The Unremovable Spy

Digital Wellbeing exemplifies the problem of unremovable system apps. "The digital wellbeing app is pretty much a unremovable spy. If you disable Google Play Service, the Wellbeing app (which cannot be disabled) will constantly complain that it won't work properly". This creates a no-win situation: either keep all Google services active and surrender your data, or disable some services but still have the monitoring app running in the background. In Pennsylvania and across the globe, smartphone users face a troubling reality. Pre-installed apps like Google's Digital Wellbeing cannot be removed from our devices, yet they continuously monitor our activities. This isn't just inconvenient, it's a fundamental violation of privacy that disproportionately affects those/ myself who are working on sensitive or innovative projects. Mental health and productivity apps are the worst offenders, gathering sensitive details without clear consent.

On android devices, especially Samsung and Google This is frustrating and I have concerns about my privacy. I am one working on sensitive projects. The pre-installed apps like, "Digital Wellbeing" violates my privacy and limit my control over devices I own. Google’s collect personal data even after users disabled tracking features or used “private” browsing modes, including collecting location and biometric data even when we thought tracking was off. Legal settlements prove that courts recognize these privacy concerns. "Illegally monitoring and gathering users, confidential information related to geolocation, private browsing, and biometric data," Google’s privacy disclosures collect data even when we take steps to prevent it, and courts are recognizing this as a serious privacy issue. My Recent research reveals the extent of this problem: up to 88.5% of iOS apps track private user data, while 74% of popular mobile apps collect more information than they need to function.