How to change your Android smartphone settings to limit ads

Android’s new ad privacy settings allow you to control the kind of information the system uses in order to show you ads

The settings are part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Android recently rolled out more privacy options for users to better control their ad settings and the information used by the system in order to show them advertisements.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox, accessed via the ad settings on a smartphone, allows users to customise ad topics, app-suggested ads, and ad measurement - or turn them off completely.

These settings are in place to collect information about the user and their likes based on their app usage. There is also an option to block certain ad topics.

Screenshot of the Ad Privacy Settings on an Android smartphone | Photo Credit: Google Pixel 6

The beta version of the Privacy Sandbox was launched in February this year. The rollout has not been fully completed but more users are getting nudges from their Android system to explore their ad privacy settings.

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“To personalize your ad experience, Android notes your topics of interests based on the apps you use on your device. Once Android assigns you a topic, other apps may ask Android to share your topics to deliver a more personalized ad experience. You can also remove topics you don’t want to share with apps,” said Google’s Android Help page.

How to manage your Ad Privacy settings

Open your Android phone’s Settings

Search for ‘Ads’ under the ‘Privacy’ section

Navigate to ‘Ad Privacy’

Select how much information the ‘Ad topics,’ ‘App-suggested ads,’ and ‘Ad measurement’ sections should be able to access