Every time you use your smartphone, varying amounts of data are collected and sent back to the apps you use and the sites you visit. Long terms of service and license agreements dictate how your personal data is stored or collected, but most of us don’t ever comb through the fine print. Beyond apps and websites, Android collects some user data and sends that information back to Google.
Without configuring your settings or manually requesting data deletion, there’s a long list of data types being sent or stored by Google. This isn’t always a bad thing — data collection is occasionally necessary to power certain features and improve user experiences — but it’s important that you’re aware of the personal information Google sees. These are the settings and data hubs that reveal what information your Android phone is sharing with Google, and how to turn them off.
My Google Activity
A catch-all hub for Google account data and personal info
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To Google’s credit, the company makes it easy to see what kinds of data is saved to your account via hubs like My Google Activity. After signing in to your Google account on the My Activity site, you’ll see a list of just about everything you’ve done on devices, apps, and services using the account. That includes web searches, site visits, Play Store activity, YouTube history, and more. Name a Google service, and it’s probably saving data to My Activity.
There are four activity types that could save data to your Google account: Web & App Activity, Timeline, Play History, and YouTube History. Web & App Activity stores things like Google searches and Chrome activity, while Timeline stores a map of the locations you visit with Android devices. Play History retains things like Google Play Store queries and downloads, and YouTube History is pretty straightforward — it chronicles your searches and watch history.
To be safe, turn off the data collection for all of these activity vectors. You should also manually delete this data on the My Google Activity site, as by default, it’s saved for 36 months.
Gemini Apps Activity
If you use Gemini or other AI features, Google saves data
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Similarly, Gemini Apps Activity saves your usage of the Gemini voice assistant on Android and related Google AI features. On your Android phone, open the Gemini app and tap your profile picture. Then, press Gemini Apps Activity to view and delete your saved information. By default, Gemini Apps Activity saves things like chats, transcripts, audio, files, images, videos, and screen shares to your account.
The setting that keeps sending Gemini data to Google is called Keep Activity. It’s automatically turned on for anyone older than 18, and even when it’s turned off, conversations are sent to Google and processed for up to 72 hours. Reviewing your saved Gemini Apps Activity serves as an important reminder to never share anything with AI you don’t want private companies to see — even Gemini on your Android phone.
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Location Accuracy data
Google sees data from your connections and device sensors
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Location services are necessary for many Android apps and features, but there’s an additional toggle that’s secretly collecting extra device data. It’s called Improve Location Accuracy, and it sends information about wireless signals, Wi-Fi networks, cellular towers, GPS positioning, and device sensors to Google. This data is processed to improve the accuracy of your device’s location. However, it’s also a privacy nightmare that you should probably turn off.
It’s worth noting that Google collects this data anonymously without identifiers. If you turn this setting off, your Android phone will only use GPS and device sensors to pinpoint your location. You can flip off the toggle by navigating through Settings → Google services → All services → Improve Location Accuracy. The steps might vary depending on your Android phone and software version.
Advertising ID
Android personalizes your Google ads by default
Android uses an advertising ID by default that collects data and presents personalized ads. This data is used throughout Android, Google services, and even beyond. Third-party apps can use this advertising ID to show personalized ads, for example. You should disable personalized ads by navigating to Google → All services → Ads.
Here, you can find Ad privacy, Reset advertising ID, and Delete advertising ID settings options. Although using these options won’t change the amount of ads you see, it will limit the amount of data Google collects about you for advertising.
Usage and diagnostic data
This toggle allows Google to collect even more Android data
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Your Android phone is also probably collecting usage and diagnostic information to send back to Google. It’s easy to turn this off if you want Google to know as little as possible about you. With the Usage & diagnostics toggle flipped on, your Android device will automatically send “diagnostic, device, and app usage data to Google.” This includes information like battery status levels, system and app activity data, and any bugs or errors.
Users that have Web & App Activity enabled in their My Google Activity settings will have this information saved to their Google account as well. You can turn this off by navigating through Settings → Google services → All services → Usage & diagnostics and flipping the toggle.
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Access Log Activity
Everything your Google account saves is stored here
Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOfCredit: Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOf
Aside from the My Google Activity hub, you should know about Google Takeout. It’s a data export tool that you can use to access every bit of information Google knows about you and your devices at any time. There are 64 total data types that can be exported, but the one we’re interested in is called Access Log Activity.
It lets you export two CSV files crucial to understanding your data collection: Account Access Activity and Device Access Activity. The former is a list of Google services accessed by your devices. For instance, every single time your phone checks Gmail for new emails, it’s recorded in this file. The latter is a list of devices that have accessed your account over the past 270 days. These two files give you a complete picture of how your Android phone is sending info to Google, and it’s right there for the taking.
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How you can keep yourself private on Android
The simplest way to safeguard your privacy while using an Android phone is to take the time to customize your settings. When you set up a new device or install a fresh update, don’t just skip the setup screens. Slow down and disable the toggles like Location Accuracy and Usage & diagnostics to limit the data being shared with Google at the source. Additionally, consider using an Android phone without a Samsung or Google account, and using apps or services signed out. The fewer accounts you use, the less data makes its way to Google.
To take a more radical step towards using Android without Google services, tracking, and data collection, consider switching to a phone like the Murena Fairphone 6. It runs /e/OS, which is a de-Googled Android ROM.
