[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pc103:
Digital Privacy

Well it certainly stresses the last remaining fiber of your privacy. I just watched the latest "60 Minutes Overtime" piece on data brokers framing this as a lifestyle issue. Step back from the small screen & consider that your actions on board the PC have a ripple effect on your smartphone. "NAI Opt out" & "Disconnect software" are useful PC search words.

Where it Went

I rarely hear from a tech guru or even a lawyer who can decipher a EULA, TOS or Privacy agreement they didn't author themselves; yet online, we are steeped in the cumulative concessions we have accepted from them and the affiliates and partners they enable for.

The Biggest Brother?

Google is a data harvester, not a broker. They are the custodians of much of our imprint online across all platforms. check your settings accordingly; within each Google service / app/ platform you use and adjust them to taste. Know, for example, that persistent login to Gmail will append any collocated G-Search activity to your G profile if Web Data | Web History remains on. I read recently that simply joining Plus has a similar but more comprehensive effect by default, by unifying the G tracking across your entire electronic imprint.

Android Permissions

Yes. The most invasive part of Android is its permissions free for all. They are demands, not requests that each app poses. The logic is sometimes one sided and self serving to the developers at our disadvantage. What can we do?

1. Know something about your developer. XDA membership in an app developer helps define their role in a community. Check their website, reviews, accessibility, postings etc.

2. Consider lower permission alternative apps listed in the play store.

3. For each app you review in the Play Store, (have you checked play store settings yet?) assess its longevity in the marketplace to decide if you are willing to be an early adopter.

4. Resist resorting to apps to broker built-in functions your system already has. Learn your OS.

5. Weigh the logic of each permission demanded, based on risk / reward and your intended uses. Example: On my phone Google search leads the field with 59 permissions. App Permisssions by FSecure is in the low end group with zero. How do I know? App Permissions. What can I do? More on that later.

6. Debloat. I have frozen over 60 apps/services/processes using a combination of tools ranging from built in (no root) Application Management to Startup Manager and the App Quarantine app.

7. Don't be lazy about toggling settings as needed. One stock default has the GPS always enabled which may not be necessary for you.

8. Learn about the types of location services in your OS. Check location settings in affected apps and consider toggling location services as needed. Apps will prompt if the needed service is off when you use them.

9. Review your synch settings. Mine are off on the OS. I use a 3rd party mail app and manually back up contacts using Super Backup when needed.

10. Review background data settings. they are visible in Settings / Data usage, by selecting Mobile Data, and scrolling to the list of apps to tap through each and set Restrict background data if appropriate. It saves battery by reducing tower hunting and focuses you on which apps pose the highest demands.

I promised more. Learn about App Ops if you haven't. I have the luxury of running a 4.3 version that supports it so I can use a client app to filter and toggle various permissions on a per app basis. There are other, and perhaps more thorough approaches to this but I'm staying with this one for now.