Uninstalling Google Play Store and Google Services Framework

Jules

Hi guys,

So I had Google Play Store and GSF installed and I signed into my personal account on the Play Store with my personal account credentials and installed apps from there as such. Now, I would like to sign into Google with a new account I freshly made and not have any association at all with my old Google account. So, what I tried doing was simply uninstalling Google Play Store and GSF from my device and then reinstalling them, assuming that since those apps are sandboxed, they do not know identifiable information regarding my physical device it was originally installed on, so when reinstalling them, they would not "remember" what Google account was associated with them. But, upon reinstalling them, as soon as I opened the Google Play Store, I was already logged into the previous account.

So, my question is, how did the Play Store still know what account was logged into the app even after I uninstalled and reinstalled it? And how would I go about completely disassociating my phone and downlaoded apps with that previous Google account? Would I have to completely reset my device and start from scratch again?

other8026

Jules you can remove the entry for your Google account in Settings > Passwords & accounts > *your Google email address*

Jules

other8026 wow, I didn't even realize that. Thank you.

p338k

Google may still be able to associate the accounts through the other applications and the media DRM ID.

See https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2314

UpStream

@Jules Also keep in mind the ANDDOID_ID which is a unique identifier tied to the lifetime of profiles. While this wouldn't be the reason you're still signed in upon reinstalling google play apps, it can still be used to track you and associate the new google account with your old one if you're concerned about things like this.

Jules

UpStream thank you, I was concerned about this. So if I were to just completely reset my device and then use a new Google account and reinstall the apps I once had, there shouldn't be any way to then associate the Google accounts, correct? As resetting the device would be a completely new profile.

UpStream

As @other8026 has already mentioned this is the reason.

p338k

Jules
The media DRM ID may be persistent.

UpStream

Jules Take a look at this:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/5775-device-fingerprinting-test-results-concerns-and-questions

(Scroll down for the official answer).

Also:

https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2314

Does this answer your question?

Jules

UpStream yes it does. Very interesting read. Thank you!