What you need to know
- Recent leaks regarding a previously rumored Advanced Protection feature surface again, showing Google's work toward "Intrusion Logging."
- This feature, within Google's code, states that users can enable it and will be can be connected to a "trusted" expert if suspicious activity is found with their device.
- Google recently rolled out Android 16 QPR3 Beta 2 to enrolled Pixel users, providing an extensive list of fixes for crashes, notifications, and more.
There's an Android protection feature that's been in the works for a while now, and a new report seems to have discovered the fruits of Google's labor.
A recent Google Play Service version reportedly held clues about "Intrusion Logging," by tipster AssembleDebug and Android Authority. This feature appears to be the evolution of another intrusion tool that was reported early last year. The post states this feature will likely find a home in Android's Advanced Protections settings with a description that reads, "Preserves encrypted logs of some device activity in case of a security issue."
This is toggleable. If, when this arrives, users don't want to have this enabled, they're not forced to. However, after surfacing the feature early, the tipster's findings show that Google will connect users to a "trusted expert" if they need help after noticing suspicious digital movement.
These activity logs can only be accessed by using your Google account and lock screen credentials. According to a screenshot, what these logs will contain is reportedly "device connections, app installs, the last time your phone screen was unlocked, 'some' browsing history, and other data."
Seeing as these logs are incredibly important (and potentially sensitive), Google's code suggests it will house this for 12 months on its Cloud servers. However, there's a crucial note: these logs cannot be deleted manually. They will be removed from Google's Cloud servers on their own in 12 months.
Heightened Defenses
There seems to be a little bit of a name change here. When this feature was first rumored, it was called "Intrusion Detection." Moreover, the feature was originally speculated to debut alongside Android 16 last year, but that never came to pass. Instead, those early rumors claimed Intrusion Detection would alert users to any suspicious activity regarding their device.
These encrypted logs about activity, which we've seen the tipster highlight today, were mentioned last year, too.
Strangely, the rumors then stated those logs would be placed in Google Drive (encrypted, still). The rumors seem to have changed, as the company might've opted to house them differently.
While it appears as though Intrusion Logging is mostly fleshed out, there's still no telling when it could roll out. There's hope that it's soon, though, as Google just debuted Android 16 QPR3 Beta 2 this week. The update had an extensive list of fixes for enrolled Pixel phones for crashes, notification issues, and more. Perhaps we'll see Intrusion Logging appear with the next Android 16 QPR release.
