TechViews News …..
It’s not an exaggeration to say that your smartphone is the most personal device you have. The fact it’s always with you, however, sure does generate a lot of information about your habits.
Your location history, Google searches, web browsing habits, app usage, and even recordings of your voice talking to the Google Assistant.
But it’s not paranoia to take stock from time to time of just how much you’re handing over to Google or if you’d rather not place all your digital privacy eggs in the same basket.
If your goal is to maybe do a little de-Googling because you don’t want the company to know every thing about you, the first place to start is the My Activity account center. This is essentially the dashboard for every instance where your activity touches Google servers. The site is quite mobile friendly, so you can attack all these details from your phone or tablet as well as on the desktop.
The amount of information is a little staggering, especially if this is your first time there. For example, touch “Android” and you’ll see a timeline of the interactions from your phone, such as which apps you’ve used on your phone, tablet, or Android TV. Same goes for Chrome, Search, or Play. There’s also a search function, which is surprisingly a little hit and miss at finding your stuff.
It’s a little creepy to know your voice recordings are saved for all time. So you can delete this if you’d like. However, you’re better off acknowledging that this is one of the tradeoffs we make for having an artificial genie always at your disposal. It remembers.
One area you should check is your Google location history. This is a detailed timeline of everywhere your Android device has gone. It’s actually useful, as it’s helped me remember where I went on a certain day. However, it’s easy to understand that some may not want this saved for all time.
Privacy and security are just as much a mindset as they are about using specific apps, however. The real key is to think about apps that you interact with and what privacy tradeoffs you may be making for their services. In many cases it’s worth it. Yet as technology creeps ever more into our lives, it’s best from time to time to decide just how much is enough.
The full article, “How to set up your Android phone for ultimate privacy” was originally published by TechConnect, and contains ‘how to’ graphics to make the process easier.
Be Safe – Backup Your Data Regularly!
**********
Tell us what you think in the space below. And please Subscribe (for free) on the right panel to receive our weekly newsletter, along with article updates as soon as they are published.
TechViews News 