Your Android device can do a lot, but you also need to ensure that the devices you use aren’t putting data or privacy at risk. Today, we want to show you how to take simple steps to control your privacy and security. Anyone with a smartphone can use these tips, too, so have at it!
1. Monitor Your Applications
It pays off to keep an eye on your applications, and in more ways than one.
For example, you can cut off potential attack routes for a hacker or protect your privacy simply by disabling apps or removing specific permissions. It also saves space and resources on your device for other tasks. You can review your permissions in the Permission Manager or your device’s equivalent, and you can log into your Google account to see the data you’ve provided access to (and remove permissions as needed).
A good practice is to ensure you’re only providing permissions on a need-to-know basis—as in, the app needs the permission to function properly.
2. Change What Google Can Reference
Google makes a ton of money off ads, and in order to best advertise to its users, Google collects data based on the user’s behavior.
If this doesn’t sound great to you, you can access your Google account, select Data & Privacy, then Personalized ads to control it somewhat. You can use My Ad Center to turn off personalized ads. You’ll still get advertised to, but they won’t take into account your personal information… at least, not to the extent that you normally would.
You can also limit specific parts of your profile, like your age and gender, and deny ad usage for each.
3. Keep an Eye on Your Advertising ID
Android devices also have an advertising ID, which is a string of numbers that your applications use to identify the phone (and its user—you).
Since each device has a unique code, advertisers can track your individual details and interests. The ID can be reset, though; all you have to do is use the Settings. When you reset the ID, you eliminate any collected data to that point, but you can also delete it to revoke application permissions until they’re granted again.
Like the Google permissions, you can pick and choose what you’re comfortable sharing, but we recommend you just cut back permissions as much as you can… unless you actually like getting advertised to, which we can’t imagine you do.
With these tips in mind, you can kickstart privacy on your Android device; be sure to let us know if you need to take more stringent measures, too, and we can help with that!
