I set up a new Android. Here’s a step-by-step on how to not give all your data to Google.
Remove, Halt, and Restrict apps before you use them.
Go to Settings > Apps
Remove Applications before you even start using your phone.
You’ll have two options for Applications
Disable - Depending on your phone, some applications just won’t uninstall based on the model. You can still disable the application from running, and sometimes going to view the application itself in the app store will then allow you to uninstall it.
Uninstall - Just get rid of it from the App Settings Screen.
Storage & Cache
Delete Storage (that will automatically also delete cache)
Mobile Data & WiFi
Disable “Background Data (Enable usage of mobile data in the background)”
Modify System Settings
Disable “Allow modifying system settings”
Your keyboard has its own data analytics
Google’s Keyboards sends data analytics to Google. You have to go into the Keyboard settings to turn this off manually.
Settings > System > Languages & Input > Keyboards > On-Screen Keyboard > Privacy
Disable “Share usage statistics”
Disable “Personalize for you”
Disable “Improve for everyone”
Android Systems Intelligence
Ever wonder what the “usage and diagnostics” includes that you’re sending to the Android Gods about your phone? Some of that data is sent for Android Systems Intelligence.
According to Google Pixel docs: “Android System Intelligence is a system component within Private Compute Core that powers intelligent features across Android while keeping your data private.”
To function, Android System Intelligence and Private Compute Services collects crash logs, diagnostics, and device identifiers. This data is collected for the purpose of application analytics. For example, some data is used to monitor the performance and quality of the app.
To turn it off, to go Settings > Privacy > Usage & Diagnostics, and disable.
You can also delete the local storage of said data by going to Settings > Privacy >. Android System Intelligence > Clear Data
AUTOFILL FROM GOOGLE
I’m personally not a fan of autofill. Mutliple reports about hacks targeting autofill locations through your browser. Here’s a git repo of an example of a phishing attempt for this exact usecase.
If you want to disable this on your phone, go to Settings > Privacy > Autofill Service from Google and flip that switch.
ADS
Ugh.
Privacy > Ads > Just disable ‘em all.
Specifically:
Privacy > Ads > Disable “Allow Add Topics”
Privacy > Ads > “Allow App-Suggested Ads”
Privacy > Ads > “Allow Ad measurement”
backups and cloud uploads
Backing up your data is important. Relying on cloud devices are not your only solution. You can manually back up your data, just make sure you actually do it. If you’ve had an account hacked, your cloud data is also at risk. You minimize that risk by not auto-syncing your data. But it is, in fact, a huge annoyance to manually schedule backing up data on your own time. Just think about it and decide what’s right for you.