Many users have noticed that a strange application has moved discreetly on their Android smartphone without their knowledge. And they are naturally worried about its nature and role.
If you have an Android smartphone, it is very likely that a new application has recently settled on it. But in a very discreet way, without asking you your opinion. This is what many users have noticed lately, who have naturally worried, by launching internet alerts. It does not effect normal for an application to settle on its own: in general, it is a sign of a hacking or an infection by a virus.
Fortunately, this is not the case here. The application in question is SAFETYCORE – Android System SAFETYCORE of its full name. And it was Google who developed and installed it, without your knowledge, without informing you about its nature and its role. And you will not know more by trying to launch it; Because unlike traditional applications, it is impossible to open it to see what it looks like and what it does!
And if you are looking for the Internet or on the Google Play Store, the application shop, only teach you that it is “Android system component which provides user protection infrastructure on the device while preserving the confidentiality of applications“. A not very clear description which gives no information on its role.
In fact, SAFETYCORE is not an app in the usual sense of the term: it is a “system service”, a software component which is part of the Google Play Services and which works in the background, without user interface. It is automatically installed via system updates or the play store, without requiring user action. You cannot therefore see it elsewhere than in the list of installed applications.
SAFETYCORE therefore works invisiblely. And, as a service, it is at the service of other applications. Based on a local artificial intelligence system (therefore only on the smartphone), he is responsible for analyzing content that could be problematic when applications ask him. He can thus examine messages but also images to detect problematic content, such as malicious software, spam, scams or even violent or sexual photos.
And if he identifies questionable elements, he informs you by leaving you the possibility of consulting them. Thus, when he detects a sexual image (a nudefor example), it automatically blur it to give you the choice to see it or not. It is therefore a new security tool, intended in particular to protect minors.
But that also means that Google has access to all your images, including those sent between consenting adults … The company may say that Safetycore works entirely locally and that no information is exchanged with the external servers of the company, many users do not appreciate this intrusion at all. Especially since they have no choice!
Discovery is all the greater since Google has not communicated on the installation of the application on Android smartphones. Users have the impression that the manipulation has been carried out on their backs, in their backs, especially since SafetyCore has no icon and does not appear in the classic list of applications in progress. To find it, you have to search in Settings> Applications> All applications. Neither seen, nor known!
It is certainly possible to uninstall the application. Be careful however, it would seem that Safetycore is reinstalling automatically after an update of the system or via the Google Play services. It is up to you to repeat the operation each time. Security or confidentiality, everyone will choose.