You may not know it, but your Android phone could be analyzing your photos without you even having it enabled. A feature called SafetyCore arrived with a recent update and has raised many questions about privacy and control. Here, I’ll tell you exactly what it does, how it affects your gallery, and, most importantly, how you can disable it.
Until recently, I also had no idea that something called Android System SafetyCore existed. But it’s there, on millions of phones running Android 9 or higher. No one asked us if we wanted to install it. And the worst part: it doesn’t even appear as a visible app. You have to dig through settings to find it.
What is SafetyCore, and why should you pay attention to it?
SafetyCore is an Android system feature that analyzes images stored on your phone to detect “sensitive content,” such as nudity. Google says it does this locally, without sending the data to its servers, and that all of this is designed to protect users, especially when sending images through apps like Google Messages.
But there are several things that don’t add up. For starters, Google never clearly warned users that this was being installed. No warning, no confirmation screen, nothing. It just appeared after a system update. And although they promise it’s optional and won’t access your photos directly, the scan happens automatically in the background.
The most striking thing is that the tool doesn’t have an icon or appear among your apps, so if you don’t know where to look for it, you won’t even realize you have it activated. And of course, that creates a rather unsettling feeling: what else could it be doing without us noticing?
How to locate and disable Android SafetyCore step by step
If, like me, you prefer to be in control of what your phone does, here’s how to find and disable this feature:
- Open the Settings on your Android phone.
- Tap “Apps” or “Apps & notifications.”
- Go to “See all apps” and then tap the three-dot menu (top right).
- Activate “Show system processes”.
- Look for an app called “Android System SafetyCore”.
- If it appears, you can try clicking “Uninstall” or “Disable .” On some models, it will only let you disable it.
- You can also review permissions and remove internet access or any other sensitive features.
Important: Some users have reported that SafetyCore automatically reinstalls after certain system or Google Play Services updates. If it reappears, you’ll need to repeat the process. As you can see, it’s not always easy to permanently uninstall these types of apps.
Is it useful, or is it a problem for our privacy?
This is where the real debate comes in. On the one hand, the idea of blurring sensitive images before sending or receiving them may seem like a good protective measure. But on the other hand, installing such a feature without informing or asking for permission completely goes against the trust we should have in our operating system.
And as much as Google insists everything is done locally and privately, the opacity of the process makes many people disbelieve. If there’s really nothing to hide, why do it quietly? There are always vulnerabilities, and the information we have on the device, as well as the stored content, could end up in the wrong hands.
Apple has something similar with its Communication Safety feature, but at least it warns you and lets you decide if you want to activate it. In this case, Google didn’t give us that option.
So, once again, we’re looking at a tool that, on paper, improves privacy, but it can pose a problem. At the very least, it can raise questions. The debate is on, and there are surely users who prefer not to have this type of app installed on their device.
