I have switched everything to privacy alternatives is it safe to delete my Google account or is it needed for some android features also if I delete my account does Google delete all my data if not, can I request the deletion of my data under the GDPR
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It almost impossible to that all the data collected from you (by all the apps you used, no only by Google) will be deleted, mainly because it’s already out there being traded by data brokers. That’s why I think that deleting your accounts is not the best approach for privacy. I think it’s best to keep an old phone with all your accounts and every now and then watch a random video, make a random search, follow a random profile, and so on with all your accounts. Over time your true profile will become obsolete and buried under fake data.
Google Account deletion in theory should delete all data stored in Google, but that theory rests on Google following up on what basically amounts to a pinky promise. As long as you don’t have anything important stored anywhere, like in your Google Drive/Photos, etc…, it should be fine.
You can delete Google from your life.
But Google will never delete you from within itself.
You will live in its memory forever.Google will eventually delete your data, eventually. You can request the gdpr deletion.
Depending on your phone, you might find life easier with Google account, but it doesn’t need to be your old Google account. It could be a throwaway. Mostly for Play store access. Other than that it’s not necessary
Before you delete your account, make sure you use Google takeout to get all of your data and archive it for your purposes
by default they require a google account to be able to access the play store on android, but you can use the aurora store app to access it without a google account. you can find it on f-droid.
though be aware that in a year or two google wants to lock out all apps they don’t like, by inserting a check into your phone so that only apps approved by them can be installed from any store. aurora, newpipe and lots of others are not expected to make it.
you are affected if you have google services installed to your phone. this includes if you have the factory operating system on it.Obtainium > F-droid
why do you think it’s better?
Since you get your apps straight from the source. Also F-droid is recommended against in Privacyguides. And lastly you can download F-droid apps in obtainium. Just make sure to use Appverifier or at least compare hashes if Appverifier doesn’t support the app
oh and also, nobody really verifies what gets into an apk uploaded to github releases. but f-droid does have an array of checks, and I like that they can catch if an app tried something fishy or had a build accident (like accidentally including google servifes dependencies that automatically run code, because another new or updated dependency pulled it in). in the past there were occasions where an app got unlisted, and when I went looking for the reason it was either developer negligence, or sometimes changes that were really not too good.
Last thing, I trust Appverifer more than I trust F-droid verification
I think Obtainium is objectively better since you have 24 sources including F-droid and Google play store with Shizuku or Sui
I also use obtanium for apps not on f-droid, but for all apps that are accessible on f-droid (maybe through a custom repo) I rather use it. and for the rare occasion when I need something from the play store I use aurora.
“Due to their process of building apps, apps in the official F-Droid repository often fall behind on updates. F-Droid maintainers also reuse package IDs while signing apps with their own keys, which is not ideal as it gives the F-Droid team ultimate trust. Additionally, the requirements for an app to be included in the official F-Droid repo are less strict than other app stores like Google Play, meaning that F-Droid tends to host a lot more apps which are older, unmaintained, or otherwise no longer meet modern security standards.” This is what PrivacyGuides says. Also you have Appverifier integration in Obtainium which verifies signatures or smth, I know it’s a lot better than comparing hashes
Due to their process of building apps, apps in the official F-Droid repository often fall behind on updates.
there were several statements in that article that lead me to believe it wasn’t revised in many years. yes, they had some difficulties just a few weeks ago, but otherwise that doesn’t occure often anymore. also they are working on replacing the build system with something better, if google does not kill them first
F-Droid maintainers also reuse package IDs while signing apps with their own keys, which is not ideal as it gives the F-Droid team ultimate trust
trust is not in package IDs, should never be. packge IDs can be easily “faked”. trust should be in the apk signature. sometimes not even that, like with google play, where the keys are handled not by the developer but by google.
but yes, they do reuse package IDs, because they cannot patch every app that does not provide an fdroid build variant, doing so could break apps. what it causes today is that you can’t have installed the fdroid version and a different version of the app.and since f-droid focuses increasingly on reproducible builds, as they have been doing for the past few years, apps that are built that way are not even affected by this, because users get the file that was built by the original developers.
Additionally, the requirements for an app to be included in the official F-Droid repo are less strict than other app stores like Google Play,
I disagree. the play store allows and recommends lots of malicious apps.
meaning that F-Droid tends to host a lot more apps which are older, unmaintained, or otherwise no longer meet modern security standards."
so those apps must be made inaccessible to all users, right? NO! these apps should have a warning, not being deleted!
Also you have Appverifier integration in Obtainium which verifies signatures or smth
this?
contrary to f-droid’s build system it does not look for fishy things in the APK, it just checks whether the app was built by its expected developer. that’s what the apk signature can be used for.
sometimes it’s useful, like if you get the apk file from wherever, except when the developer’s signing keys are handled by google, because then google can release altered versions that still pass the verification. but it does nothing to check whether it has tracking components that would be rejected by f-droid.I know it’s a lot better than comparing hashes
thats what appverifier exactly does. it compares the hashes of the apk’s public signing key with a known good value.
I see, I’ll admit I’m not very knowledgeable on this, I thought appverifier was better than normal hash comparison
I see, that’s fair. Personally I trust f-droid more. also I was surprised to notice recently that obtanium just added a china specific app source that is default enabled in the search menu. that store is not really known in the global android community.
I don’t think adding a Chinese source is necessarily bad, what if they have users in china that want local apps?
that’s not the point. but that they added a generally unknown app source that’s
- enabled by default
- gets to log your searches
- could provide its own, altered version of an app you are looking for
I mean you could choose not to use the source
I would not recommend acual deleting it. Save and delete all your data. Set a new very long password (they allow up to 128 char.). Then never use it again. This prevents impersonation. Nobody knows if/when your account nicht be available sometime after deleting it. Also, if you forget to change your e-mail adress you still have access.
does Google delete all my data
LOL No, they never delete.
Harddisks are cheap, especially when you buy thousands of them.
What you should do: a few days before you set the deleted flag to your account, clear all the data fields that can be empty, and change the ones that cannot be empty. Change them to contain only nonsense. Everything. Your name, your password etc.
There’s definitely history for this. Don’t think it’ll achieve much.
is it needed for some android features
Depends on your phone’s ROM. What are you running?
default hyperos rom sadly no rom for my phone since mediatek
I would try removing your Google account from the phone in settings and see what happens (before you delete the account). If you can survive with the results, go for it!
