- Seven Android privacy settings
you need to turn off immediately.
Let's start in the Settings app.
I'll swipe down upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Tap that gear icon in.
We're going to scroll down to Privacy.
That's kind of the place to be.
Let's start with Permission Manager,
which apps do you want to have access to your location?
Microphone, camera, et cetera, all this stuff.
- It's interesting to me how they separate
each one of these now.
So it makes your job a little bit harder,
but it also makes the app's job a little bit easier
to get around the restrictions
and track the things that you don't want them to.
- Let's start with Location.
Can also be a bit of a battery drainer
in addition to a privacy issue.
So here are some apps that have access to my location
all the time.
Amazon shopping, Facebook, Snapchat.
Do these apps need access to my location
all the time?
- I don't think so.
- I don't think so either.
So let's just pick on Facebook for instance,
tap on it and then allow only while using the app
ask every time, don't allow.
Up to you from there.
- That's the safe choice.
I mean, the thing that you need to really worry about
is allow all the time.
So just anytime,
even when you're not using the Facebook app
or any app that has access all the time,
it's going to be using your location.
- And using your battery.
So another way to look at this one is
allowed all the time is allowed to use your battery
all the time.
And if you think of it like that,
it's easier to turn these off.
- Yeah. So, I mean, really for all these, I would, you know,
either choose don't allow or allow only while using the app
if it needs your location.
Let's go back to permission manager.
How about Camera?
Which apps have access to your camera?
Fortunately, none of them are allowed all the time again,
you don't want certain apps
to just be able to access your camera all the time,
even when you're not uploading a photo or taking a photo
or anything like that.
- This just can be accessing your camera.
It's amazing to me that this is even an option.
- Yeah, and one more thing, we'll check out is Microphone.
Which apps have access to your microphone all the time,
even when you're not using them,
maybe they're trying to listen to you a little bit.
But fortunately we have none allowed all the time.
If you see a lot all the time,
maybe switch that to while using the app.
Especially for something like Zoom.
If you want to actually participate in a Zoom call,
it needs access to your microphone.
So you're going to want to
allow it to have your microphone access.
- As I look at this list,
the one that stands out to me is Samsung Capture.
Anything that you don't use frequently,
it should be turned off.
And if you then go into the app later on and it says,
"Hey, you know, you've got to use this feature."
Just come back here and turn it back on.
- Yes. We tap on Samsung Capture,
ask every time or don't allow,
let's just set it to don't allow for now.
Let's go back to the main page of Privacy.
Next quick tip, turn off, send diagnostic data.
A little bit of battery tip there.
- Samsung would like your help though, David.
- Yeah, they would.
I think they can improve their own products.
Tap I Agree to send diagnostic data to uncheck it
and then tap Okay.
Next up Android Personalization Service.
We tap on that.
Get personalized content based on your app usage.
For example, texts you've entered in one app
may appear as a search suggestion in another app,
this data is stored in your phone
and not sent to Google or Samsung.
- Google or Samsung may not see it,
but the app that you're using will.
And so will the other apps that it's being shared with,
that is scary to me.
- It's not as secure as they want you to believe.
So we're going to turn that switch off.
Let's set back to the main Privacy page.
Next up Google Location History.
Do you want Google tracking and saving your location
all the time, even when you're not using Google services?
- Let me think about it.
No.
- Most people's going to be no,
you can come down here and tap that Turn Off button,
scroll down and then tap Pause.
If you don't want to do that and you want that location data
let's tap Cancel.
There is an option to auto delete.
So we tap on that.
- This is a hilarious option to me for the record.
- So auto-delete three months,
18 months or 36 months also known as three years.
By that time you're probably getting a new phone.
- Yeah, you're getting a new phone.
Well, it's probably stored to your Google account.
You could probably go through
phone after phone after phone.
Three years is a long time for Google
to be tracking everywhere I go.
- If you want to leave it on, I would suggest three months.
But for me personally,
I would just go ahead and turn this off.
- Yeah. What if you get a new girlfriend, David?
Well, David's married.
- Yeah.
- Sorry.
- Good example.
- What if I get a significant other
and then I dumped that person,
but Google has saved my location.
So every time I get in the phone
with my new significant other next week,
I get the U-Haul.
Then that person is going to see all these suggestions
to the previous significant other's house.
And then I'm going to have to find
yet another significant other,
and then I've wasted two weeks of my life.
- Well, you can just turn this off.
Tap Got It.
Now it's off and Google is not tracking my location.
And the thing that's crazy to me is that
it's tracking your location
even when you're not using Google services.
So it's just all the time.
- Yeah.
- It's just, it's a lot.
- When are you not using Google services technically
on an Android phone?
- Almost never.
- Almost never not using them.
- Let's go back to the main page of the privacy settings.
Let's tap on Ads.
- But I like ads, David.
- Opt out of ads personalization.
We're going to turn that switch on.
You get a lot of pushback on this.
I want to see personalized ads.
I don't want to see really low quality ads.
And the truth is that you won't number one,
these advertising networks have so much data on you
that you can't possibly to just opt out of everything.
Number two is that you still,
you can still see contextual ads.
It's not like you're going to see XXX ads.
(upbeat music)
- XXX.
- Spammy pop-ups that we used to see.
- Nobody wants to see Vin Diesel ads.
Literally no one.
- Shaken, and stirred.
- Let's sit back to the main page
of Private Settings one more time.
Usage and diagnostics.
Turn that switch off once again.
We're just cutting down the amount of data we're sending-
- What the heck are they supposed to do?
Don't you feel bad for Samsung?
- Yeah, could be a little bit of battery drainer
also can use cellular data to send your usage
and diagnostics data to Samsung.
Next up, a setting not in the privacy section
of the Settings app.
We're gonna tap back to the main page
of the Settings app on your Android
and then tap Biometrics and Security.
- But before we get into this,
do you mind if I just talk about another setting?
Not to get too confusing,
the join button underneath this video, you can join us.
We're trying to build our member base
and there really aren't that many Android members yet.
So if you'd like to join, we would love to hear opinion.
- Get your perspective
and then tell us why Androids are better than iPhones.
- I was thinking that, yeah.
- There we go.
So in Biometrics and Security,
let's scroll down and we're going to tap on
Install Unknown Apps.
Do you want apps to be able to install other apps
on your Android without your permission?
- This is the most ridiculous setting,
or at least one of them.
I always think this is the most ridiculous
and then we find another one.
- This, I think this is really the most ridiculous setting.
So let's just tap on Chrome for example.
And it says right here,
installing apps from the source
may put your phone data at risk.
- And this is like a Google app.
- Right.
I can think of very few use cases
where I would actually want an app to be able to do that.
I want them to ask my permission
before they go off installing unknown apps.
- Of course.
And I mean,
I can't remember when I installed an app and it was
AI opted into the setting.
- Right.
- Like it's kind of BS that they make you opt out of it.
I wonder if that'll change in a future release.
- Yeah, so I would really just go through
and turn off install unknown apps for everything.
- Everything.
That's it.
That is.
- I'd like to install an unknown app please.
Surprise me.
- Surprise me.
- It should be called the Surprise Me feature
or the I'm Feeling Lucky Feature like in Google Search.
- Yeah, one more thing I will say is
I think with Chrome and Samsung,
the odds that they install something really nefarious
on your phone are pretty low.
- Right.
- But once you get to some of those,
less quality apps, you can run into some real big issues.
- Yeah and what happens is that these apps
have partnerships with the apps that they're installing,
where they get a kickback
if you then opt into this other app
that just showed up on your phone,
which all by the way,
can then start to send you notifications
and it's an anti-virus software.
And you're thinking, "Oh my gosh, I have to get McAfee now."
Don't want to do that.
- Don't want to do that.
Those are seven Android private settings
you need to change now.
Thanks for watching, give this video a thumbs up,
as you said earlier, please join this channel.
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And if you don't like us that much,
hit that subscribe button, we'd love to have you too.
(beep) You got to turn it on to turn it off.
- Got to turn it on to turn it off.
So we get a lot of pushback on-
- (beep) Your diagnostic data is worth money to you.
(beep) As I look at this list,
the one that stands out to me is Samsung Capture.
Anything that you don't use frequently,
should be turned off.