back to article How Google tracks Android device users before they've even opened an app

Research from a leading academic shows Android users have advertising cookies and other gizmos working to build profiles on them even before they open their first app. Doug Leith, professor and chair of computer systems at Trinity College Dublin, who carried out the research, claims in his write up that no consent is sought …

  1. Wempy

    Not at all surprised

    > "Leith says the DSID advertising cookie is created shortly after the user logs into their Google account"

    Once you've logged in Google knows who/what/where you are - this is a non-story, is it a slow news day?

    1. Tubz Silver badge

      Re: Not at all surprised

      Read, it's all about "consent" and at the moment Google and many other megacorps are still ignoring this legal requirement until found out and then playing the innocent card. Time to automatically fine any company breaching privacy laws, make them delete all the data collected and then let them prove innocent in court to get cash back, but without being able to claim court costs, so they still pay a little.

    2. ex_ob

      Re: Not at all surprised

      Hey, stop complaining that youre being tracked and your privacy trampled on, just accept it... Youve nothing to hide if youve done nothing wrong..

      Sheesh. System slave.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not at all surprised

        See https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/android-safetycore.html - particularly the "In the name of "safety"' section.

      2. Dr Paul Taylor

        Nothing to hide

        If you've got nothing to hide, go around naked!

        Privacy is a human right, not an admission of guilt.

        1. Evil Scot Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: Nothing to hide

          Well it is 4'C outside.

          So forgive me for grabbing my big coat.

      3. Del Varner

        Re: Not at all surprised

        Define "wrong".

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not at all surprised

          I can't define it, but I'll know it when I see it.

      4. Paul Herber Silver badge
        Headmaster

        Re: Not at all surprised

        "Youve nothing to hide if youve done nothing wrong.."

        Well, you have just upset all the apostrophe monitors, and there are plenty of us them here! Twice. You's a bad, bad boy.

        We don't like your kind here.

      5. flayman

        Re: Not at all surprised

        I'm seeing a lot of broken irony detectors.

      6. the GCHRD
        Stop

        Re: Not at all surprised

        I've heard that "Youve nothing to hide" nonsense since the early 2000's when people really started to understand they were the product.

        The point is not the guilt or innocence of the phone owner. We should all be able to walk around and do what we please without shame. The problem is what the data collector does without disclosing it to the phone owner.

        People with GM cars found out they may have been declined insurance because their driving data was collected and shared without consent. Ever wondered why your job application was declined? Why your life insurance was declined? Why you're having trouble getting a mortgage or loan? Why did your credit score go down?

        We don't have control over the sources of collection. Then we're forced into the shadowy world of online application forms, where we never interact with a human, software may simply not consider you in the process, and no human ever saw what happened, whether the information was correct, or if the decision was fair or lawful.

        But if you have control over your privacy, they MUST come and speak to you personally.

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Not at all surprised

          "I've heard that "Youve nothing to hide" nonsense since the early 2000's "

          Are you young or something? It goes way, way further back than this century. There's probably variations going back to when humans first evolved into conscious beings and established rules based groupings.

          I still upvoted you of course :-)

      7. ShortStuff

        Re: Not at all surprised

        ex_ob says -- "Hey, stop complaining that youre being tracked and your privacy trampled on, just accept it... Youve nothing to hide if youve done nothing wrong.. Sheesh. System slave."

        Well ex_ob, if you've got nothing to hide, then give us your name, address, phone number, date of birth, bank account numbers and passwords. Guess what, all those are on your system.

  2. original_rwg
    Thumb Up

    Google free

    With LineageOS.

    1. PCScreenOnly

      Re: Google free

      Love to, but all my banking apps stop working no matter what I try to hide it.

      Barclays are the worst. May get it going for a short while and then bosh, thye get it blocked again

      No point telling them that a later Linage OS is more secure an an old OS

      1. original_rwg

        Re: Google free

        Ah - perhaps I should have mentioned that I use my phone for calls and text messages. It's not got various Apps for this that and the next thing (my choice). Also at the time of installing LineageOS, the Google part of the OS came as a separate install - I didn't.

      2. Captain Hogwash Silver badge

        Re: Banking apps

        That's your problem right there. Use a browser.

        1. AJ MacLeod

          Re: Banking apps

          I'd love to use a browser, only in order to do so I have to use my bank's app on a phone to confirm the login every time (take a picture of the QR code on screen.)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Banking apps

            "I'd love to use a browser, only in order to do so I have to use my bank's app on a phone to confirm the login every time"

            That bank doesn't support any customers using the bank's website on a PC who don't have a smartphone (or indeed any mobile phone at all) ? I wonder how they deal with disability access legislation?

            1. AJ MacLeod

              Re: Banking apps

              You can't open an account without a smartphone... in their defence their app works well and their banking service has been light years ahead of that I received from the traditional bank I used previously (until they closed all their branches within an hour's drive from me.)

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Banking apps

                "You can't open an account without a smartphone"

                Oh, it's a "bank" for the kidz then?

                Is it actually technically/legally a UK bank (i.e. does it have a UK banking license) or is it a wanna-be "bank" like some of the modern upstarts? i.e. Revolut only received a UK Banking License in July last year (apparently it took them 3 years to get one and their license has "restrictions").

                I'm interested in which "bank" this is that you can only open an account using a smartphone...

            2. Chloe Cresswell Silver badge

              Re: Banking apps

              Normally by making the experience so bad you go somewhere else...

          2. KorndogDev

            Re: Banking apps

            QR codes can be scanned using 3rd party desktop authenticator apps. My bank also has their own app, but I use Yubico Authenticator for their QR codes.

            1. AJ MacLeod

              Re: Banking apps

              Doesn't help here, each session has to be authenticated within their app.

          3. MachDiamond Silver badge

            Re: Banking apps

            "I'd love to use a browser, only in order to do so I have to use my bank's app on a phone to confirm the login every time (take a picture of the QR code on screen.)"

            New bank time.

        2. Mage Silver badge
          Unhappy

          Re: Banking apps, Use a browser

          You can't with some banks. They now only support an App, allegedly for security.

          1. PM.

            Re: Banking apps, Use a browser

            Time to change bank ?

            ( time for me as well, i guess!)

            1. Mage Silver badge

              Re: Time to change bank ?

              Ha!

              I've got two phones. The one for financial Apps and 2FA authentication doesn't leave the house. I use cash in shops, or sometimes a card.

              Fortunately I don't need to use parking or taxi apps.

            2. AJ MacLeod

              Re: Banking apps, Use a browser

              This was the bank I changed to! In every other way they are vastly superior to my previous bank (who actually paid me to leave them)...

      3. mark l 2 Silver badge

        Re: Google free

        Natwest / RBS banking apps work fine on LineageOS, I have been using them for around 3 years without any issues.

        1. MrBanana Silver badge

          Re: Google free

          I just installed LineageOS on my ancient OnePlus 5, because the ABN AMRO app stopped working with the old Android version. Nationwide, Halifax all work fine with Android 15. And you can choose not to install MindTheGapps if you want the most vanilla experience.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Google free

        Well, it won't be for everyone, but my solution to balancing convenience with privacy and security was to use Android only for functions where my real-life identity would be _necessary_ and tracking would potentially be an advantage (as it's used for anti-hacking/anti-scam mechanisms by some institutions).

        So, I use an Android device as a "life administration terminal", mainly for banking but also for a couple of essential government functions via their apps (and as someone else said, some institutions _require_ app usage now, including for two-factor authentication if logging in via a browser even on the same device). I don't use the device for _anything_ else. When not in use, it's turned off, stored in a faraday pouch and locked away. The attached Google account isn't used for anything else, either - it's set up as an isolated ecosystem.

        I looked at LineageOS, GrapheneOS and a few other ROMs but not every institution I need to deal with works outside Android (with genuine attestation). Still, I periodically re-visit Android alternatives in the hope they become more feasible for my purposes. Perhaps the Google anti-trust case will move that along?

        For everything else, for the time-being at least, there's Linux, non-Google products and as much filtering as I can manage.

        And they can have my Linux when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

      5. MachDiamond Silver badge

        Re: Google free

        "Love to, but all my banking apps stop working no matter what I try to hide it."

        Big question, take a deep breath, Why the hell are you using your phone to do banking?!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Google free

          Some institutions mandate use of an app - they won't let you log in to do online banking without one. You may not have encountered this, but others have, as mentioned in comments should you care to read them. And it's going to become more prevalent as institutions gradually remove SMS two-factor authentication with some saying they're going to mandate biometrics and passkeys as well, as they progressively remove password-based login.

          A smartphone is also small and can be taken anywhere. As cash gradually disappears, it becomes convenient (and increasingly necessary) to transfer money electronically. Have you tried to buy e.g. a second-hand car through private sale recently, when the vendor won't take cash (or cheque, and cheques will be gone soon anyway)?

          By the way, thanks for the ignorance-driven downvote. Have one in return.

  3. Andy Mac
    Trollface

    If you’re not paying, you’re the product…

    No, wait! Those Android phones are actually rather expensive. It appears you can be the customer and the product at the same time.

    You are, in effect, Schrödinger’s Mug.

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: If you’re not paying, you’re the product…

      No, wait! Those Android phones are actually rather expensive.

      Not all of them. If you want almost all the functionality of a Samsung S10 (no wireless charging, camera is not quite as good) and far superior battery life you can opt to be spied on by the Chinese and pay £80 for an Honor x6b.

      I don't know how the CPU/GPU compares between the two as I don't play games but as a daily driver the only thing I miss from my old S10 is the wireless charging and I don't miss that very much because a single charge is lasting me five or even six days at the moment. My S10 couldn't do that even from new.

    2. ecofeco Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: If you’re not paying, you’re the product…

      Schrödinger’s Mug? Well played. Very well played. Have my upvote!

  4. Derezed

    Nothing Shrodinger about it: invasive by design.

    Trapped. Check mate.

    Enshitoscene in full effect.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Joke

      "Enshitoscene"

      Is that the new word for the current era? It sounds like it fits nicely with the previously named eras and make more sense than Anthropocene or whatever those silly buggers"experts" call it :-)

  5. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Stop

    we do not agree with their legal analysis

    Note that they're not saying "We're not doing this".

    They're saying "We're allowed to, so tough."

    1. Guy de Loimbard Silver badge

      Re: we do not agree with their legal analysis

      Totally with you.

      The article didn't appear to suggest anything about Legal Analysis by the researcher, merely the findings, which appear to be confirmed by Google.

      Seems a lot of bluff and bluster about yet more privacy shenanigans, but ultimately use any phone OS at your peril, unless you want to use GrapheneOS or similar, to lock your phone down, then find it's not as convenient.

      YMMV of course, but hardening a phone isn't too hard to do, but do you want to?

      Think of all the convenience of your pocket PC with a Cellular Module?

      Always seems to be a trade off between security/privacy and convenience.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: we do not agree with their legal analysis

        "... all the convenience of your pocket PC with a Cellular Module?"

        Convenience?

        Surely you jest ...

        There's no such thing with these smartphone gadgets.

        If you are reading/posting here you should know that by now.

        .

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: we do not agree with their legal analysis

      They did make the point that the research was legally qualified. So did their own legal objection come from their legal team? Or was the Google spokesperson equally legally unqualified?

  6. Dr Paul Taylor

    GDPR

    This was precisely what GDPR and its hefty penalties were for. Why haven't they been sued into oblivion?

    1. alain williams Silver badge

      Re: GDPR

      Because the UK's ICO is a chocolate teapot.

      1. RaeStr

        Re: GDPR

        Chocolate teapot not working well for Schrödinger's mugs, eh?

    2. Blazde Silver badge

      Re: GDPR

      Presumably a 'legitimate interest' argument that the national authorities can't afford to challenge in court never mind investigate in the first place without 3rd party research

    3. seldom

      Re: GDPR

      The Trumputer says no

  7. Art Slartibartfast

    Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

    Thanks for the heads up. The App manager on my Samsung S23 allows me to remove it.

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

      Huh. So did my Pixel 7 Pro. Shock.

    2. PM.

      Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

      My Motorola also allowed me to get rid of it

    3. Snake Silver badge

      Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

      Doesn't even show up on my LG Wing. But, then again, I don't stay logged in to Google; I disable the Play Store and don't allow it to install anything Google when I do indeed re-enable and log in; and I occasionally delete all Google Play Services data. Plus NoRoot Firewall. And PiHole at home. And Firefox with NS, uBlock and Privacy Badger. And all Google apps are disabled (yes, even Maps). And location disabled.

      I'm sure I'm forgetting something, like using ReVanced, but those don't count as much :p

    4. DoctorPaul Bronze badge

      Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

      Found it and removed it on my Pixel 6a

      1. DoctorPaul Bronze badge

        Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

        Just applied the March update and it doesn't seem to have reappeared.

    5. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

      Re: Can be uninstalled on Samsung S23

      This shitware has been removed from my Xiaomi device as well. I'll have to check if it gets surreptitiously reinstalled again later.

  8. oreosRnice

    Meh

    The way the UK and the EU one day care about user privacy and the next day they’re demanding back door access.

    At this point you build from the ground up your own phone. Or accept that any phone you buy will invade your privacy

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I would never expect

    google to do anything that isn't evil.

  10. Baird34

    Gaslighting Abuser

    Their responses sound exactly like those of an abuser gaslighting their partner. "I'm keeping you locked in the house to protect you" "I'm keeping you in sight of my cameras so that you can have an enhanced life experience". "Don't you know I'm doing this for your own good, yet do you ever thank me? No you do not!"

    1. Adair Silver badge

      Re: Gaslighting Abuser

      Is that JD Vance speaking?

      1. Paul Herber Silver badge

        Re: Gaslighting Abuser

        In that cheap, imported Mexican suit? Yes, probably.

  11. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Remember when Firefox let you choose what cookies to block?

    Ah, the good 'ol days.

    Of course it did mean you got a hurricane of consent popups when you went to a new site, but I didn't mind that much.

    1. Nematode Bronze badge

      Re: Remember when Firefox let you choose what cookies to block?

      "Remember when Firefox let you choose what cookies to block? "

      Well, the settings dialogue may have changed but it's still pretty selectable. Plus you've also always get about:config to play with with a bit of on-line searching for useful parameters.

      And are the other browsers any better?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Remember when Firefox let you choose what cookies to block?

        Yes.

        https://www.palemoon.org

        1. DoctorPaul Bronze badge

          Re: Remember when Firefox let you choose what cookies to block?

          Can anyone tell me the relative benefits of Palemoon and Waterfox? Been a Firefox user for many years but now ... reasons.

  12. Greybearded old scrote
    Devil

    True

    "User privacy is a top priority for Android." Taking it away that is.

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: True

      ""User privacy is a top priority for Android." Taking it away that is."

      Android with the Google overlay is that. You can get de-Googled Android phones that will run anything that doesn't need Google online services to function. Many more alternatives are also available.

      I will never do anything financial through my phone. It's a device that is too easy to take from me, get lost, damaged or just run out of juice when the battery won't take much of a charge in a year's time. I also have not run into any situation where I have a need to access my bank account away from home or the bank. I keep a register on my computer and in the last couple of years, I've never been more than $5 off which likely means a fee that I didn't know about. I'm not running that close to the edge so it's not a source of stress. I pay bills usually on a Sunday afternoon when the weekend has wound down and I can sit and do it properly. I learned my lesson about auto-pay so there's none of that nonsense anymore. It also means there's no nagging in the back of my head about whether I've paid something or not since I am deliberate about it. I also keep written records and file them for at least a year so I have a trail should somebody say I missed a payment. It's shuts them up when I can tell them I paid, the exact amount and what form of payment was used. Since I'll usually get a confirmation number/email, I can hand that to them as well. Only happens every few years and not for at least 5 thus far. It makes me wonder if it's a scam to get people that don't keep records to pay again for something.

  13. Del Varner

    What is the Apple equivalent?

    I'm sure Apple must do something similar--what is it?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What is the Apple equivalent?

      * In 2021, Apple said they’d scan your local files using your own hardware, in service of the police.

      * People got upset, because this is a clear privacy violation and is wholly unjustifiable on any basis whatsoever. (Some people speculated that such a move by Apple was to appease the US federal police in advance of their shipping better encryption features which would otherwise hinder police.)

      * Apple said some additional things that did NOT include “we will not scan your local files”, but did include a confirmation that they intend to ship such features that they consider “critically important”.

      * The media misreported this amended statement, and people calmed down.

      * In late 2022, Apple shipped end-to-end encrypted options for iCloud.

      * Today, Apple scanned my local files and those scanning programs attempted to talk to Apple APIs, even though I don’t use iCloud, Apple Photos, or an Apple ID. This would have happened without my knoweldge or consent if I were not running third-party network monitoring software.

      sneak.berlin slash 20230115/macos-scans-your-local-files-now/

      ---

      I thought they said they completely wouldn't do this, but it seems they are.

  14. d0x360

    No warning? It's google! They are and always have been a user driven advertising company.

    Hell Gmail scans EVERYTHING (well did) which is literally how Google built their dominant search algorithm and we knew this during Gmail beta but since it was a first user as the product none of us really could grasp what it all meant.

    This,.all this is literally Google's #1 play regardless of market

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      "They are and always have been a user driven advertising company."

      They are a PII Big Data company with advertising as a handy side hustle. They can be contracted to target ads at a particular demographic using the PII they've collected or supply access to that data at an increased cost so their customers can do their own targeting or develop insight into a demographic they want to market at.

  15. neilg

    Google tracks.

    Full stop.

    No need to pussy-foot around.

  16. Nematode Bronze badge

    Managed to uninstall safety core fine, on a Samsung Android 10. Thanks for the warning!

    One thing you can also do is disable Play Store and Play Store Services. Started doing this on my old Android 7 tablet which is still fine and going strong but used to freeze for 5 minutes at a time. Disabling Play stuff stopped that. And no other apparent downside. In the rare event I need to update something (that even still runs on 7) I just re-enable it and go do something else for 10 minutes, update, then disable it again. Will now do it on the Android phone too.

    TBH, it's become so difficult to avoid everything privacy invading, I've almost stopped bothering except for the quick and easy. Especially those cookie dialogues which have 1001 different "Legitimate Interest" companies, all "on". Click-scroll-click-scroll-oh-not-another-page.

    *uck 'em. I only buy what I want to buy and am highly uninfluenced by advertising - except possibly negatively - and keep my properly private stuff (bank etc) properly private. Mind, my Facebook Container add-on in FF shows some unexpected companies using FB cookies, Hargreaves-Lansdown I'm looking at you.

    1. Nematode Bronze badge

      "Hargreaves-Lansdown I'm looking at you."

      Sorry, you appear to have taken the FB connection away. But you certainly used to do it

      1. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

        Yeah, Hargreaves Lansdown. I'd not be surprised if they'd trademarked the word "ethical" in order to prevent other banks from using it. They're about as ethical as Elon Musk's dad's emerald mine as far as I can tell. Remind me again how much money Mr Lansdown (the Guernsey-born billionaire and country's 150th richest person) donated to the pro-leave agitprop campaign in 2016?

    2. MachDiamond Silver badge

      "Mind, my Facebook Container add-on in FF shows some unexpected companies using FB cookies, Hargreaves-Lansdown I'm looking at you."

      Facebook leases out cookie access to other firms. Pay a little, get basic info, pay a lot, get lots. How do you think Zuck is able to buy half a Hawaiian island and trample the rights of Hawaiians with impunity? Money, lots and lots of money which is a real feat for a free service...... or is it reallllllly free? Nope, you've agreed that they can track everything you do online and they've implemented the means. They've also been doing this for some time.

  17. Altrux

    Phone fun

    I got a new Pixel phone today, but I've not fully committed to switching over yet. It's interesting to see what you can actually do on a pristine Android phone with a) no SIM and b) no Google account logged in. The answer, of course, is very little. The Google News app thing works, and you can open YouTube and Photos, but that's about it. You can't even open other apps like Messages, without the login prompt, and of course you can't install anything else. It does let you install system software updates and fiddle with settings, but it's fundamentally highly crippled. No great surprise, just an interesting experiment that I hadn't tried for many years.

    1. that one in the corner Silver badge

      Re: Phone fun

      > but I've not fully committed to switching over yet.

      Misread that as "but I've not fully committed to switching it on yet" and thought, yup, that is the way to keep yourself safe.

    2. IamAProton

      Re: Phone fun

      I got a cheap samsung from company, I had to put up a fight but it's working okay without a samsung account and without google account.

      Use Aurora store for apps, Blokada for blocking samsung domains as they show up.

      Disable dozens of permissions for the samsung apps I'm not allowed to disable and after a while it gave up telling me that i have to download 1.19GB of 'Apps' to complete my setup.

      Xiaomi, Oppo ans samsung are in my top 3 list of DO NOT BUY phones.

      ( i only use phones i can install an alternative OS)

      (I do not use them as a phone. My phone is a nokia 2G, use a 'smartphone' as a convenience tool, obviously with a google free OS)

  18. CorwinX Bronze badge

    If an ad gets past my Firefox/uBlock install

    The advertiser gets a message from me inviting them to call the police due to my use of language and threats. Please!

    The word "felching" is often used. Do not look that up - once known it can't be erased.

    UHBW

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's very uncomfortable knowing that this technology exists and choice is limited. It's a tool that right now doesn't matter too much, but its so powerful as a control mechanism if misused. The problem is that, in the West at least, mobile phones are a monopoly. It's either Apple or Google and painful to switch. It's a monopoly because the app distribution is controlled. It's very hard on alternatives such as Lineage or Graphene to operate without PlayStore and some apps just don't work without the full set of Android services, usually the banking apps.

  20. IglooDame

    With every Android phone I've gotten I've created a new Google account just for it. I carefully document the user/pass elsewhere, but don't use it for anything else besides the PlayStore.

    I am perhaps unusual in not having an important gmail mailbox, don't have any paid PlayStore apps, and don't do much web browsing on my phone (and no banking), but I figure I'm at least limiting Google's tracking to an identity token that is at least a little bit more difficult to tie to my day-to-day life than it otherwise would be.

  21. osxtra
    FAIL

    Halt! Who Goes There?

    This is why from two phones ago I haven't allowed it to log into G during device setup, or any time afterward. It's APKPure and ADB all the way.

    We both have Samsungs - my Galaxy '20 is her hand-me-down from when my '19 got run over by a car (different story), and she took the opportunity to upgrade to the better camera in the '22. (Sorry we're not such blatant consumers - NOT. My '09 MBP still runs, albeit a bit more slowly than the FrameWork). She's always complaining about "wanting Google", but I say just because you have an in-house IT person, if you really want it, learn to log in yourself, at the expense of losing your "support contract". ;)

    She recently got prescribed a sleep study which used an app to upload the data.

    D/L'd the app just fine onto her phone. Installation was a breeze. Started it up.

    "Please log into Google to continue".

    WT?

    Reached out to the device manufacturer, explained the app installed and ran fine but would not actually function, and asked how to use it without logging into Google, which should in no way be required just to run the thing. The sensitive medical data the app would be gathering is simply none of G's business.

    Did get a response, but it was boilerplate "If you're having trouble logging into the App or Play Store..."

    I so love it when people don't know how to comprehend a simple sentence.

    Uninstalled and had her tell the doctor the gadget was being returned, and that perhaps a traditional on-prem sleep study like had been done before would be more appropriate...

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Consequences of disabling RCS in Google Messages?

    Followed by installing an alternative SMS handling app?

    I have a feeling moving away from this Google product might be a good idea before it gets its tentacles in, but are there any gotchas if I do?

    Also, maybe the whole Android System SafetyCore topic needs its own article?

    1. Philo T Farnsworth Silver badge

      SafetyCore no more

      Just FYI, Android System SafetyCore uninstalled successfully and without incident on my Google Pixel 8.

  23. PB90210 Silver badge

    "The app's Google Play page is littered with negative reviews, many of which cite its installation without consent. "

    That's normal for any pre-installed app... wouldn't be surprised to see the basic phone app being blamed for mysteriously racking up phone charges

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