Skip to main content

How To Know If A Third Party App Is Reading Your Gmail Inbox? How To Disable Gmail Access?

Last year, Google was criticised for accessing users’ inbox to show them relevant ads. In the time that followed, the search giant stopped its practices, but the ability for third-party apps to look into people’s Gmail inbox remained intact.
Recent reports have suggested that not just the computers and apps, even third-party developers are able to read people’s emails. And the practice doesn’t happen without the explicit consent of the users which doesn’t explicitly mention that the data accessed would be viewed by human eyes.
Google has also clarified that Gmail access to third party apps isn’t given without them being subjected to a thorough vetting process.
Anyway, there may or may not be some evil mind trying to access your Gmail. But taking an extra step towards your privacy and security is a must. You can find out what apps can look into your Gmail inbox.

How to check and disable apps from accessing your Gmail account?

Every setting associated to your Google account can be managed by visiting the My Account page. There you can find what third-party apps are connected to your Google account and what kind of data they’ve access to.
Follow the steps mentioned below:
  1. Sign-in to your Google account and go to the My Account page.
  2. Under Sign-in & security, click on Apps with account access.
    Disable Gmail Access Third Party Apps 1
  3. On the page, click on Manage Apps.
    Disable Gmail Access Third Party Apps 2
  4. Now, a list of all the apps (Google and non-Google) having access to your account is displayed. The level of permissions they’ve have is also shown.
  5. You can click on any app name to expand it and view what it can do with the permissions and when it was granted.
  6. Next, click on Remove Access to revoke all the permissions given to the particular app.
    Disable Gmail Access Third Party Apps 3
So, this way you can disable Gmail access for third-party apps. But you should also keep in mind that pulling the permissions may affect the normal operation of some apps that require Google services to work. For instance, if you’re using a Calendar app with your Google account, it should have read and write permission to edit your Google calendar.

“Has full access to your Google account” – What does it mean?

Out of the many apps connected to your account, some can only read basic information or access a couple of services. On the other hand, some have complete access to your Google account.
With full access, it can view and modify almost all of the information in your Google account. Still, there are few essential things it can’t do. For instance, it can’t change your password, delete your Google account, or make Google Pay transactions.
Mostly Google-made apps have full access to your account, but it could be given to third-party apps as well. However, if you don’t trust or recognize an app with full account access, you should remove access immediately.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Microsoft To Update Windows ‘Notepad App’ After Years, Teases New Features

E very week or the other, Microsoft releases a new build for the fast ring insiders. The latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17713 bring a pack of surprises for Windows users. Redmond always listens to users, and this time, they have heard to Notepad users who were fed up with the uninteresting interface. Microsoft is giving its text editor Notepad new features after a very long time. Yes, the very same app that people use to write random text, create batch files and HTML pages, etc. Among the new Notepad features being added to Windows, you would be able to zoom into text by using the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key. A long requested feature is coming for users; Microsoft is adding ctrl+backspace support to delete a previous word. Other than these, you will now have the ability to wrap around find and replace. Also, the status bar is now enabled by default in Notepad. There are few performance improvements for large...

Google starts rolling out ‘Call Screen’ feature for Pixel smartphones

San Francisco, Dec 2 (IANS) Google has started rolling out a feature for its Pixel smartphones that lets users make use of the Google Assistant to see who is calling and why before they answer a call. The feature allows users to see a real-time transcript of how the caller responds so that they can then decide whether to pick up, respond by tapping a quick reply (for example, “I’ll call you back later”), or mark the call as spam and dismiss. “Call Screen is only available to English speakers in the United States who have Pixel 2, 2 XL, 3, or 3XL devices. If you don’t see Call Screen in the Phone app’s settings, it’s not available yet,” Google said. Call Screen, which can help users save the time spent on picking up unimportant calls from unknown numbers, does not use Wi-Fi or mobile data of the user. This feature does not work with third-party call recording and screen recording apps as these apps may interfere with how the feature works. It is better to turn off these app...

Facebook Fined £500,000 for Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal

Facebook has finally been slapped with its first fine of £500,000 for allowing political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica to improperly gather and misuse data of 87 million users. The fine has been imposed by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office ( ICO ) and was calculated using the UK's old Data Protection Act 1998 which can levy a maximum penalty of £500,000 — ironically that’s equals to the amount Facebook earns every 18 minutes. The news does not come as a surprise as the U.K.'s data privacy watchdog already notified the social network giant in July this year that the commission was intended to issue the maximum fine. For those unaware, Facebook has been under scrutiny since earlier this year when it was revealed that the personal data of 87 million users was improperly gathered and misused by political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, who reportedly helped Donald Trump win the US presidency in 2016. The ICO, who launched an investigatio...