How to Prevent Google Apps From Tracking You on Your Apple Devices
Apple recently updated its App Store and iOS privacy policies to force app developers to be more transparent about their data collection practices. As a result, users get a little more information (and, ideally, control) what data different companies can track and how. Even giants like Google.
Users can view the information the app is tracking in the new App Privacy section of the App Store page. And thanks to these changes, we finally know how much data Google collects from some of its iOS apps. Spoiler: That’s a lot.
Google has yet to update the App Privacy section for all of its app store listings , but here’s a quick snapshot of the few that now list the data they track.
Google home
google translate
Youtube
As we said, Google tracks a lot of information, but thanks to Apple, we can now see most of the data it collects (we’re still not sure what “other data” covers). Hopefully popular services like Google Search , Google Maps , Google Photos , Gmail and Chrome will be updated soon.
For some, this can be a rude awakening, especially for those who thought that Google’s iOS apps were less greedy for information than Android. The point is, all companies collect data: Facebook tracks you through its website and apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple itself … the list goes on.
However, Google is one of the most aggressive data gatherers, and its database is one of the largest. While Google doesn’t sell personal information directly to advertisers, third-party companies pay big bucks to help Google deliver targeted ads to more potential customers.
It looks like exploitation, but using your data to sell ads is different from pursuing your every move for personal reasons. However, data leaks happen all the time, and your data can fall into the wrong hands if companies don’t store it securely.
But there are ways to reduce the amount of data these companies will ultimately retain, which will hopefully reduce privacy risks.
Stop apps from tracking your data
First, use the new data tracking information in the App Store to make informed decisions. Don’t download apps that exceed your personal privacy threshold. You can also turn off certain tracking permissions when you first install the app, and adjust the permissions later in your iOS settings . This will not prevent applications from collecting data, but will make it more anonymous.
Speaking specifically about Google apps, there are a few more options:
- Turn off all activity tracking in your Google account settings, or set your data to be automatically deleted whenever possible .
- Disable Gmail’s smart features that track your data.
- Don’t use your Google account to sign in to third-party apps or websites.
- Turn off GPS on your phone when you are not using it.
Implementing these strategies will cut back on how much personal information Google stores, but that doesn’t stop everyone from tracking. To do this, you need to use other apps and services instead – and hope these companies track less data.
It’s hard to completely exclude Google from your life , but iOS and Mac users can create greater distance than Android, Chrome OS, or even Windows users. Apple has its own alternatives to most of Google’s services. These apps still track some data, but Apple has a better privacy policy – if anything, compared to Google’s methods. Much more is available through third party apps. To get started, check out our guides on alternatives to Chrome , Gmail , Google Search, and Google Photos .