Google account on phone - why so complicated ?

Monanore

To use play store you must have your Google account 'added' to your phone.  Going into play store then gives access to your Google personal details.  If you don't want these accessible to anyone holding the phone you would need to remove the account and then add it again when needing play store - a complicated business. 

Why can there not be a simple login/logout for Google when required ?

It seems strange that Google, paranoid about security, leave your details exposed like this, effectively protected only by your phone password.

Or am I mistaken ?

ButterCheese

Because it's Google.  I'm pretty sure the Apple environment works on the same principle.  Every time you use a "free" service, it is not actually free, it is costing you your details which they sell on to "approved" 3rd party partners.  All the google stuff is available for free and it's actually pretty good.  The least you can expect is that your details will be used for marketing purposes.

If they made an easy "sign-out" option then laods of people would remain signed out and they'd lose captive audience.

If you are worried about your data, I'd advise subscribing to something like Incogni or DeleteMe.  Data brokers are legally obliged to make it possible to remove your details from their lists, but they make it very difficult.  Using one of the above does it for you, but it costs money per month.

flaneurs_lobster

To be clear, you want to have an Android phone where for everyday use you don't want to access your 'main'  Google account. So no access to Gmail, Calendar, Drive or other personal stuff?

Do what I do with a spare car phone, set up a new Google account just for this phone. The Google account isn't used anywhere apart from this one handset. No personal information needed, if it requires names, DoBs etc then make stuff up.

SiliconChip

Monanore said:

If you don't want these accessible to anyone holding the phone...

Don't let anyone else hold your phone if you're concerned that they're going to delve deeply enough to find your personal details seems the obvious solution.

PHK

You are over complicating things. 

You add your Google account to the phone and then use fingerprint/ face and or password to control access to it. You can even add a SIM PIN to allow access to the SIM. 

And if someone did get hold of your phone while it was unlocked then you can set it to demand the password before lurching anything or changing account settings v

Monanore

@ballyblack

Good idea! But would that be alright if you needed to pay for an app in playstore ?

flaneurs_lobster

Monanore said:

@ballyblack

Good idea! But would that be alright if you needed to pay for an app in playstore ?

Buy Google Play gift cards (virtual or physical) - the credit is added to the account by entering a code. No need for details.

Vitor

Drop by myaccount.google.com to adjust privacy options, including what personal data Google saves and how it’s used.

Protect your personal data against theft - Android Help

molerat

SiliconChip said:

Monanore said:

If you don't want these accessible to anyone holding the phone...

Don't let anyone else hold your phone if you're concerned that they're going to delve deeply enough to find your personal details seems the obvious solution.

This.  Do you let someone else hold your wallet ?