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Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

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Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#51

Post by drivebycomment »

theshrike79 wrote: post #29
pdkl95 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are only "just [a] number" for a very brief period. As soon as you generate enough data points[1] to establish a recognizable subset of your pattern-of-life , the not-signed-in account can (and probably will) be correlated with your other accounts, some of which probably have data that identifies the real "you". One of the most common mistakes people make when discussing the data collected by someone like Google…

Someone with more writing and artistic skills really should make a comic strip or something about this. One we could share with less technical people. Even technical people really don't seem to understand how far data aggregation can go. Multiple small information points are collated into profiles, you need to be Jason Bourne -levels of vigilant to not create a trackable fingerprint online.

https://desfontain.es/privacy/us-census-reconstruction-attac... is a pretty good explanation on those concepts.

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#52

Post by privacyisntdead »

sabellito wrote: post #14
lucgommans wrote: post #7

If you install TrackerControl, no root needed (it pretends to be a VPN to capture your traffic, but is not a real VPN), you will see which apps try to talk to tracking services and thus also which ones talk to Google. It also as a 'traffic log' feature which, when turned on, shows live which app is talking to which tracker. Note that, especially if you turn on blocking services marked as essential in the setup, you w…

Thanks for the recommendation. If anyone else is interested, the app's website is https://trackercontrol.org

Is there an iOS equivalent? 1Blocker and Lockdown seem close but not as good.

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#53

Post by [deleted] »

emptyparadise wrote: post #32
Thorrez wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That article is about turning "location history" off, not turning "location services" off. Full disclosure I work at Google but nothing related to that.

It shouldn't take a Google employee to tell all those location options apart.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#54

Post by lucgommans »

account-5 wrote: post #46
bklaasen wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Note that, especially if you turn on blocking services marked as essential in the setup, you will need to unblock a lot of CDNs and tracking services for many apps to work including Spotify, your browser, etc. Of course you can also just whitelist apps completely, or temporarily turn all blocking off altogether. But by default it will block trackers, since that's kind of its point. This has the side effect of block…

I'm using AttennaPod from FDroid store. Assuming that means it might be podcast specific.

Also using AntennaPod from F-Droid here: it gets its data from CDNs. The CDN is in a position to log data from a lot of people, that's why I think they are on the block list.

It depends on which podcasts you listen to which services you need to unblock I think. The 'essential' category is usually a good starting point but you might need more, especially for the search which iirc comes from Apple/iTunes.

You can also just whitelist AntennaPod completely of course, being an open source app from F-Droid that's relatively trustworthy.

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#55

Post by privacyisntdead »

atatatat wrote: post #50
Seirdy wrote: post #4

Depends on the ROM. AOSP barely has any Google on it compared to "stock" Android; it uses Google services for system resources like DNS, time synchronization, cert stores updates, etc. This is configurable. Of course, it uses Google servers for updates. I believe that webviews and such use Google Safe Browsing. AOSP doesn't have Google Play Services at all. There's a trivial amount to "de-google". I'd recommend looki…

If you're looking for security today, you can get away with a cheap 3aXL web installed with Graphene, for under 150 USD.

Link?

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#56

Post by runjake »

privacyisntdead wrote: post #52
sabellito wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the recommendation. If anyone else is interested, the app's website is https://trackercontrol.org

Is there an iOS equivalent? 1Blocker and Lockdown seem close but not as good.

Check out the Guardian app. Founded by Will Strafach (aka Chronic, famous for the early iPhone jailbreak scene).

https://guardianapp.com/

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#57

Post by diplodocusaur »

privacyisntdead wrote: post #16
drivebycomment wrote: post #11

"Privacy perspective" is way too ambiguous. Can you describe what specific things you want to protect from ?

Adding layers of difficulty to vacuuming up my data. Protections from spying on emails, texts, right to be forgotten, geofencing warrant grab all’s.

considering how cheap storage is vs how much money Google has, it's safe to assume the worst IMO

Re: Ask HN: How much is Google collecting and keeping on Android if not signed in?

#58

Post by thepra »

lucgommans wrote: post #7

If you install TrackerControl, no root needed (it pretends to be a VPN to capture your traffic, but is not a real VPN), you will see which apps try to talk to tracking services and thus also which ones talk to Google. It also as a 'traffic log' feature which, when turned on, shows live which app is talking to which tracker. Note that, especially if you turn on blocking services marked as essential in the setup, you w…

And don't download the crippled play store version, go and get it from the source
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