Android privacy settings: a soft, no-stress guide to locking things down
Your phone knows a lot about you: where you go, what you do, who you talk to. The good news is that Android gives you real control over this, and you only need to change a handful of settings to make a big difference. Take it one section at a time.
A quick note: phone makers (Samsung, Google Pixel, Motorola and others) lay out their menus a little differently, so the exact wording may not match yours word for word. Look for the same key words and you’ll find it.
Location: the big one
Go to Settings > Location. A few changes worth making:
- Turn location off entirely when you don’t need it, and back on for maps when you do.
- Tap App permissions (or App location permissions) and set each app to Allow only while using the app. Very few apps need your location all the time.
- Turn off Use precise location for apps that only need a rough idea, like a weather or shopping app.
Google also keeps a history of everywhere you go. Open your Google account, find Location History (now called Timeline), and turn it off or set it to delete automatically.
App permissions: a two-minute tidy-up
Go to Settings > Security & privacy > Permission manager (wording varies). Here you can see, by category, which apps can use your camera, microphone, location, contacts and so on.
Go through camera and microphone especially. If an app has access that makes no sense, like a torch app wanting your contacts, take it away. Nothing breaks; the app will simply ask again if it genuinely needs it.
Turn down ad tracking
Your phone has an advertising ID that follows you between apps. In Settings > Privacy > Ads (or under your Google settings), you can delete the advertising ID and turn off personalised ads. Ads don’t disappear, but they stop being built around a profile of you.
Tidy your Google data
Most of what Google stores is in one place: visit myactivity.google.com. There you can turn on auto-delete for your Web & App Activity, Location History and YouTube History, so your data clears itself every few months instead of building up forever.
If you only do three things: set app locations to "while using", run through the camera and microphone permissions, and turn on auto-delete for your Google activity. That covers most of it.
Two quick wins
- Switch on Find My Device, so you can locate or wipe your phone if it’s lost or stolen.
- Keep automatic updates on. Security updates quietly close the holes that scammers and snoops rely on.
Got an iPhone too, or in the family? See our iPhone privacy guide, and for the bigger picture start with our simple guide to protecting your privacy online. More in our privacy section.