Researchers from Dublin’s Trinity College have analysed how Google Play Services tracks users, even before they log into their Google account.
The researchers suggest that:
- Advertising analytics cookies
- Tracking cookies
- The Google Android ID
- Analytics cookies used for A/B testing
- Multiple other cookies and identifiers which can uniquely identify the handset
are all processed and there is no way to provide consent or opt out.
Malwarebytes has a good write-up of the research and the results at https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/03/android-devices-track-you-before-you-even-sign-in.