Google reportedly peeks into Android data to gain edge over third-party apps
Android 10 (on googlephones) has a feature called ‘digital wellbeing’ that can measure how much I gawk at the screen, and show that to me. Interesting, I think, let's see if that data stays locally. The only piece of info on data usage that I've found is a link to Google's overarching privacy policy. Oy vey. Some data-processing features in the settings are marked with ‘data stays on the phone’—but this one isn't. So I have to <i>assume</i> that ‘wellbeing’ snitches to Google, and can't use it.<p>“Collection of data is disclosed to and controllable by users”? Well, if the users presume that collection is going on unless said otherwise, then maybe.<p>Annoying thing is, I'd quite want to use the voice assistant. Do I like to fiddle with integrations and workflows? Oh boy. Damn well I do. Do I know that my voiceprint won't turn up on Google's servers the minute I use the assistant? Nope.<p>(Btw, another baffling trait of the Android ecosystem is how many well-known and widely-used hackish tools are closed-source: those from XDA and such. “Flash this binary to root your phone”, “install this blob for low-level customizations”. Eeeeh? I think I'll just disable all Google's misfeatures instead, for now.)