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How to stop Google from watching and listening on my phone? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

47 comments fedilink hide all child comments

...within reason. I know that the top answer will be to flash a different OS on your device. A lot of us are not at that point right now.

So I was texting with my wife in Spanish and suddenly a system bubble popped up, "would you like to translate this to English?" At a minimum, this means that Google is reading the words on my screen at all times to detect the language. I don't know if this is possibly done on device, but translation certainly isn't. I've already changed my system translation app to Translate You.

I've noticed other times that Google watches or listens in the background. It has a feature to detect ambient songs playing, for example.

What other standard settings should I check for to prevent Google from watching and listening to my phone in the background?

Edit: I was not using a Google messeging app at the time. It was detecting the text from another app. The specific setting in this case was to switch off "Live Translate," in System settings.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'm guessing you're using a Pixel phone? My partner's phone does the same background music detection, I think it's gross. These are some of the things I've done to help prevent the most obvious examples of spying on my Samsung:

Disable all permissions except ones that you absolutely cannot live without, set those to "ask every time."

Use a physical camera cover whenever you're not taking a photo.

Turn off location anytime you're not actively using navigation.

use a VPN with always-on settings enabled.

stop using Google apps entirely (Chrome, Mail, Maps, YouTube, etc.) Switch to web browsing on Firefox with unlock Origin installed

There's probably some way to directly uninstall other Google bloatware on your phone. I recently followed this tutorial to delete Samsung's voice assistant from my device, I'm sure there's a similar process for the Pixel

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I only use Google Maps because it warns of police speed traps. Do other apps have similar warnings?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

No idea, but it's a sacrifice you need to make to un-Google yourself. I personally use Waze (owned by Google apparently, but still) with location services set to ask me every time

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I believe Waze does. But I use google maps sinply because it has the most accurate real-time info because of the sheer volume of data it crowdsources.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Waze does, but it's also owned by Google. IIRC, Waze is where Google gets the data for police locations in maps.