Android Security Features: How to Prevent Apps From Tracking Your Data

As Apple releases its iOS 14.5 and the popular App Tracking Transparency feature, Android is also coming up with new ways to improve smartphone security. The new Android 12 update might be coming in very soon, and here are some of the security features you can look forward to.

Thanks to the pandemic, the technological industry received a huge boost of activity. After all, in this digital lifestyle, students and workers resort to using the internet for their classes and work, respectively. As of today, privacy and security in the online world have become an essential part of our lifestyle.

An example of the topic would be mobile devices. Private messages, call logs, and multimedia content would be stored in these easy-to-carry devices. Often, mobile devices are connected to the internet so that you can access all of your files directly. Unfortunately, privacy and security issues can happen from the connection.

Android Security Features

Google continues to create new Android security features for their Android 12 update. With Apple announcing its App Tracking Transparency, a feature that lets Apple users toggle on or off the tracking permission for different apps, Google is also coming with an Android alternative.

Per The Verge, Google has emphasized that they are looking for alternatives to tackle the issue: "We're always looking for ways to work with developers to raise the bar on privacy while enabling a healthy, ad-supported app ecosystem."

Although Google has no official updates on the topic, the company might implement the same security and privacy controls planned for Google Chrome browsers. The new system to run privacy practices and standards for the web is reportedly called Privacy Sandbox.

How to Protect Your Android Device

Android continues to have a few security features you can activate right now. If your device is running on an Android 11, Techradar reported that you follow these directions to prevent apps from tracking your data and online activities.

• Settings > Apps and Notifications > Permissions Manager: You can see what your applications can do and what features from your phone the app has access to.
• Settings > Privacy: Google Play Protect is a handy feature that scans your device for apps on the Play Store that present a security risk
• Google Chrome > Private Browser / Incognito Mode: The browser will not log your search activity in its search history, web history, or any other local data, including cache.

You can also consider using third-party apps for enhanced security features. There are many Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that could guard your Android smartphone. VPNs will connect you through their private server and encrypt your data, effectively hiding your information. Unfortunately, VPNs come at a price of a few dollars. Complete some level of research by choosing the VPN services that best work out for your needs. For more information on the topic, you can check out this article.

Android offers a lot of different privacy and security features for mobile devices. Try applying some of these options to your Android device to increase your personal security!