It may sound strange, but many Google users are still unaware that they are constantly giving access to their account to all kinds of websites and companies. This happens almost inevitably when we have been downloading and using applications on our computer for some time. In this post we explain How to know which third-party applications have access to our Google account.
Our concerns about security and privacy seem to fade away when we sign up for an online service or subscribe to a website. Most of us don't read those long texts with the terms and conditions, we just click the "Accept" button and get on with our business. And that's how it all begins.
It is not a matter that we should take lightly, because Google account contains a lot of personal information of the user. This is an essential security issue that requires due attention.
Please take note of all the instructions we provide in the following paragraphs. With them, you will be able to review and control in an efficient and simple way which applications and services have access to your Google account. The goal is to make sure that only the applications that we really need continue to have access to it.
Find out which apps have access to your Google account
Fortunately, there is a very simple way to find out which third-party applications have access to our Google account. All you have to do is access Google Security Settings through these simple steps:
- First, we log in to our Google account (the most direct way is from account.google.com)
- Once inside the account, we go to the left side menu and select the option "Security".
There we look for the section “Your connections to third-party applications and services.” - Finally, we click on «See all connections», which displays a list of all the applications and websites that have full or partial access to our Google account.
If the list is very long, you can use the built-in search bar to locate a particular application. In any case, the purpose of this query is simply to get a rough idea of how many applications are accessing the information contained in our Google account. Surely more than we want.
How to limit access of third-party applications
Now that we know how to identify these applications, it is time to act. That is, review the details of each access (to our email, to Google Drive, to our contacts...) and, if necessary, revoke it.
To see what permissions each app has, just click on it. If you find an app that you forgot to install or that you no longer use, you can revoke access to your Google account by simply selecting it and clicking on the option «Remove access».
Some additional safety tips
To be more relaxed and know that only the applications that we want (and for important reasons) can access the information in our Google account, It doesn't hurt to take certain extra precautions. Here are some suggestions that can help us achieve this goal:
- Turn on XNUMX-Step Verification, a very simple action thanks to which we will be able to add an extra layer of security to your Google account. It can be easily activated from the "Security" section mentioned above.
- Review recent activities, in order to detect access to our account from other unidentified devices. To do this we have to go to the “Recent security activity” section, where we will find all the information.
- Check connected devicesThe idea is to control which devices have accessed our Google account. To do this, go back to “Security” and access the “Manage devices” option. If you find any suspicious devices, simply select them and press the “Log out” button.