Samsung How to Set up Security & Privacy Settings

"Apps from unknown sources" are apps that are not from the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store, meaning that if the app is downloaded as an .apk file from a website, it cannot be installed on the Samsung device by default.

Before Android 9, there was a general option to allow or block apps from unknown sources. Now, under One UI, every single app must be allowed to install apps from unknown sources.

With "Find My Mobile", Samsung offers a location wizard like Google "Find My Device", which is also present on the Samsung device and enabled by default.

Find My Mobile offers remote access (remote control) in addition to locating the Samsung device, and the phone can also be unlocked if the unlock method has been forgotten.

"Find My Mobile" is enabled by default on the Samsung device, but can also be disabled.

Google Play Protect is enabled by default on the Samsung device and periodically checks the device and apps for malicious behavior. If an anomaly is detected, a notification is sent with the affected app. Installed apps that are known to be malicious are also automatically disabled or even uninstalled.

If Google Play Protect is not desired on the Samsung device, the feature can be disabled, but this is not recommended.

When entering a password, the entered character is displayed briefly before it is converted into an asterisk *. This allows you to check the input, but others can read the password as well. On Samsung devices, the input can also be switched off completely, so that no more input is visible.

In some cases, apps need to be added as device administrators in order to get extensive rights on the Samsung device, such as security apps (Anti-Virus, Malware, Find My Device...) or management apps (Child Account...).

A device administrator is given rights such as deleting all data, changing the display lock, locking the screen or even partially deactivating the display lock.

Note: Since the app is given the permission to change the display lock or delete all data, not every app should be declared "blind" as administrator.

When you create a new Google Account, all activity settings are already enabled, and Google collects the following activities on your Samsung device, among others:

• Web & App activities
• Site history
• YouTube history
• Personalized advertising

The amount of data that is sent to Google and assigned to the account is enormous, but if this is not desired, the activity can be deactivated or the recording paused.

The location history saves all the places visited with the Samsung device, but not only the route can be tracked, but also the time and the means of transport used.

The advantage of Google Location Tracking is said to be that personalised maps, recommendations or routers can be created based on the visited places.

Location history can be enabled or disabled in the account settings and is synchronized with all devices associated with the same account.

To help convert advertising more effectively, advertising networks create a unique Advertising ID that can be used to create personalized ads based on web pages visited and other meta-data.

By default, Google shares the Advertising ID with publishers - apps and services - to display personalized advertising, and while we cannot prevent the collection of data in this regard, we can decide whether or not to share the Advertising ID with partners (apps/services).

Note: This setting does not enable or disable advertising, but only turns off personalized advertising.

The Advertising ID allows advertising networks, in this case Google, to display personalized advertising in apps and services, and on the Samsung device we have the ability to reset the Advertising ID.

Samsung needs help improving products such as their smartphones or apps. the Samsung device comes with diagnostic software that stores usage behavior and generates error reports. if the "send diagnostic data" function is activated, this all happens in the background, just like sending data to Samsung.