Google explains why SafetyCore is "secretly" installed on your Android phones

A crazily viral post on X accuses Google of “secretly” installing an app called SafetyCore on your Android phones, and the Mountain View tech giant was quick to refute the rumors.

The original poster says that the app “can reportedly scan through your with over 1 billion downloads already.photo gallery and occupies 2GB of space” and it invades your privacy. At the time of the publication, the SafetyCore app on Google Play Store amassed 2.2 star rating from over 50k reviews,

In the comments, users were quick to say that they’re concerned by the app’s lack of transparency, as it doesn’t appear in the regular app menu and was installed without prior notification.

Google has then quickly put the rumor to bed. Replying to a repost by Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney, Google said that SafetyCore is a system service introduced in October 2024, designed to run entirely on-device.

And, according to Android Developers, it powers the upcoming Sensitive Content Warnings feature in Google Messages, which will help users filter potentially unwanted content while maintaining privacy.

The Mountain View tech giant has previously told The Hacker News that SafetyCore does not perform client-side scanning but enables AI-powered on-device content classification.

Critics have raised concerns over its silent installation and potential for misuse, but Google and GrapheneOS developers assert that SafetyCore operates locally and does not report classified content.

Similarly, Apple also uses Communication Safety in iMessage, which also makes the most out of on-device machine learning (ML) for content filtering.