From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

PSA:
Permissions you can safely turn off in Google Play Services <com.google.android.gms>

Many Android users may not realize that Google Play Services holds a large number of optional permissions that are not required for normal phone operation, especially if you do not set up Android with a Google account
(as I don't, and my phone works just fine without that Google Account).

On Samsung devices running Android 12 or later, most of these permissions
can be safely disabled without breaking core functionality, reducing how
much system-level access Google Play Services has to your data and sensors.

The list below summarizes which permissions can be turned off, in my experience, and, oddly, exactly which one Samsung forces to remain on.

Also included is my step-by-step process for disabling them gradually so
you can confirm that your device continues to work normally if you do it.

These are safe to deny on any modern Samsung (Android 12+), IMHO:
1. Body sensors: fitness tracking and motion analytics.
2. Call logs: spam detection and call syncing with Google.
3. Camera: rarely used by GMS; safe to deny.
4. Microphone: same as camera; safe to deny.
5. Contacts: used for Google account syncing (I use DOpen Contacts).
6. Calendar: removed from GMS in Android 12+.
7. SMS: used for Google account verification (I have no Google account).
8. Phone: used for phone-number-based Google account setup.
9. Nearby devices: Chromecast, Nearby Share, etc.

Samsung-specific permission groups you may also see (AFAIK):
10. Music and audio: media controls and Bluetooth routing.
11. Notifications: Play Protect and system alerts.
12. Photos and videos: media storage access.

These depend on your use model (IMHO):
13. Activity recognition: fitness apps and driving detection.
14. Physical activity: Samsung will not let me turn this off.
15. Files and media: used for Google backup/restore.

Location note (based on my experience):
16. Turn Location OFF for Google Play Services.
Allow location only for apps actually used (e.g., Maps, OSMAnd~).

If Location is denied for GMS, Google Maps still works if Maps itself
has location permission. Although apps relying on the fused location
provider may behave oddly (let them).

Permissions that may not appear but must remain enabled (AFAIK):
17. Run in background
18. Modify system settings
19. Install unknown apps
20. Battery optimization exemption
21. Network access
22. Wake locks

Suggested process:
a. Turn off Body sensors
b. Turn off Call logs
c. Turn off Camera
d. Turn off Microphone
e. Turn off Contacts
f. Turn off Calendar (if present)
g. Turn off SMS
h. Turn off Phone
i. Turn off Nearby devices
j. Turn off Music and audio
k. Turn off Notifications

l. Turn off Photos and videos
Pause here and use your phone normally for a day or two.
m. Turn off Activity recognition
n. Turn off Physical activity (Samsung will not allow this for me)
o. Turn off Files and media (optional)

Pause again and use your phone normally for a day or two.
p. Turn off Location for Google Play Services
Keep Location enabled only for apps you explicitly trust.

Note: All radios should be turned off unless explicitly being used.
Cellular data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/GNSS, NFC, UWB, FM (if applicable).

Note: I keep a shortcuts folder with one-tap shortcuts to location
permissions such as "Google Location Accuracy" & "Wi-Fi/BT Scanning"
because simply rebooting the phone can turn those damn things back on.
--
Of the million things we should know about privacy, most people know two.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Updating Google Play services today changed a TON of privacy settings
(for the worse!)

This is not a Samsung update.
It's Google Play services asserting control over the location stack.

For example...
I have one-tap toggles to all the privacy switches in Android.

But today I updated my Google Play services <com.google.android.gms>
by tapping "Check for update" inside of "Mainline Module Info"
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.simplicity.trainspotting>

Which changed from:
Google Play Services 23.33.16 (190400-560149061)
Last update: 9/5/23 12:53AM
To:
Google Play Services 26.10.32 (190400-881056102)
Last update: 3/10/26 10:37AM

And which also changed the permissions away from what I had set!
Newsgroups: comp.mobile.android
Subject: PSA: Permissions you can safely turn off in Google Play Services <com.google.android.gms>
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2026 00:56:08 -0700
Message-ID: <10olueo$upu$[email protected]>

But worse, it broke the one-tap shortcut to the "Precise Location" toggle.
That Precise-Location toggle used to be in:
Settings > Location > Location services
But it's no longer there. It's now in a bunch of places, apparently:

1. Settings > Location > Location services > Location Accuracy = on/off
2. Settings > Location > App permissions > Maps > Use precise location = on/off 3. Settings > Apps > Maps > Permissions > Location > Use precise location = on/off

This apparently corresponds to Google Play Services induced changes to
1. A system-level accuracy mode (which affects all apps apparently)
2. A per-app precision permission mode
3. A per-permission dialog inside of each app's settings

But wait. There's more!
All the privacy toggles that were off, turned back on!
a. Crisis Alerts
b. Earthquake Alerts (for the West Coast)
c. Emergency Location Service
d. Google Location History (it can't enable without an account)
e. Google Location Sharing (it can't enable without an account)
f. Location Accuracy
g. Timeline (it can't enable without an account)
h. Trusted places (apparently tied to "Smart Lock" geofencing)

Settings > Safety & security > (Smart Lock isn't there)
Even though trusted places is a component, it's not there because:
a. I have no screen lock
b. I have no PIN (nor silly biometric marketing gimmicks)
c. I have no Google Account set up on the device
d. Therefore, I have no device registration Google Identity Services

So the Smart Lock subsystem apparently could not initialize.
1. Which means Smart Lock is gone on my device
2. Which makes Trusted Places just a dead, nonfunctional stub
3. But Unknown tracker alerts was also turned on by the update

I left that toggle on because it works entirely on-device, with no cloud account, no Google login and no device registration used.

Apparently both Bluetooth & Wi-Fi scanning stayed turned off because they
are controlled by the Android system UI, not by Google Play services.

But all the network-based location engines were toggled on.
Sheesh!

Worse, Google Play services re-asserted every permission and capability it
is allowed to claim, so I had to reset these toggles back to being off.
Settings > Apps > Google Play services > Permissions >
1. Body sensors: fitness tracking and motion analytics.
2. Call logs: spam detection and call syncing with Google.
3. Camera: rarely used by GMS; safe to deny.
4. Microphone: same as camera; safe to deny.
10. Music and audio: media controls and Bluetooth routing.
7. SMS: used for Google account verification (I have no Google account).
8. Phone: used for phone-number-based Google account setup.
9. Nearby devices: Chromecast, Nearby Share, etc.
11. Notifications: Play Protect and system alerts.
12. Photos and videos: media storage access.

Only this stayed off (my Contacts sqlite db is empty, of course):
5. Contacts: used for Google account syncing (I use DOpen Contacts).

These disappeared:
6. Calendar: removed from GMS in Android 12+.

And yet, Samsung won't let me turn this one permission off:
14. Physical activity: Samsung will not let me turn this off.

These depend on your use model (IMHO) so I don't see them:
13. Activity recognition: fitness apps and driving detection.
15. Files and media: used for Google backup/restore.

Location note (based on my experience):
16. Turn Location OFF for Google Play Services.
Allow location only for apps actually used (e.g., Maps, OSMAnd~).

In summary, when my Google Play services jumped from the 23.x generation to
the 26.x generation, that specific jump replaced the entire
location-services subsystem, reset every Google-controlled privacy toggle,
& re-asserted every permission Google Play services is allowed to claim.

Interestingly, these stayed OFF because Samsung owns them, not Google:


a. Wi-Fi scanning
b. Bluetooth scanning
These are hardware-level radio controls.
Google Play services cannot override them
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2