Android version 12 and iOs version 15 were a privacy revolution. Smartphone operating systems now contain functions to allow users better control of their data. In particular, Google, with Android, had to chase Apple in terms of privacy to try to anticipate and dampen the arrival of new and heavier regulations that could harm its advertising business.
However, some new features require the user to activate them. Better privacy yes, in short, but only for users who are aware of it. So let’s see how to exploit the potential of the new operating systems.
The basics
We begin to become familiar with the news in general. In iOS or Android, we open settings with a touch (or voice) and select Privacy. There are menus to restrict how each app accesses phone functions (such as the microphone, camera, very privacy-risky items) and software (such as the contact list). Android 12 includes a privacy dashboard to show what apps do and shortcuts for managing the information Google collects and stores in your Google account. Our mobile is old, can’t it have Android 12? A developer has created a highly regarded app that simulates the dashboard. Now let’s see the most important functions.
Location (localization)
The “localization” function allows you to locate the user’s position on a map. Must be accurate for navigation or racing apps. Less for a weather app (as long as it knows our city); it is not clear why a cooking app, instead (as it happens) needs to ask on the phone to know our position. It certainly does not do this to give us a better service, but only to sell us personalized advertising. We decide who to give this information to and to what extent. The location services controls in iOS 15 allow you to decide which apps can use your physical location information. Here you can also delete the Significant Locations file that Apple creates to track your iPhone’s location, although this may affect apps like Calendar and Photos. From the Privacy setting, we go to Location Services and then to System Services. Here, you can disable or enable location services and control which third-party apps can use our coordinates or when they are allowed to use that information. Scroll to the bottom and select System Services to see how the iPhone uses our location, such as the collection of “significant places” (eg home address). You can disable it or clear the history, but the location settings screen in Android 12 shows which apps have used it and includes a link to activity controls in your Google account. Can manage or delete data from there.On Android, we go into the Location setting to see which apps are allowed to use it. Tap Location Services to get to other settings; here you can also manage the location history setting that records your movements. In the app permissions you can also finely decide whether to give each app the precise, approximate, or none location; whether to give it at any time or only when the app is used.
Apps and ads
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature alerts you when an app wants to track our online activity, typically for the purpose of targeted advertising. In the iOS 15 Settings, touch Privacy and then Tracking to get to the controls. Here you can remove the tracking permission for specific apps. Also, by disabling “Activity tracking request” in the privacy settings, we will no longer see requests from apps that want to track activities. When this setting is off, all apps that require tracking permission will be treated as if we tapped “Ask app not to track.” Similarly, Android 12’s privacy settings give you the ability to clear the Advertising ID that apps and sites use to show personalized ads. In Android 12, open Settings and select Privacy to get to a series of controls, including the Ads option to avoid targeted ads: you can delete or reset your ” Advertising ID “.
Web
Browsers have been used for decades to track us through cookies and other code that observes our business for marketing and advertising purposes. Incognito modes are of limited help against tracking. Now for Apple’s Safari browsers and Google’s Chrome they do better. In the respective “Privacy & Security” settings. You can request here that sites not track us, although some will be able to. On Safari you can also hide the IP address from trackers. Some recommend third-party browsers such as DuckDuckGo and Brave for better privacy by enabling their tracking lock functions.