you, which means you need to make an effort to understand your operating system and how you can get the most out of it without giving up all your privacy along the way.
By default, most of Google’s privacy options are turned off, because Google thrives on ads and the better it knows you, the better experience it can offer you as an individual user.
This isn’t necessarily bad, but it might not be what you want or are looking for. And navigating through the layers of settings, not only with Google itself but also with the various third-party services that interact with the phone, is often easier said than done. So let’s go with the best options to secure your phone and Google account:
1. Uninstall any apps you don’t use
This first Android privacy step is a no-brainer and something everyone should do periodically: review all the apps installed on your phone and delete the ones you haven’t used in the last two months.
Apps that you don’t use not only consume resources on your device, but they can also leave doors open to confidential information that would be better closed.
So open the app drawer and look at all the icons you see. If you haven’t used an app in a while, hold down its icon and select “Uninstall” or, if you don’t see this option, select “App Info” and look for the “Uninstall” button.
2. Check which apps have access to your Google account
In addition to specific telephone authorizations, apps and services may request access to certain types of data from your Google accountlike your contacts, your Gmail messages or even your Google Drive storage.
Again, this access may be entirely justified and not a concern (and would only be present if you explicitly allow it at some point), but once you are no longer actively using the associated app, you will not you won’t want to leave her anymore. this open avenue.
Fortunately, it’s particularly easy to close and is another painless privacy measure worth doing periodically. Simply open the Google account login page and review everything that appears on the list. For items that you no longer use or don’t recognize, click on their title and then on the “Remove all connections” option on the screen that appears next.
3. Make sure your lock screen doesn’t display sensitive information
By default, Android is generally configured to display all of your notification content on the lock screen, which means that if someone else picks up your phone, they will be able to see sensitive information without even having to enter a PIN, pattern or password.
To change this situation, open the Display section of your phone’s settings, select “Lock screen”, then “Privacy” and change the setting to “Show sensitive content only when unlocked” or “Do not show at all notifications”, whichever is greater. convenient for you.
4. Reset or remove Android Advertising ID
Many people don’t know this, but you can reset or delete what’s called your “advertising ID” on Android.
This ID is a unique string of numbers specific to your phone that apps can use to identify you. They may not know your name or anything personal about you – unless you choose to share that information – but this advertising ID allows them to understand your interests and behaviors, then use those data to show you ads that you think you might like more. You.
When you reset or delete this identifier, all of this data is lost and apps have no way of linking your behavior to a consistent identifier associated with you. Again, this doesn’t mean you won’t see ads in apps or across the web. This simply means that these ads will not be programmatically selected based on your current activities and what they suggest about your interests.
5. Check your app permissions on Android
Let’s think about the apps you actively use, because even those may have permissions you once granted but no longer need.
So open the Security & Privacy section of the system settings and tap “Permission Manager”. Depending on the software and device you’re using, you may first need to tap a line that says “Privacy” or “Privacy Controls” before you see it.
Next, go through each permission type in the list one by one, review the apps that have access to it, and determine whether each app’s access still seems necessary to you.
If you see something that looks questionable, tap the app name and change its setting to “Deny.” It is possible that the application will no longer be able to perform some of its functions, but in the worst case it will ask you to re-enable the permission at a later time and you can then reconsider it.
Starting with Android 12 in 2021, you can specify whether you want an app to have access to your exact location or only an approximate location, in case you really want it to know where you are at all times.
