These 3 Google Pixel features are saving more personal info than you realize

Published Sep 28, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Joe Fedewa has been writing about technology for over a decade. Android and the rest of the Google ecosystem have been a focus for years, as well as reviewing devices, hosting podcasts, filming videos, and writing tutorials. Joe loves all things technology and is also an avid DIYer and food blogger. He has written thousands of articles, hundreds of tutorials, and dozens of reviews. Before joining How-To Geek, Joe worked at XDA-Developers as Managing Editor and covered news from the Google ecosystem. He got his start in the industry covering Windows Phone on a small blog, and later moved to Phandroid where he covered Android news, reviewed devices, wrote tutorials, created YouTube videos, and hosted a podcast. From smartphones to Bluetooth earbuds to Z-Wave switches, Joe is interested in all kinds of technology. After several years of jailbreaking and heavily modifying an iPod Touch, he moved on to his first smartphone, the HTC DROID Eris. He's been hooked ever since. You probably won't find many people who chose a Pixel phone for privacy reasons. Reputation aside, Pixel phones actually do have some great privacy features. However, you have to take the good with the bad. The truth is, most of the privacy concerns that people have about Pixel phones can be applied to most Android devices. That doesn't give Google a pass, though. There are a few Pixel features that are probably saving or exposing more personal info than you realize. Usage & diagnostics A vague, automatic opt-in I'll start with "Usage & diagnostics" — something most people have probably never seen. It's tucked away three levels deep in the Settings, and enabled by default. Most importantly, there's no real benefit to you to keep it turned on. It's only serving Google. So what does it do? "Usage & diagnostics" is a catch-all for a bunch of different performance metrics that get sent to Google. Things like the rate at which the battery drains, CPU usage, device temperature, app crashes, opening speed, Wi-Fi and cellular signal drops, and which features are being used. Essentially, this is how Google keeps an eye on how your Pixel phone is running. The information can be used to address issues in software updates and make changes in subsequent models. When Google mentions that it removed a feature due to "low user engagement," Usage & diagnostics is how it knew. Google states that it does not send personal content such as text messages, photos, web searches, or GPS location. However, that's Google's definition of "personal." You may feel differently about the long list of information listed above. You can turn off this data collection at any time by going to Settings > Security & privacy > More security & privacy > Usage & diagnostics. Call Screen Useful, but not innocent "Call Screen" has been around for a while, and it's genuinely one of the best Pixel-exclusive features. It allows you to hand off a call to the device assistant and watch the conversation happen in real time over text transcription. You can take over at any time. Now, the processing that happens during the live call is handled locally on the phone, but Google does store some information. The call transcript and audio are saved to the Phone app so you can access them later on. Of course, that means anyone who can get into your phone can access it, too. To stop your phone from saving audio clips during Call Screen, open the Phone app and go to Settings > Call Screen > Save Call Screen audio. Recorder Convenience comes at a price A great Pixel app that not many people talk about is "Recorder." It may seem like just another boring voice note app, but there are powerful features baked in. That includes voice transcription, noise reduction, labels for multiple speakers, AI summaries, and cloud backup. It's those last two features that are a double-edged sword. AI summaries can be handy for long recordings, but if you manually force a re-transcription, it may get processed on Google's servers temporarily. Cloud backups mean you can access your recordings anywhere from recorder.google.com, but so can anyone who gets into your Google account — they don't even need your phone. The good news for AI Summaries is you can simply not use the feature — it's not something that happens automatically. For cloud backups, you can go into the Recorder settings and turn off "Back up & sync." Personal data collection is not inherently bad It can sound scary when you find out your phone or an app is saving personal information. However, you shouldn't automatically worry that the phone maker is doing something nefarious with this data. Sometimes, it's more about limiting your exposure. That's what Call Screen and Recorder are all about. The contents of a normal phone call can't be found anywhere on your phone after it ends, but Call Screen saves a transcript to view later on. Personal recordings that are stored locally can only be accessed if someone hacks your phone, but Recorder expands the scope to your Google account. At the end of the day, it's all about your comfort level and deciding when the convenience no longer outweighs the privacy trade-offs.