How did Google Play know my old device? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by eleutheros@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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For context: I recently switched to a Pixel 9, installed GrapheneOS and created a profile just for some apps I need Play Store for, which is sandboxed btw. I created a new empty google account for it too.

So I was just downloading an app and saw the option to download it on my old device too, which made me wonder how GP knows about it, since I don't think I have anything on my new phone that could link to it (except my SIM I guess)

Any ideas?

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[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 days ago

can you post your sources for this information? i would like to read some more on this ☞

Just for reference, this is what the Google Play services app transmits roughly every 20 minutes to Google if it has network access:

Phone #
SIM #
IMEI (world-wide unique device ID)
S/N of your device
WIFI MAC address
Android ID
Mail Address of your logged in Google account
IP address

it may help me convince some more people to degoogle their machines

[-] kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Sure.

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/doug.leith/apple_google.pdf
https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/Android_privacy_report.pdf ... and when you use for example Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei made mobile OSses, it's even worse of course, because then their own telemetry comes on top of that from Google as well. They want to have pieces of the cake too.
https://www.kuketz-blog.de/google-play-services-die-ueberwachungswanze-von-google/ (you might have to translate that page. That guy is a well-known privacy and data protection researcher, white hat hacker and also a data protection official in a federal state in Germany. He's very objective)

this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025

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