Android offering privacy by profiling and sharing app ussage info?

Yeah, so, Google already has this data about you. What they're doing here is trying to reduce the specificity of information given to advertisers about your behaviors, and simultaneously give you the ability to never inform specific third parties about your interest in the specific topics you choose

I see this as a good thing. They were literally already getting and using all of this data. In that case I'd much rather have some control over who knows which things about me, rather than leaving it entirely up to Google

It's not a good thing. It's performative and designed to trick people into thinking that Google cares about their privacy and overlook the fact that Google are using their browser/search monopoly to extend their control over the advertising industry.
- IMO Google is like Joe Biden. Not good, but infinitely better than the shit show that is the alternative (in the context of advertisers specifically)
- +1
Yes google has this information - because we logged in and gave it to them - now they need our permission to wall it off from other businesses, thus creating THE revenue stream of the internet.

So, if you’ll just click this little button here.

This little one. Right there.
It also helps Google form more of a monopoly on your info, since it keeps companies like Facebook from forming as accurate of a profile on you.
- It's weird that we've arrived at "Don't let Google have a monopoly on personally identifying you for advertising purposes!"
It's a good thing for Google. Who now controls all the data.

It's good for consumers, if you trust Google and enjoy them having an effective Monopoly on ads
For the non tech person choosing to be as private as possible, can you just turn it off and it not collect anything? Sorry for the naive question. I honestly do not know the answer.
- Arguably more stuff is going to be collected and sent to more people if it's turned off. But it will be in a more piecemeal though likely more personally identifiable way. At least that's what Google would definitely argue
  
  I genuinely don't know if the counterfactual is worse than the actual here. Either way bad.

Any App that shows any ads gets deleted right on the spot. Simple as that.

Eh, I don't care about apps that are just utilities I use every once in a while, but I've set up my network to be unprofitable for any advertiser.
- How did you do that?
When I started using NextDNS, I changed my mind about that. It’s a bit like having a pi-hole with you even when you’re not on your home network.
- There's probably a FOSS app that does the same thing without ads and tracking

"Privacy."

They keep using this word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

I'm damn sure our definitions of this word are not aligned

I might have misunderstood this but Android really trying to push this as tracking as a privacy upgrade

~~Android~~ Google

This may also be known as privacy washing, but as another comment said, this way might be better than just not getting this choice at all

Oh fun, it's that garbage from Chrome now in Android

The ads I get are frequently in a language I dont speak. Thats how you know they can't track you.

Well... I don't use any apps that show ads. I'd rather not use my phone at all. And if Android adds more tracking itself it may be time to give Graphene a shot.

No ads doesn't mean no data collecting
- No, but it does mean no ads. (That’s good.)

"Please just let me track you one last time baby"

I promise it’ll be forever, this time.

Dont use Google Android

I mean, yeah. Use Android AOSP without Google.
- AOSP is not a usable product and it is full of Google stuff. GrapheneOS and LineageOS (and derivates) make it usable.
  
  GrapheneOS was the first at complete degoogling, others followed, but still have no secure solution for apps needing Google Play. MicroG is proprietary Google code, ran unsandboxed and still unreliable and less secure.
  
  So GrapheneOS really is the only usable OS right now, it is FOSS (even in the BSD way that companies could make their proprietary fork) and other projects should base on it and weaken its security to make it run on existing other phones. This is still better than alternatives, but it is a hell of maintenance as all that security causes infinitely more bugs than just using AOSP (which is rock solid) and adding some apps lol.
  
  Please donate to GrapheneOS, the project is not yet fully sustainable and they are doing incredible work.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wish but switching to Apple would be just as bad and I would want to die being forced to use their fisher price software for the tech illiterate.

Soon though, in the next 5 years I think Linux phones (I know Android is Linux, you know what I mean) will be in a good state. So hopefully I can switch soonish
- Google and SOC vendors are trying their best to stop developing of Linux phones. That's why available Linux phones use 10 year old chipsets.
- I am waiting for the same thing. The amount of shit you have to disable, block, or unistall on android is getting ridiculous. It's getting really old.
  
  Most of the new "features" that either apple or google add anymore are absolute trash. I am constantly having to go through the settings and disable shit.
  
  The stock android is so full of non-romovable crap that a launcher is required anymore.
  
  It's the same for windows, win11 is only usable with a launcher like startallback.
- I dont think they're saying to use Apple. I read that as "Use Android without Google" ... Which is actually easier than using Android with Google if you install the OS yourself.
- There's Always graphene or calyx...
Fuck banking institutions & their apps. We are seeing them eliminate online banking now & cash is slowly not being accepted by vendors & in-person experiences are worse—instead everything is siloed to only Android or iOS & disallow any sort of modifications to your device with all these attestation assertions. If a user wanted to ditch their phone, go Linux, use an unGoogled phone, or get a dumbphone, etc. they will be disconnected from the banking network—to which most users would view as an immediate nonstarter. Apple is just a different data-collecting advertising business.
- The browser login of my bank needs a separate application that's windows only or an app. The Java(!) application Jameica saved my ass for the 6 years I'm on Linux now. It can manage multiple accounts. It offers statistics, saves all the transfers, deposits and balances ad infinitum on your disk, is searchable and has templates and schedules for transfers.
  
  The protocol my bank uses is FinTS, I think. I'm logging in via a certificate file and a password.
  
  I don't want to use an app, cause I trust my cutting edge Linux (Kernel 6.7.6) a lot more than my possibly malicious app riddled outdated android.
- In many places its illegal to not accept cash. Report any businesses and if its legal in your area, donate to your local privacy lobbiest NGO and contact your representative.
- In what country does that exist? No onlinebanking and no cash sounds illegal.
Apple is terrible right to repair, and lineage has a bunch of weird bugs, so I'm kinda stuck with it
- Which bugs have you found in LineageOS? There's quite a big community behind it, so maybe you can find some help. There are also other LineageOS-based ROMs worth checking: CalyxOS, DivestOS, iodéOS, /e/OS.
- GrapheneOS is the only good Option. Calyx and /e/ are both just LineageOS forks with incomplete or even insecure additions
Return to Nokia 3310 then I guess
- DeGoogle your Android ROM/use a custom ROM. What exactly was so hard to understand in that comment that made you want to switch to a feature-phone?
- Probably wouldent work on modern cell networks.
is ios the only alternative?
- Or other Android ROMS that help distance you from Google, like GrapheneOS or LineageOS.
- ios is not really privacy friendly. It's more the result of an amazing PR campaign. That plus the fact that Apple wasn't really in the ad game but now it is slowly changing. In reality you are giving your data to Apple. You will say, yeah but Apple is ok, of course they are because they have great marketing. Google doesn't and Google = privacy nightmare, which is also true.
- Its funny that I was forced to buy a google pixel just to avoid google. Wish more companies here allow people to unlock bootloader on the mobile they own.
- No, just use Android without Google. Actually if you install Android yourself, it doesn't include Google by default.
- No

well it's an improvement...
basically the tracking is still there but runs locally on your phone, so google only knows this

someone with ip 1.2.3.4 is interested in sports, cats and videogames and is looking to purchase a new monitor

(and the info is sent with every ad request, statelessly) google promises they won't associate these requests with ip addresses, but I won't trust them.

instead of a full log like:

user x with tracking id 12345 visited catworld.com at 10:34:56 PM and stayed there for 35 seconds
user x with tracking id 12345 made a purchase on website shoptech.com and was scrolling through the monitors page for 10 minutes.

it's still tracking but it sucks less i guess...
and making it a default is probably a great move

(I'd rather opt out of any form of tracking tho)

And since only Google knows it strengthens their data monopoly even further, as if it wasn't bad enough already.
- I'm split on this concept. Assuming we can't get away from tracking I would prefer a company like Google over a company like Meta. Google doesn't sell your data, they just serve ads based on what data they have. Meta and other data brokers will sell your data to whoever ponies up the cash. I'm not happy about being tracked either way. I just recognize one system is considerably worse than the other. Also, if (and this is a big if) Google honors your request to delete your data then I believe it would be even less of a concern. Right now I have my Google data set to auto delete after three months. Ideally that would be enough data to help with traffic suggestions etc while serving up relevant ads but not enough to build an invasive profile. Realisticly we need more laws outlining how our data can be used and ensuring that it's not retained in ANY form after a set period of time or when it's deletion is requested.
.. checks to see if catworld.com is real.
- Come on down to catwarehouse.com

Smartphones are Spyware and Data harvest devices by definition, all of them. I get goosebumps every time when I see people using their cell phones to payfor banking, discount apps from supermarkets, saving sensitive data in these gadgets. Almost all cases of large data leaks of sensitive data in the past are due to this, the unconscious use of these devices. They are surveillance devices of large companies for commercial purposes.

That they now offer you as privacy feature to choose who they are going to sell your data to, is more than ironic, they piss on your face and say that it is raining and people believe it.

Although you can turn off the ads they can still track & harvest your data in all directions because it's google

I do my best to set things up so that I don't see any ads (running DNS66 for example). But if I had to see ads, I'd prefer them to be irrelevant. That way they're easier to ignore. I don't need to do any favors for the corporate giants trying to milk me for every penny.

Google offering privacy by profiling and sharing app usage info

There, I fixed it for you

Mate just install graphene OS or Lineage OS if you care about privacy.