Control third-party APPs that access your Google account

Sometimes we grant the access to our Google account to third-party applications that we subsequently find unreliable. We explain how to manage them to know the information they access and prevent it if necessary.

The access and integration of all kinds of applications with your Google account is common. Well for sign up or to sync up events of these APPs, we grant them access to our data so that they can make use of it. Generally this is beneficial and makes the registration or setup process much easier. Simply enter our username and password, give the application permission to access our account data, and voila.

List of applications with access

Third-party applications have nothing to do with Google, they are totally alien. They belong to companies or independent developers that are not part of the search engine. On the contrary, although they are foreign to the brand, they can integrate or synchronize information with our personal account to facilitate the operation of the former. For example, a task management application can request access to Google Calendar and the contact list so that it can assign appointments and meetings.

To watch the list of third-party applications who have access to our account we must do the following:

• We click on our profile picture (up to the right).
• We click on Manage your Google account.
• We go to the section Safety from the menu in the left sidebar.
• We go down until we find the section Third-party applications with access to the account, is located below the security notifications, recent activity and information regarding the devices and their accesses to the account. Here we will see a preview.
• Click on Manage third party access.

Within this section we will see several listings. Starting with the list of APPs that access our account, and following the list of websites that use the information from our Google account to automatically log in. This type of access only grants our name, email address and profile photo that we have uploaded. Another of the lists to which we will have access is that of the trusted apps that we have installed. In this case, Chrome would have access to all the information in our account.

Review the content they access

When we view the list of sites and APPs that access the account, we can click on any of them to see all the information in detail. In this specific case we are going to see the access information available to the Adobe Spark application, used for the design and creation of posters, posters and others. In the upper half of the tab we will see the list of sections that Adobe Spark has access to:

• Google Drive: in this case, Adobe Spark can connect to the Drive account to manage the saved files, creating and deleting as needed.
• Account information: access email address and all personal information labeled as public.
• Other accesses: Spark will be able to access my Google Photos gallery to upload the files to the application directly without leaving the application.
• In the lower area appears the application information: main web address, domain and date of the grant.

In another example for the Mac OS operating system, similar to the access granted to Windows, we can see other accesses to the account related to the synchronization of GMail and Calendar:

• GMail: permissions to receive, read and compose messages, as well as manage them.
• Google Calendar: allowed. A Mac OS access our calendar account to view, modify and delete events.
• Google Contacts: For the creation of events or meetings with people that we have in our agenda or to write emails, the Apple device has access to our contact list.

Remove access

Once we know the list of applications with access to our Google account, it is important to know how to manage them, or rather, to know how to remove access to our information. It may be that you have granted access to an application that you no longer trust due to its use of your personal data, or that a security hole or unwanted activity has been discovered. Regardless of the reason, this is the process to remove access to third-party applications:

• Access the administration menu from your account.
• Tap on Safety.
• Access the section Third-party apps that can access your account.
• Choose Manage third party access.
• Click on the APP you want to delete.
• Click on Withdraw access.

Report an APP

In cases where you have indications of fraudulent or illegal activities, or that the application violates user data policy or terms of service from an application to which you have given permission to access your data, you have the possibility to report it.

When you access the details of the information to which the application you want to report has access, you will find a link at the end of the list, click on Report this app for it. A form will appear to fill in with the following fields:

• Name and URL they will appear automatically filled in.
• Choose the reason of the complaint from the list.
• Explain how did you find out about the application or website.
• Define your worry related to the APP.
• You contact information it will be filled in automatically.
• Tap on Send.

Problems with third-party applications

The main problem we can face with an application that violates the rules of use is the dissemination of personal information. Creating a user database and then selling it to third parties is a succulent business. Another problem that we can find is that of poor management of the information to which they have access. Applications that have access to Google Calendar can mistakenly duplicate or delete events with the consequences that this could lead to.

In case of having problems accessing your personal account in an independent application, and because of the fact that it is, the appropriate thing is that you go to the technical support service of the same. Although you can first try to revoke access to the account to grant it again and see if the access problem is solved. When you detect problems or suspicious accesses from third-party applications, it is advisable to revoke access and change the password of the application itself. We must be aware that someone who accesses our profile on Mac OS, for example, will also have access to all our information in the Google account.

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