@privacy How to be private with google services and noroot.

I can’t disable google play services for a lot of reasons (school apps, UPI, etc). I have three main google apps enabled. Gservices, gmail+meet, gpay. I have replaced as much apps as possible. Any guide for being private for me?

  • StaySquared@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    4 months ago

    Man… there has to be a “security” wiki - a living document, that instructs you on how to be as anonymous as possible and how to setup all the required tools to stay anonymous.

    Somewhat O/T:

    Recently I discovered that Amazon store app spies on your Google searches. If I search for a solution, say a pool heater and Google lists websites, including stores with pool heater products, as soon as I open my Amazon store app and type p - o, it lists pool heater at the top. This also happened when I was searching for a pool ionizer, literally I Googled, “keep pool clean without chemicals”, without clicking any of the links provided on Google, I saw a product listed, “ClearBlue Ionizer”, open the Amazon store app, I wanted to find just general ionizers so I didn’t start with the name of the brand, instead I wanted to search for ionizer, by the time I finished typing “ion”… it listed "Pool Ionizer by ClearBlue Ionizer (25,000 Gallon) … "

    At that moment I realized Amazon is tracking my searches. I get they want to be convenient but I don’t remember Amazon giving me the option to opt out of information sharing amongst other apps.

    Hopefully sooner or later there will be a way to sandbox every app so they’re not communicating with each other.

    • 0oWow@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      4 months ago

      It’s probably Google sharing that information with Amazon. Amazon isn’t actively spying on Google searches. I could be wrong though, but that is what Google “Ad Privacy” spyware is really about. To let Google share your interests with other companies.

    • I'm back on my BS 🤪@lemmy.autism.placeEnglish
      4·
      4 months ago

      I just ran a test on my stock Pixel 8 Pro connected via Proton VPN:

      1. I opened Firefox and searched DuckDuckGo for “pool heater”.

      2. I scrolled down until I saw an Amazon link, then closed the tab and Firefox.

      3. I opened the Amazon app. I scrolled through the “deals” on the app’s home page and did not see anything pool related at all.

      4. I typed “pool” into the search slowly, to see if and when “pool heater” was suggested as a search. I typed in “pool” entirely, yet “pool heater” was never suggested.

      I don’t know what that implies, but it seems like if I am using Firefox, DDG, and Proton VPN, Amazon isn’t monitoring my Internet searches.