Last week, my article revolved around steps one could take in order to stop their smart devices, be it mobile phones, smartwatches, wearables, etc., from listening to their conversation and tracking their whereabouts (where they go, what they do, etc.). I even shared a video on my social media network, visually, on how one could undertake the same, be it on an Apple iOS device (iPhone and/or iPad), Google Androids (and all smartphones that use the operating systems in question), and lastly Huawei Lite/Harmony OS.
Today, I want to focus on additional settings that are specific to Google’s Android smart devices/phones which would enable you (once disabled) to keep your phone healthy (in terms of performance) and safe (with your privacy). But first let me narrate to you the issue by asking a few questions.
With your Android phone specifically, do you notice that your mobile phone gets hot and is heated frequently? Do you also notice if your mobile phone battery gets drained quickly? What about the performance of the mobile phone? Do you feel it operates slowly and the apps take time to load and/or function as well? These are all some of the signs that your smart device has “spying” features enabled and is causing these issues that you are experiencing on the same.
The good news is that you can enhance the experience so as to improve the performance of your Android phone and also be safe to some large extent. The bad news is that these settings are enabled by default (when you first bought the phone), and many people are not aware of them. You may be asking why?
The official response from Google and other tech heavyweights would be to offer you a personalised experience, but the unofficial response that I can humbly share based on my professional experience is simply spying and tracking everything about you in order to sell your information to third-party companies, governments and/or the highest bidder who would love to monitor and track you. What can you therefore do in order to disable them? I will share the hidden options for you to explore and decide their fate on your phone as of writing this article.
First, open settings on your phone, scroll down to “Google” and tap it. Then select “All services” from the list of tabs. Next, scroll down to the “Privacy and Settings” options, and you will see “Personalise using Shared Data”. Once you click it, you will see all the apps that access your data and share information among them. Ensure you disable all apps you don’t want to have access to your data. Google states that using on-device data helps improve experience and offer you better recommendations. I say they have access to lots of your personal data. If they are not important to you, then by all means keep it open (enabled).
Second, at the same “Google” menu, ensure you also disable the “Usage and Diagnostics” option in order to stop Google from collecting your usage data. Google states that it constantly tracks how you use your phone, e.g., which apps you open, how long you spend on them, etc. Keeping it open will surely drain your battery and make your phone slow. I tried it personally and found my Android phone much faster as a result.
Lastly, go back again to the “Google” option on the phone, and scroll down on all services under the privacy and security section, and finally select “Ads”. In here, make sure you press on reset advertising ID to erase all the tracking data associated with your devices and then press on delete advertising ID to permanently remove your unique ad tracking identifier. By doing this step, you will effectively stop Google and third-party advertisers from serving targeted ads based on your browsing history.
By following the above 3 steps and regularly reviewing the “Google” menu on your smart devices, you will know some of the things it is doing behind the scenes to learn about you and even sell this information to other parties. I will continue to find ways to keep you safe. Until we catch up again next week, stay safe and keep winning.
Tariq al Barwani
The writer is the founder of Knowledge Oman.
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