How to change the privacy settings on your Android devices

Android phones have many advantages: some come with amazing cameras, Google apps built-in and preloaded, and much more. But these smartphones are also vulnerable to potential threats such as hackers or malware. You should check your apps, stop websites from tracking you and more.

Be sure to follow our steps to change your Android privacy settings today.

Settings may vary depending on the manufacturer of your Android phone

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Change your Android privacy settings

Permit manager

Apps collect all kinds of data from their users, and sometimes you don’t even realize what you’ve given them permission to look at. You should review each app and the permissions you’ve given – so apps that don’t need your location don’t have access to it.

1. Open your Settings
2. Press Privacy
3. Press Authorization processing
4. Tap each app one at a time and decide what each app should have “allowed”.

Encrypt your Android phone

If you have an Android device from before 2015, it may not already be encrypted. This means your data could be compromised and you will want to turn this setting on manually.

1. Open your Settings
2. Press Safety
3. Press Advanced
4. Press Encryption and identification
5. If your phone isn’t already, you’ll see the option to tap Encrypt your phone (this may take some time)

If you don’t see this option, your phone is probably newer and already encrypted.

Google Chrome Safe Browsing Protection

While Google Chrome comes preloaded on many Android devices, it has its own security risks. Google Chrome has its own privacy settings you can adjust, and some experts even recommend not using Chrome at all for security reasons. But it is a handy and powerful browser, so using Safe Browsing protection can be a great alternative to delete it.

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Safe Browsing helps you monitor websites while you browse the internet and can help you identify if you come across an unsafe website, link or ad. You may get a warning like this one telling you that the website you’ve tried to reach is insecure:

1. To open Google Chrome app on your Android
2. Press More with the three dots
3. Press Settings
4. Press Privacy and security
5. Press Safe surfing
6. Then you can choose the level of “Safe Browsing” you want to use: enhanced protection, standard protection (we recommend this one, so you can choose whether or not to send information to Google), or no protection

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Turn on “Do Not Track”.

Android phones allow you to send a request to websites you browse asking them not to track you while you’re using Google Chrome. It’s important to note that asking them not to request or track your data doesn’t guarantee it, because a website can still choose to track your information. However, it is better than not asking, as some sites will honor this request.

1. To open Google Chrome app on your Android
2. Press More with the three dots
3. Press Settings
4. Press Privacy and security
5. Press Do not ask
6. Turn on the setting to ask websites not to track you

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