An interesting 2023 research surveyed 5,101 Americans on their view of data privacy, and the results showed that most participants believe they have little to no control over what companies or the government do with their data. Even so, the majority of participants ignore privacy policies—56% click “agree” without reading the content.
As one of the most widely used digital platforms in the world, Google perfectly illustrates this discrepancy. Google Search alone has more than 4 billion users, and Gmail has roughly 1.8 billion monthly active users, highlighting the popularity of these services despite limited user control over how their data is handled. The company collects and handles vast amounts of user data, and people often agree to the privacy policy without understanding what data points are collected and how they’re used.
If you’re wondering, “What data does my phone send to Google?” We have the answers. This guide will discuss:
- What type of data does Google collect?
- Why does Google collect user data?
- Can you stop all data sharing with Google?
What Information Does Google Collect?
Google collects a wide range of information—some of it is directly provided by you (when you create your Google account), and some is collected by Google as you use its services. This includes your:
- Personal information
- Apps, browsers, and devices
- Activity
- Location information
1. Personal Information
This is the information you provide to Google when you set up your Google account. It includes the data that personally identifies you, such as your name and password, and even your phone number or payment information if you provide such details.
Google also collects the content you create, upload, and share with others while using Google services, and this can include:
- Emails
- Photos and videos
- Docs and spreadsheets
- Your comments on YouTube videos
2. Apps, Browsers, and Devices
Google collects information about the apps, browsers, and devices you use to access Google services. This allows it to provide a better user experience through features like automatic updates or screen dimming (when your battery’s low).
Here’s the data Google collects:
- Browser type and settings
- Device type and settings
- Operating system
- Mobile network information
- Application version number
- IP address
- Crash reports
- System activity
- Date, time, and referrer URL of your request
Google collects this information when a service you use communicates with Google’s servers. For example, when you install a new app or when an app checks for updates.
If you have an Android device, it periodically contacts Google servers to provide information about your device and connection to Google services. In addition to information like your device type and carrier name, your Android device could also send data such as the battery level, app usage frequency, and network connection quality and length. This information is provided only if you enable usage and diagnostics.
3. Activity
Google also collects data regarding your activity within Google services, and it does so to offer a better experience. Here’s some of the activity information Google is interested in:
- Terms you search for
- Purchase activity
- Views and interactions with content and ads
- Voice and audio information (when you interact with Google Search, Maps, or Assistant)
- People with whom you communicate or exchange content
- Activity on third-party apps and services that integrate with Google
- Chrome browsing history (if you’ve enabled Chrome synchronization with your Google account)
- Call and message log information (if you use services like Google Meet or Gmail to exchange messages or calls)
It is worth noting that data related to AI services is now considered a separate data flow, distinct from the categories mentioned above. Google’s newer AI features, including Gemini integrations across services such as Gmail and Drive, introduce new data pathways associated with AI personalization, assistant interactions, and model improvement.
In the U.S., Google has also rolled out Personal Intelligence, giving Gemini default-on access to Gmail, Drive, and other Google services.
4. Location Information
Depending on the Google service you use, Google collects different types of data related to your location. It leverages the information to provide features like personalized ads or driving directions.
Below is the location information Google may collect:
- GPS and sensor data from your device, including accelerometer or gyroscope readings
- IP address to identify the location you’re connecting from
- Google services activity, such as the general area you were in when using these services
- Nearby network information, including cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and Bluetooth-enabled devices
One change came in late 2023, when Google announced that Location History, the setting that powers the Timeline feature in Google Maps, would move from Google's cloud to on-device storage. That transition rolled out throughout 2024–2025. The web version of Timeline was retired, and your Timeline data is now stored on your phone, with optional encrypted backup. This shift only affects Timeline, as Google still collects the GPS, IP, sensor, and nearby-network data above through other product settings.
Typically, your account settings and device type determine what types of location data Google collects and how long it stores it.
Why Does Google Collect Your Information?
Per Google's current privacy policy, which is regularly updated, the listed purposes are:
- Providing services
- Maintaining and improving services
- Developing new services
- Providing personalized services, including content and ads
- Measuring performance
- Protecting Google, its users, and the public
- Communicating with you
The policy now also states that Google collects information from publicly available sources to help train its AI models and power products like Google Translate, Gemini, and Cloud AI, a use of data that has only recently been spelled out directly.
1. Providing Services
Google leverages your information to efficiently deliver its services. Examples include:
- Using your device’s IP address to deliver the data you requested (e.g., loading a YouTube video or returning results based on the terms you searched).
- Using the photos and videos you upload to Google Photos to create albums, collages, and other shareable creations.
- Reading the flight confirmation email you received to generate a check-in button within Gmail.
2. Maintaining and Improving Services
Google relies on your information to ensure its services are working properly. The company constantly monitors its systems. If it identifies an issue, it can use your activity data (or other issue-specific data) to pinpoint when the problem started and fix it quickly.
Your information is also used to improve Google services. For instance, Google uses the data on frequently misspelled search terms to improve its spell-check features. It can also leverage the data on user interactions with particular services to identify an issue with a feature and redesign it to offer a better user experience.
3. Developing New Services
To provide the best possible experience, Google continuously works on developing new features and services by learning from user data.
For instance, Google learned from how users organized their photos in Picasa (Google’s original photo management app) to develop Google Photos.
4. Providing Personalized Services
Google customizes its services based on the data it collects from you. Customization includes:
- Product recommendations
- User-specific search results
- Personalized content and ads (depending on your settings)
For instance, you can get personalized security tips from Google’s Security Checkup based on how you use Google products.
Google will never:
- Use your data to show you ads based on race, religion, health, sexual orientation, or other sensitive categories
- Take advantage of your Drive, Photos, or Gmail data to offer personalized ads
- Share information that identifies you, such as your name or email, with advertisers, unless requested otherwise
5. Measuring Performance
Google “learns” how its products and services are used by analyzing user data. For instance, it:
- Analyzes your visits to Google websites to optimize product design
- Assesses the ads you interact with to help advertisers understand ad campaign performance
6. Protecting Itself, Users, and the Public
Google relies on user information to keep its services safe and reliable. This includes detecting, preventing, and responding to security risks, abuse, fraud, and other issues that could affect Google, users, or the public.
For example, Google analyzes IP addresses and cookies to offer protection against automated abuse, such as sending spam to Gmail users or stealing money from advertisers through fraudulent ad clicks.
7. Communicating With You
Google uses your information to reach out to you in different scenarios. For instance, if Google detects suspicious activity in your account, it will send a notification to your email address. It will also use your email address to notify you of updates in terms and conditions or new products and services you may be interested in.
What Personal Data Does My Android Share With Google?
Depending on your settings, your Android can share all the data we mentioned above with Google. You have some control over data sharing, but it’s not possible to completely prevent sharing information with Google, unless you decide to de-Google your Android.
De-Googling means giving up your Google account, disabling or uninstalling Google apps, and not using Google services. Considering Android phones heavily rely on Google, this would mean losing significant functionalities for many users.
Still, if you value your privacy, de-Googling your phone and opting for a privacy-focused Android OS—like GrapheneOS—may be a solid option.
Trivia: A 2021 study showed that Android sends 20x more data to Google than iOS sends to Apple. Google contested these findings, claiming that they’re based on faulty methods for measuring the data collected by each OS, but an official comparison of data collection methods used by Apple and Google was never published.
How To Stop an Android Phone From Sending Data to Google
You can’t stop your Android phone from sending data to Google unless you give up your Google account and all the apps and services the company offers. Instead, you can adjust data collection settings to whatever you’re comfortable with.
Here are a few suggestions on the information you can control:
You can review and update your information using the following tools:
- Privacy Checkup: Lets you review the privacy settings most likely to matter to you, including ad personalization, activity history, and what's visible on your profile
- Activity Controls: Enable you to manage settings such as Web & App Activity, YouTube History, and Timeline, including setting auto-delete windows
- My Activity: Allows you to browse and delete specific parts of your activity saved to your Google account while you're signed in and using Google services
- Gemini Apps Activity: Controls whether your interactions with Gemini are stored and may be reviewed or used to improve Google's AI models
- My Ad Center: Lets you adjust ad personalization settings and manage some of the interests and topics Google associates with you
- Personal Info: Allows you to manage the contact details and profile information associated with your Google account
- Google Dashboard: Provides a per-product overview of the data Google has stored for each service you use
Choose the Right Mobile Carrier To Boost Your Privacy
Google lets you adjust your data sharing settings (to a certain degree) to enhance your privacy, and this is good news for everyone who wants more control over their information. If you’re worried about online privacy, there’s another significant risk you may not be aware of—your carrier.
Big carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile collect a significant amount of your personal, location, and financial data, store it for years, and routinely share it with advertisers and data brokers—and the recent breach record is alarming.
In March 2024, AT&T confirmed that data on roughly 73 million current and former customers, including Social Security numbers, had been published on the dark web. Later that year, the FBI and CISA confirmed that the China-linked Salt Typhoon campaign had compromised AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and other major U.S. telecom providers, exfiltrating customer call records and even the systems carriers use to fulfill court-authorized wiretaps.
To enhance your privacy, choose Cape, a mobile carrier that prioritizes user anonymity, minimal data collection, and strict privacy policies.
Cape: The Carrier Built for Security and Privacy
Cape is a privacy-first mobile carrier designed to keep your communications safe from surveillance and misuse. Unlike traditional cell phone plan providers, our business model centers around providing you with premium and secure call, text, and data, rather than harvesting and selling your information.
Our service is built from the ground up with privacy and security at its core, offering unique features like:
Privacy & Security Feature | Description |
Cape doesn’t ask for your name, address, or Social Security number. We only collect the information necessary to provide service, and we retain that information for the minimum amount of time possible. | |
Traditional carriers rely on a fixed International Mobile Subscriber ID (IMSI) to connect your device to cellular networks. This is a vulnerability that lets carriers, advertisers, and bad actors identify and track your device. Cape lets subscribers automatically rotate their IMSI every 24 hours, making it infinitely more difficult to track you or your device. | |
Many services ask for your phone number, but sharing it exposes you to spam, scammers, data brokers, and a variety of other risks. VoIPs, on the other hand, don’t work with 2FA, cost extra, and aren’t encrypted. With Cape, you get two free additional SMS/MMS lines that are middle-to-end encrypted. | |
Most U.S. carriers store your call and text metadata for years, sometimes indefinitely. Cape is built to forget, so call data records (CDRs) are deleted after just 24 hours. | |
Cape nullifies the threat of SIM swapping by completely removing humans from the loop. During signup, you receive a 24-word phrase that generates a private key tied to your number. This effectively means that no one (but you) can move your number to a new carrier or device, not even Cape. | |
Legacy network protocols, like SS7, leave you vulnerable to hackers that can track your location, intercept your calls and texts, and steal sensitive information. Cape’s Network Lock relies on a proprietary signaling proxy to verify that your device’s physical location matches the network it’s trying to attach to. If we detect anything out of the ordinary, Cape automatically blocks the connection, nullifying the potential threat. | |
Traditional voicemail systems are outdated, unencrypted, and another security hole bad actors can exploit to gain access to your sensitive information. Cape encrypts all voicemails, ensuring only you can access them. | |
While roaming, your phone connects to local telecom providers to enable service. But, who knows who might be listening on the other end. Cape provides you with peace of mind by routing your traffic through our U.S.-based mobile core, ensuring your identity, data, and communications remain private and secure. |
Ditch Legacy Carriers: Get Cape Today
Cape is a “Heavy” Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), meaning we own our mobile core and provision our own SIMs. This gives us full control over how accounts are authenticated and what data is collected (and for how long), and is how we are able to provide privacy and security features no other carrier on the market can offer.
Get started with Cape today and enjoy the peace of mind, knowing you are fully protected against scammers, hackers, bad actors, and other mobile threats.
To help protect more than just your phone, we’ve partnered with Proton. As a new Cape subscriber, you can choose between Proton Unlimited and Proton VPN Plus for just $1 for six months.
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