Sara N-Marandi, Product Manager, Android Platform Product
People want trustworthy operating systems and applications to handle the most private and sensitive information. Privacy is at the heart of Android’s product principles. As we shared in our Android Privacy Update Roundup, Android 12 continues to expand on the existing security base and further enhance the platform’s privacy features.
Android 12 provides users with more transparency about their app access data, while still being able to manage it cleanly with simple controls. Android also aims to reduce the scope of permissions, so that applications can access only the data necessary to provide functionality. Here’s a look at some of the key updates Android 12 brings to user privacy.
Privacy Dashboard — Users often tell us that they want to know what data is being used by the app. In the new privacy dashboard, users will see a simple and clear timeline of the app’s access to the location, microphone and camera over the past 24 hours. You can also share more background information about app usage data through the new privilege Intent API in Android 12. The Privacy dashboard will be added in Beta 2 for everyone to experience.
We recommend that all developers review your application’s code, understand the data access requirements, including the data used by third-party SDKS, and ensure that all use cases are justified. To help you do this, we’ve added the Data Access Audit API to Android 11 to make it easy for you to review the data your app is using. This API allows you to see which parts of your code have access to private data and take corrective actions.
Check the access to location information in the past 24 hours through the privacy dashboard
Microphone and camera indicator – We’ve increased the transparency of microphone and camera access in Android 12: users will know in real time when an app is using the microphone or camera. Users can also go to Quick Settings to easily see apps that use microphones and cameras. If the access is improper, users can also quickly navigate to the application’s permissions page to revoke their permissions.
Developers should review the application’s use of the microphone and camera and remove scenarios that cause accidental use. For example, you should make sure that your application uses these sensors only when the user clicks on a feature that requires use of the microphone and camera. Microphones and camera indicators will be added in Beta 2 for you to experience.
Microphone and camera indicators and switches
Microphone and camera switch – You’ve probably seen people put stickers on their cameras or plug in audio blockers on their phones to protect their privacy. In Android 12, we’ve introduced two new controls that allow users to quickly and easily cut off application access to the device’s microphone and camera. In addition, to ensure user security, emergency calls will be treated as exceptions.
If an already licensed app tries to access the microphone or camera, but the user has turned them off, a message will be displayed informing the user that the sensor must be turned back on to use the app’s functions. If you follow application permissions best practices, you don’t have to do anything special to get these state switches. Microphone and camera switches will be added in Beta 2 for you to experience.
Approximate location – In the last two releases, we have refined location permissions. First, we separate the back and front accesses. Then, we added a “once only” option to further restrict access to background locations. We’ve seen positive feedback from users about these controls and are using them more. Given the option, users will share less of their location with the application about 80% of the time by allowing only foreground location access.
With Android 12, we’re giving users more control over their location data. The user can select the location accuracy provided to the application through the “Approximate location” option.
We recommend that you review your application’s use of location information. If your functionality does not require precise location, apply for ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permission. You should also be prepared for the user to reduce the accuracy of the position, and make sure your application still works when the user chooses to grant an approximate position. The approximate location has been added to Beta 1 for everyone to experience.
▽ Location permission request dialog box, provides approximate location and exact location options
Clipboard Read Notifications – What is copied to the clipboard may contain sensitive information because users often copy E-mail, addresses, and even passwords. Android 12 notifies the user every time the app reads from the clipboard, and each time the app calls getPrimaryClip(), the user sees a prompt message at the bottom of the screen. If the clipboard data is from the same application, there will be no prompt. You can pass getPrimaryClipDescription () to get to know the type of data in the clipboard, so as to minimize access to the clipboard. The recommended best practice is to only access the clipboard if the user understands why they are accessing it. Clipboard read notifications will be added in Beta 2 for everyone to experience.
Nearby device Permissions – Android 12 adds a new runtime permission to scan nearby devices without using the user’s location information, thereby reducing access to user data. Previously, companion apps for devices like watches and headphones required location permissions to scan nearby Bluetooth devices and pair them. This can be confusing for users and developers, and can lead to users granting location permissions when they don’t have to. For applications that upgrade the Target SDK level to Android 12, you can use the new BLUETOOTH_SCAN permissions and set the usesPermissionFlags=”neverForLocation” property to scan nearby devices. Thus decoupling from fine location permissions. Once paired with the device, just use the new BLUETOOTH_CONNECT permission to interact with it. Apps that use Bluetooth scanning for location will still have to have location permission. Nearby device permissions have been added to Beta 1 for everyone to experience.
App Sleep – Last year we introduced automatic permissions reset, where Android automatically revoks an app’s permissions if it’s not used for a long time. In the past two weeks, Android has reset permissions on more than 8.5 million apps. This year, we added automatic permission resets to smart sleep for apps that haven’t been used for a long time to optimize device storage, performance, and security. Not only does the system revoke the permissions previously granted by the user, but it also forces the application to stop and reclaims memory, storage, and other temporary resources. The user simply starts the application to get it out of hibernation. App hibernation has been added to Beta 1.
Android 12 is our most ambitious privacy release to date. Along the way, we’ve worked closely with the developer community to build a platform that makes privacy a top priority, while also taking into account the impact on developers. Thank you for your continued feedback and support in making our platform more private and safe for everyone. Check out the developer website for more new features and details.
Your feedback and questions about your products are very important to us. Please send us your feedback via the QR code below. Chances are your questions will appear in the next FAQ and be answered. Thank you for your support!
