Privacy Engineering in Android
summary
Researchers show motion sensors can reveal factory calibration to create a persistent device fingerprint that runs <1 second, no permission, via web or app; reproduced tests estimate 57 bits entropy, 97% chance unique among 100M devices. Mitigation re-quantizes sensor gains (applied to Android 11/12) and Android 12 caps sensor sampling (200 Hz via registerListener, ~50 Hz via direct channel) with a new high sampling rate sensors permission. Android 12 also adds mic/camera toggles, a Pixel-first 2G disable, a privacy dashboard, approximate location, app hibernation after 90 days, and an on-device Private Compute Core for ML.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction to Android privacy
- 1:48Evolution of mobile threats
- 3:35Device fingerprinting attack
- 11:08Sensor data misuse prevention
- 13:38Mic and camera toggle
- 15:522G toggle for security
- 18:00Privacy dashboard overview
- 18:43Location permission controls
- 19:48App hibernation feature
- 20:54Private compute core
- 22:17Android 12 privacy features
- 22:38Closing and Q&A
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14mOverview of the Privacy Sandbox on Android
08mBest practices for building privacy-friendly apps
45mLive Coding Session: How do you Build More Privacy Focused Apps?
37mHey, You, Get off My Private Data: Do Apps Respect Your Privacy as They Claim?
18mOverview of privacy changes in Android Q