How to completely disable Google surveillance on Xiaomi smartphones: 7 proven ways

Xiaomi Android-powered smartphones collect user data not only through its own MIUI services, but also through Google’s built-in tools. Even if you turn off personalized ads in your account settings, the system continues to transmit location, search history, activity in apps and device technical parameters. According to a study by Douglas Leith (Trinity College Dublin), an Android smartphone sends 20 times more data to Google than an iPhone — Apple, and part of the transfer occurs even when you sleep.

The problem is compounded at Xiaomi by the duplication of collection mechanisms: in addition to Google Play Services and Google Mobile Services (GMS), the MIUI shell collects data through msa (Miui System Ads) and analytics. However, Google remains the main beneficiary — its services are sewn at the Android kernel level and cannot be removed by standard means. In this article, we will discuss all the working methods for disabling Google surveillance on Xiaomi in 2026, including radical solutions for advanced users.

1. Basic privacy settings in MIUI

Start by turning off the most obvious data collection channels, and even these simple steps reduce the amount of information you transmit by 30 to 40 percent, all of which are available without root rights and require no technical knowledge.

Go to Settings → Google → Manage your Google Account (or open the Google app and tap the avatar in the upper right corner).

• 📍 Location history – disables the record of your movements and places visited, not to be confused with Geodana devices (this is a separate setting!).
• 🔍 Activity in web search and applications – stops logging search queries, pages viewed and actions in the search engine Gmail/YouTube.
• 📱 Advertising → Disable Ad Personalization – Blocks targeting your interests (but doesn’t stop data collection!).
• 📊 Devices → Settings of the device → Turn off Send usage data and diagnostics.

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Once you disable Location History, delete your existing data: go to the section and click History Management → Delete the entire period. Google stores this data for up to 18 months by default.

Go back to the basic MIUI settings and check:

• 🛡️ Confidentiality → Special permits → Access Location – Disable geodata for unnecessary apps (especially Google Play Services and Google App).
• 📴 Annexes → Application management → Google Play Services → Permissions – deny access to contacts, camera, microphone.

⚠️ Note: Disabling Google Play Services may disrupt some applications (such as bank or card) before making changes, check for critical services' dependence on the services they use. GMS.

2. Removing unnecessary Google apps

Many Google services can be removed or disabled without losing functionality, some of which (Google Play Music, Google Duo) duplicate MIUI features, others (Google One, Google Subscriptions) are not needed at all by most users.

List of safe applications (without root):

How to delete:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select an unneeded app (like Google One).
3. Press Remove (if the button is inactive – tap Disable).
4. Confirm action. Some system applications can only be disabled, not removed.

Check the dependencies of other programs

Create a backup copy of the data

Disable Auto Update in Play Market

Delete the app cache-->

⚠️ Warning: Don't remove Google Play Services, Google Services Framework, and Google Play Store without root permissions! This will cause the system to crash. Instead, turn off background activity in their battery settings.

3.Blocking Google Background Activity

Google Play Services and other system components continue to work in the background, even if you're not actively using them, sending data about location, network activity and technical parameters of the device, to limit their impact:

Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management and:

• 🔋 Find Google Play Services in the list and select Limit Background Activity.
• 📵 For Google App (Search App), install Manual Control and disable AutoRun.
• 🛑 In the section of the Annex → Google Play Services → Disable Background data (this will block the transfer of information when the screen is turned off).

Additionally, you can use the built-in MIUI Firewall (available on global firmware):

1. Open Settings → Connections and Sharing → Firewall.
2. Turn on the firewall and blacklist Google Play Services and Google App.
3. Choose to Disable Background Traffic for these apps.

Searching for Google

YouTube

Google Maps

Gmail

Google Drive

Other/not using-->

These measures will not shut down surveillance entirely, but will significantly reduce the amount of data transmitted, and more radical methods will be needed to completely block it (see the following sections).

4.Use of alternative DNS and VPN

Even after you turn off Google services, your traffic can be analyzed through the DNS-request IP-So you can avoid that:

Step 1: Change your DNS to private servers:

1. Go to Settings → Connections and Sharing → Private DNS.
2. Select the host name of the private DNS provider.
3. Enter one of the addresses: dns.google — DNS Google (not blocking surveillance, but encrypting traffic) 1dot1dot1dot1.cloudflare-dns.com — Cloudflare (blocks malicious websites) dns.quad9.net — Quad9 (filters phishing and spy domains)

Step 2: Set up a VPN with tracker locking:

• 🔒 ProtonVPN – free tariff with ad blocking and trackers.
• 🛡️ AdGuard VPN — Specializes in blocking analytics Google/Facebook.
• 🌍 Windscribe – allows you to create your own rules for blocking domains.

Important: Some VPN-Apps collect data themselves. Use only trusted services with a no-log policy (e.g., ProtonVPN or ProtonVPN). IVPN).

5. Installation of custom firmware without GMS

The most radical way to get rid of Google’s surveillance is to install firmware without Google Mobile Services (GMS), which requires unlocking the bootloader and can void the warranty, but gives you full control of the device.

Firmware options without GMS:

• 📱 LineageOS is the most popular custom open source firmware. supports most Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro, Poco). X3).
• 🔒 GrapheneOS is a firmware with a focus on privacy (designed for Pixel, but there are ports for some Xiaomis).
• 🌐 CalyxOS – includes a built-in firewall and tracker blocker.
• 📲 MIUI without GMS — modified versions of the official firmware (for example, MIUI EU with Google services disabled).

Step-by-step (as in LineageOS):

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool (requires a binding Mi Account and wait 7-14 days).
2. Install TWRP Recovery for your model (instructions on twrp.me).
3. Download the firmware LineageOS (for example, for Redmi Note 9 Pro – joyeuse) from the official website.
4. Download to TWRP (Power + Vol Up buttons) and run Wipe → Format Data.
5. Install the firmware through Install → Select the file.
6. Reset the device.

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Installing custom firmware removes all data from the device! make a backup via TWRP or Mi Cloud before starting the procedure.

⚠️ Attention: Firmware without firmware GMS They do not support Google Play Store, YouTube, Gmail and other services, and you will need to install MicroG (an anonymous analogue) to use them. GMS) or do with alternatives (F-Droid, NewPipe for YouTube).

6. Alternative App Stores

If you have removed the Google Play Store or installed GMS-free firmware, you will need an alternative source of apps.

Safe shops:

• 📦 F-Droid is an open source directory of software. There are no proprietary applications, but there are all the basic tools (browsers, instant messengers, utilities).
• 🛡️ Aurora Store – an anonymous client for Google Play, allowing you to download apps without a Google account.
• 🌍 APKMirror is a reliable source APK-Files (check hash amounts before installing!).

How to install F-Droid:

1. Download APK from the official website f-droid.org.
2. Allow installation from unknown sources in Settings → Applications → Special Permissions → Installation of unknown applications.
3. Install the file and open the F-Droid.
4. In the settings, enable Repositories to access the extended directory.

To install the Aurora Store:

1. Download APK from GitLab.
2. When you first start, select Anonymous Login (without Google binding).
3. In the settings, turn off Auto Update to avoid background activity.

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For security, check the hash amounts (SHA-256) downloaded APK-For example, for F-Droid, the current hash can be found on the official website in the Verify section.

7. Additional measures: blocking Google domains

For advanced users, it is possible to block Google domains at the system level, which requires root rights or use of Firewall applications.

List of Google Domains to Block (main):

# Analytics and advertising


googleads.g.doubleclick.net




pagead2.googlesyndication.com




adservice.google.com




google-analytics.com




Location services



maps.googleapis.com




clients4.google.com




Synchronization of data



android.clients.google.com




mtalk.google.com

How to block:

• 🔥 With root rights: Use AdAway or Blokada to edit a file /etc/hosts.
• 📱 No root: Install NetGuard or TrackerControl and manually blacklist domains.
• 🌐 On the router: block domains through DNS-filtering (for example, in OpenWRT or Keenetic).

⚠️ Note: Blocking the domains android.clients.google.com and mtalk.google.com may disrupt push notifications and time synchronization. Use this method only if you are prepared for possible crashes.

To automate the process, you can use ready-made lock lists:

• StevenBlack/hosts — universal list with categories.
• PIholeBlocklist is a specialty listing for Pi-hole.

FAQ: Frequent questions