A New Android Feature is Scanning Your Photos for 'Sensitive Content'
An Anonymous Coward writes:
Google didn't tell Android users much about Android System SafetyCore before it hit their phones, and people are unhappy. Fortunately, you're not stuck with it.
On Nov. 7, 2024, Google released a System update for Android 9 and later, which included a new service, Android System SafetyCore. Most of these patches were the usual security fixes, but SafetyCore was new and different. Google said in a developer note that the release was an "Android system component that provides privacy-preserving on-device user protection infrastructure for apps."
The update said nothing else. This information left ordinary users in the dark and, frankly, did little for programmers, either.
After the release, in a listing of new Google Messages security features, while not mentioning SafetyCore by name, Google described the service's functionality: "Sensitive Content Warnings is an optional feature that blurs images that may contain nudity before viewing and then prompts with a 'speed bump' that contains help-finding resources and options, including to view the content. When the feature is enabled, and an image that may contain nudity is about to be sent or forwarded, it also provides a speed bump to remind users of the risks of sending nude imagery and preventing accidental shares."
Google assured users in the note that: "Sensitive Content Warnings doesn't allow Google access to the contents of your images, nor does Google know that nudity may have been detected."
However, we now know SafetyCore does more than detect nude images. Its built-in machine-learning functionality can also target, detect, and filter images for sensitive content.
Google told ZDNET: "SafetyCore is a new Google system service for Android 9+ devices that provides the on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Users control SafetyCore, and SafetyCore only classifies specific content when an app requests it through an optionally enabled feature."
According to GrapheneOS, a security-oriented Android Open Source Project (AOSP)-based distro: "The app doesn't provide client-side scanning used to report things to Google or anyone else. It provides on-device machine-learning models that are usable by applications to classify content as spam, scams, malware, etc. This allows apps to check content locally without sharing it with a service and mark it with warnings for users."
[...] So, if you wish to uninstall or disable SafetyCore, take these steps:
Open Settings: Go to your device's Settings app
Access Apps: Tap on 'Apps' or 'Apps & Notifications'
Show System Apps: Select 'See all apps' and then tap on the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to choose 'Show system apps'
Locate SafetyCore: Scroll through the list or search for 'SafetyCore' to find the app
Uninstall or Disable: Tap on Android System SafetyCore, then select 'Uninstall' if available. If the uninstall option is grayed out, you may only be able to disable it
Manage Permissions: If you choose not to uninstall the service, you can also check and try to revoke any SafetyCore permissions, especially internet access
However, some have reported that SafetyCore reinstalled itself during system updates or through Google Play Services, even after uninstalling the service. If this happens, you'll need to uninstall SafetyCore again, which is annoying.
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