Google Announces New Android Security and Privacy Features to Protect Users from Scams and Attacks

Google showcased several new security and privacy features it will release later this year. The announcements were made during The Android Show: I/O Edition on Tuesday, and the company said the new features will protect users from scams, fraud, and theft on Android. The new protections range from security layers while a user is on a call, improved privacy measures while sharing a screen with a contact, and Factory Reset protections to ensure a device is not reset without the owner's authorisation.

New Security and Privacy Features in Android

In a press release, the Mountain View-based tech giant detailed new security and privacy features that are coming to Android users this year. One of the areas where the company has focused this year is phone scammers.

Based on research, the company has found that phone scammers often attempt to trick people into performing specific actions on their devices to initiate a scam. These could include changing default security settings or granting increased permissions to an app. “To combat phone scammers, we're working to block specific actions and warn you of these sophisticated attempts,” Google said.

Notably, these occur entirely on-device and only apply when a user has a phone conversation with a non-contact. Some of the measures include not letting users disable Google Play Protect, disabling the sideload of an app for the first time from a web browser, and not granting accessibility permissions to a newly downloaded app.

In addition, Android will also prompt users to end screen sharing once a call has ended. The device will also warn users if they are screen sharing while opening a banking app. If it detects screen sharing with a non-contact, the device will then warn the user about the potential risk of a scam, and give them the option to end the call and stop screen sharing with one tap.

AI-powered Scam Detection in Google Messages and Phone by Google was released earlier, and focused mainly on package delivery and job-seeking scams. The tech giant is now improving the tool so that it can protect users from a wider range of scams, including billing fee scams, crypto scams, financial impersonation scams, gift card scams, technical support scams, and more.

Key Verifier in Android
Photo Credit: Google

Google is also releasing a new tool dubbed Key Verifier. It allows the user and the person they're messaging to verify the identity of the other party using public encryption keys. These contact keys can be verified in the Google Contacts app. It will be coming later this year to Android 10 and newer devices.

With Android 16, Google is adding more security layers to Factory Reset protections. Additionally, users will also be granted more control over the Remote Lock feature with a new security challenge question, which is intended to prevent unauthorised actions.

Finally, Android 16 will also protect users from one-time password (OTP) theft. The operating system is adding a new feature that will not show an OTP on the phone's lock screen in “higher risk scenarios,” such as when a device is not connected to Wi-Fi and has not been recently unlocked.