this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 hours ago

Google says that SafetyCore “provides on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content

Cheers Google but I'm a capable adult, and able to do this myself.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

True or not, one can avoid the whole issue by using your phone as a phone, maybe to send texts, with location, mike, and camera switched off permanently, and all the other apps deleted or disabled. Sure, Google will still know you called your SO daily and your Mom once a week (NOT ENOUGH!), and that you were supposed to pick up the dry cleaning last night (did you?). Meh. If that's what floats the Surveillance Society's boat, I am not too worried.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago

People can go further than that and install a ROM for their phone that doesn't have any Google apps on it. People can even use applications that normally require Google Play Services by using microG, which spoofs things. You can also root your phone with Magisk and use apps to block anything leaking anything else.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 hours ago

Thnx for this, just uninstalled it, google are arseholes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Great, it'll have to plow through ~30GB of 1080p recordings of darkness and my upstairs neighbors living it up in the AMs. And nothing else.

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