this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
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Google’s ‘Secret’ Update Scans All Your Photos (www.forbes.com)
submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
264 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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] 6 points 19 hours ago (16 children)

Seems to be innocuous, but there's no harm in removing it. Next update, it'll be returned, so the better solution long-term will be (if you're rooted) is to use an application to freeze it, which effectively disables it and it should survive and update. If you delete the app, a new update will put it back.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

or just disable play store and use an alternative store like aurora.

Then it'll never get installed in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

This is incorrect. It's installed silently via a background OTA. It's never installed purposefully through the google play store.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 15 hours ago

It's not installed with OTA, but through Play Services. I use microG and never will have any issue with apps auto-installing.

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