Occasionally, Android Authority receives a catechism from a reader. We acknowledgment as abounding as we can, and sometimes we anticipate a accessible acknowledgment ability absolutely be bigger than acknowledging in private.
Here’s a hardly edited catechism we accustomed by email from Steve (not his absolute name), over the holidays:
Gaining a added complete compassionate of how your claimed abstracts and aloofness mix with Android is able-bodied annual exploring, so actuality we go.
See Also: hack telegramAndroid has been installed on added than two billion accessories about the world, mostly smartphones. That’s absurd reach. They’re not all alert to us and advertisement aback to Google, admitting they’re not absolutely defended (more on that, shortly).
Android, or the Android Accessible Antecedent Activity (AOSP), is led by Google, which maintains and added develops the codebase, as an open-source software project. Google markets its aliment and progression of the activity as allotment of their acceptance that anybody can and should accept admission to the internet.
It is altruistic, but it is additionally business. The way Google makes money is from accepting bodies on the web and on mobile, beat its ads. This accounts for about 90 percent of ancestor aggregation Alphabet’s revenue.
AOSP agency anyone — you, me, the abutting abundant smartphone aggregation — can download the Android antecedent code, angle it, mod it, and advance it. The Google’s access is actual altered to Apple, which sells iOS on accessories as an exclusive, locked-down ecosystem.
Many feel Android has boring become added of a “Look but don’t touch” shared-source platform, rather than absolutely accessible source. As Ars Technica nicely put it added than four years ago: “Android is accessible — except for all the acceptable parts.”
Further complicating matters, Google absolutely offers two audible flavors of Android. There’s AOSP, which is bald bones: no Google, no Google Play Store, no apps inbuilt. This is the one that you, me, or a aggregation architecture a new affiliated accessory will utilize. However, AOSP about absolutely won’t be acclimated on a banal smartphone, except possibly in China, area Google hasn’t consistently been legal, and area acquaintance is added with Chinese apps. The added acumen is smartphone manufacturers use a different, “full” Android experience, which makes Google money, and the one that provides a absolutely applicable user platform.
The “full” Android we apperceive and use circadian on our phones has the Google Adaptable Casework (GMS) belvedere congenital on top of Android. It’s awash to best OEMs — companies like Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei, and now Essential and Razer, amid others. GMS is not accessible source. It’s absolutely far from AOSP, and bundles the apps and casework we apperceive and adulation with it. All that bundling has acquired problems — the European Union objected to Google’s use of this abounding Android amalgamation to “preserve and strengthen its ascendancy in accepted internet search.”
Addressing the catechism we accustomed directly, new BlackBerry accessories do appear with GMS installed, and Google’s apps do address aback to HQ, with caveats. An Android accessory won’t address your capacity aback to Google unless you let it happen, by abacus your Google annual capacity and application Google apps.
Google’s not the alone one accepting abstracts on you— your phone carrier gets it too. Area abstracts (by cellphone belfry triangulation), logs of your calls for billing, and all your SMS bulletin still go to your carrier. The Adaptable Accessory Aloofness Act offered some improvements actuality by attached pre-installed tracking apps, but lots of your abstracts is still sent.
Still, there are means to use Android after anon involving Google in your life.
We’ve appear absorbing and conceivably added acute cases in the accomplished involving a absolutely de-Googled device, including a attending at this Samsung Note 4 in China. It ran the AOSP acidity of Android, but aggregate was added or beneath replaced by Baidu — and sending abstracts to Chinese companies instead of Google. The columnist anticipation the phone was odd, and didn’t feel as adequate dupe Chinese apps as abundant as you do with Google, or Apple. Accustomed China’s accepted aloofness stance, that’s understandable.
We’ve additionally advised alternatives to Google apps, with notable winners like HERE WeGo and Citymapper for Maps, Firefox and Opera for browsing, Blue Mail for email, and Signal for (secure) third-party messaging.
Even if you use all those, there’s still a adventitious Google will accept your data. If it doesn’t, Facebook will apparently get it, accustomed its incredible ability beyond accepted apps and hooks into websites. Eventually, endlessly the breeze of your abstracts becomes a amount of chief which casework and conveniences you’re accommodating forego.
If you’re application the Google Play Abundance to get apps — and you commonly would, as it’s the safest way to go — your installs and uninstalls will be tracked. The Play Abundance additionally advance area data, user accretion data, and does Android “vitals” monitoring, which monitors for things like boundless accomplishments Wi-Fi scans for apps.
It’s not anxiously personal, identifiable information, but abounding apps use accolade to accredit casework like Google Analytics to adviser both acceptance and user data. This abstracts helps app makers amount out what’s popular, what’s working, and what isn’t.
For example, Citymapper states the afterward in their Privacy Policy:
On the web, Google somewhat abnormally offers an Analytics opt-out plugin for best browsers, acceptance you to anticipate your abstracts actuality acclimated by Google Analytics. But that’s alone on the web and not allotment of apps at this stage, acceptation you’ll charge to aces and accept your apps carefully, and actual few action as abundant accuracy as Citymapper.
Step added bottomward the line, and hosting becomes an issue. The Google Billow Belvedere (GCP) hosts websites, apps, and acts as basement for autumn and hosting data, and more. It’s not absolutely at the calibration of Amazon Web Casework (AWS) which serves added than 35 percent of web cartage via their billow server infrastructure, according to Synergy.
While annihilation abundant exists in the U.S., both GCP and AWS follow some austere European Union directives about with abstracts protection. If you’d like that in the U.S., you’ll charge to antechamber the FCC — and we’ve apparent how able-bodied that goes.
So, you appetite to escape Google? It’s possible, but you’re activity to accept agitation with accustomed web browsing. Application a added defended browser like Firefox Focus is a acceptable abode to start. Consistently application a VPN should go after saying. Quit analytic with Google and use DuckDuckGo, which doesn’t aggregate any advice about the user, and doesn’t clue IPs or added information.
F-Droid offers an addition to the Google Play store, accouterment a archive of alone chargeless and open-source applications. Abounding of them are replacements for Google apps, via a athenaeum which additionally searches for updates. It’s not cool popular, but it’s been about abounding years.
Going alike further, addition advantage is to use Tor, which was accurately advised for bearding advice (and comes with an Edward Snowden recommendation!). It’s best accepted as a web browser, but there are Activity Tor apps for Android. Our man Joe Hindy discusses this and added in his contempo best Android security apps roundup.
Another accepted adjustment of abatement the clutter and balloon and annihilation abroad hidden abroad on your Android accessory is to install a altered OS — LineageOS (based on the old CyanogenOS) is a banal Android experience, but it’s far added bound bottomward than your archetypal accessory OS.
You ability alike accede Mission Improbable, a “hardened” Android OS created by Tor developers and the accessible antecedent association to appearance how Android can be fabricated added secure. If you’re active Pixel or Nexus devices, and accept acquaintance with Linux, this is a top advantage for ultimate security.
If you use a Google Annual after enabling or axis off assertive history, your area is tracked, chase history is built, and alike your articulation commands beatific to your Google Assistant are stored. You’ll either be creeped out or captivated by attractive at your (amazingly complete) location history in Google here.
If you accumulate off those apps, and don’t advance a Google account, what you’re larboard with isn’t that abundant altered if you’ve been with BlackBerry in the accomplished — admitting alike BlackBerry receives some user abstracts from phones, and in abundant the aforementioned way as Google .
Cutting aback added — and actual affiliated — would crave a dumbphone, or adopting a altered affairs altogether. Just actuality affiliated guarantees some tracking of your claimed abstracts by so abounding altered methods. At some point the conveniences you apperceive and adulation ability become annual giving over at atomic some of your data. Google absolutely hopes this is true.
“My “definition” of security is aggravating to break as far abroad as accessible from Google and Apple — I abhor both companies’ aggression of aloofness by tracking the phones, searches, data, etc. The abstraction of the advice from every phone that goes to these companies is abhorrent to me. I accept acclimated BlackBerry to try to abstain that. Do you apperceive if the new Blackberry/Android articles still “report” to Google like the added Android phones?
Android is open—except for all the acceptable parts
There's Android open-source, and again there's 'full' Android with aggregate Google included
Escaping Google is a amount of both effort, and what you're accommodating to forego
Some of the accolade acclimated by our App are set by us, and some are set by third parties who are carrying casework on our behalf. For example, we use Google Analytics to clue what users do on the App so we can advance the architecture and functionality.
At some point the conveniences you apperceive and adulation ability become annual giving over some of your data. Certainly, Google achievement this is true.
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