Android Privacy Settings: A Practical Guide

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Location settings

Location is one of the most sensitive permissions on your phone. Work through these settings:

Settings > Location: review which apps have "Allow all the time" location access; change to "Only while using" for most apps
Disable location for apps that have no reason to know where you are
Settings > Location > Google Location History: review and disable if you prefer not to have your location history stored
Settings > Location > Location Services: review Bluetooth scanning and Wi-Fi scanning, which allow location tracking even when GPS is off

4 steps

Camera and microphone access

These permissions are high risk: only apps that genuinely need them should have access:

Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager > Camera: revoke for any app that does not need a camera
Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager > Microphone: revoke for any app that does not record audio
Android 12 and later shows orange and green dots at the top of the screen when camera or microphone are in use
If you see the indicator when an app should not be recording, revoke its permissions immediately

4 steps

Notifications and lock screen

What appears on your lock screen can expose sensitive information to anyone nearby:

Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen: set to "Hide sensitive content" or "Don't show notifications at all"
Review notification content per app: banking, email, and messaging apps should not show full message content on the lock screen
Turn off notification access for apps that do not need to read your notifications: Settings > Privacy > Notification access

3 steps

Google and advertising settings

Android includes several Google data-sharing settings that are enabled by default:

myaccount.google.com > Data & privacy: review and manage what Google stores about you
Settings > Privacy > Ads > Delete advertising ID: this limits targeted advertising across apps
Settings > Google > Google Account > Data & privacy > My Activity: review and delete activity if desired
Settings > Privacy > Usage & diagnostics: disable if you do not want usage data sent to Google or your manufacturer

4 steps

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Android privacy settings: a practical guide

Location settings

Camera and microphone access

Notifications and lock screen

Google and advertising settings