Big Brother doesn't need to watch you
Your phone shares your data over 300 times a day.
iPhone or Android, it goes to Apple or Google, even if you've never signed in and the phone is just sitting on the side. A de-Googled Pixel doesn't send it. We sell them set up and ready to use, or show you how to do it yourself for free.
De-Googled privacy phones from £339 · Updates to 2031 · Set up in the UK
Mine doesn't. It's de-Googled.
- 12-month warrantyOn top of your legal rights
- Free Special DeliveryTracked, insured, dispatched in 5 working days
- 14 days to change your mindFrom the day it arrives
- Set up in the UKChecked, installed and tested by us
Shop
De-Googled phones
Refurbished Google Pixels with Google's tracking taken out, using the free privacy software GrapheneOS. Checked, set up and ready to use. The price is what the phone costs us, plus £149 for the work.
Our pick
Google Pixel 8a
Take Back · Renewed, checked to our standard
£339
Security updates until May 2031
8GB RAM · 128GB
Google Pixel 9
Take Back Plus · Renewed, checked to our standard
£439
Security updates until Aug 2031
12GB RAM · 128GB
Already own a Pixel? Send us yours and we'll set it up for £89.
We'll show you our working
Here's the bill. Most of it's free.
A de-Googled phone is free software on a Pixel. We'll tell you how to do it yourself for nothing, or do it for you, and show you exactly what you're paying for. Including our profit.
Yes, that includes our profit. We'd rather tell you than hide it.
Phone prices checked September 2026. When they move, so does ours.
The free guide
De-Google your own Pixel, step by step, in plain English. No catch.
We set up yours
Post us your Pixel. It comes back de-Googled, set up and explained.
We send you one
A refurbished Pixel, sourced, checked, set up and delivered ready to use.
What your phone sends
Nobody has to watch you. Your phone tells them.
- Your phone numberiPhone · Android
- shared with Apple and Google
- Your SIM card numberiPhone · Android
- shared with Apple and Google
- Phone's unique ID (IMEI)iPhone · Android
- shared with Apple and Google
- Serial numberiPhone · Android
- shared with Apple and Google
- Advertising IDsiPhone · Android
- shared with Apple and Google
- Location + nearby Wi-FiiPhone only
- shared with Apple
iPhone or Android, it hands Apple or Google all of that even if you've never signed in, sitting on the side, sharing settings switched off.
Measured by Trinity College Dublin in 2021: an idle iPhone contacted Apple every 264 seconds on average, an idle Pixel contacted Google every 255, identifiers shared while signed out.
Take back your privacy.
In Trinity College Dublin's 2021 measurements an idle iPhone contacted Apple about 327 times a day and an idle Pixel contacted Google about 339 times a day. A Pixel running GrapheneOS makes a handful of housekeeping connections to GrapheneOS's own servers, none of them to Apple or Google.
- how often it sends your data, on average, iPhone and Android
- 4½ min
- and it still happens, even signed out
- Settings off
- tracking built into GrapheneOS
- 0
A day compressed into 14 seconds. Each mark is one time the phone sent data; iPhone and Android marks are spaced at the averages Trinity College Dublin measured (2021); real timing varies. GrapheneOS's default connections go to its own servers and can all be switched off.
Free guides
Scams, calls and privacy, sorted.
Plain-English, step-by-step guides. No catch, no sign-up.
Every one of these is free.
Is it really your bank calling? How to check, and why to hang up
Scams & fraudIs this email a scam? Spot phishing and report it
Scams & fraudHow to stop spam calls: block numbers on iPhone, Android and landlines
Scams & fraudHow to stop cold calls: register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
For parentsHow to lock down your child's phone: a UK parents' guide
Everyday privacyHow to clear your browsing history on iPhone, Android and PC
Everyday kit
What we'd buy, and where.
We don't sell these. They're cheap and sold everywhere, so charging you a markup would be daft. Here's what's worth having, and what not to overpay for.
Faraday pouch for car keys
Stops thieves picking up your keyless fob's signal from the hallway and relaying it to the car.
You don't need an expensive one. In Auto Express's January 2026 test the winner was the Hilka Pro-Craft twin pack at about £8, and the £25 pouch came third as “far too expensive”. Whatever you buy, test it: key in the pouch, stand by the car, try the door.
Source: Auto Express test, Jan 2026See options on Amazon →Faraday bag for your phone
Blocks mobile signal, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS while the phone's inside.
Handy for meetings or a switched-off evening. Test it: seal the phone in and ring it. If it rings, it isn't working.
See options on Amazon →Privacy screen protector
Stops the person next to you on the train reading your screen.
Buy the one made for your exact phone model. It darkens the screen from the side; that's the point.
See options on Amazon →USB data blocker (or a charge-only cable)
Lets power through to your phone but physically leaves out the data pins, so a public charging point can only charge.
Your phone already asks before it allows data over USB, so this is belt and braces for airports, trains and hotel lobbies. Researchers showed in 2025 that the asking can be bypassed, which is why a blocker is still worth a couple of quid. A charge-only cable does the same job with one less thing to lose.
Source: ChoiceJacking, USENIX Security 2025See options on Amazon →Webcam cover for your laptop
A sliding cover over the camera, so nothing can film you when you don't mean it to.
The cheapest certainty on this page. It does nothing about the microphone, and your phone and laptop already show a dot when the camera is on, so treat it as a backstop, not a fix. A bit of tape works too.
See options on Amazon →RFID wallet or card sleeves
Contactless cards can't be read through them.
Peace of mind more than a must-have. UK Finance told Which? in February 2026 that there are no recorded cases of criminals reading cards with a reader in a public place. Cheap sleeves do the same job as a pricey wallet.
Source: Which?, contactless cards explainedSee options on Amazon →A plain case for your Pixel
Protects the phone; says nothing about you.
Any decent case for your exact model will do. No need to pay extra for a logo.
See options on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It's a few pence a sale and it never changes what we recommend.
What goes on the phone
Swap Google out, app by app.
This is exactly what we set up on the phones we ship, and you can do every bit of it yourself, for free. Most of these cost nothing and we earn nothing from them; we'll always tell you which is which.
★ we may earn a commission◇ free / open-source: we earn nothing, we just rate it
Tools we actually rate
The software side of taking back.
A phone is half the job. Here's what we use and recommend, and we're upfront about where we earn a commission and where we don't. The ones we earn nothing from are here because they're genuinely the best.
We'll always say when we earn.
Proton VPN
we may earnVPN + the wider Proton privacy suite (Mail, Pass, Drive)
Swiss-built, audited, and they relocate rather than weaken encryption. Our main recommendation.
NordVPN
we may earnFast, mainstream VPN with a big server network
A solid, well-known option if you want maximum speed and coverage.
Mullvad
we earn £0No-account, flat-rate VPN (pay with cash if you like)
We rate it and earn nothing from saying so. They refuse affiliate schemes on principle. That should tell you something.
Incogni
we earn £0Gets your details deleted from data-broker lists
Does the tedious removal work for you, on repeat. On-brand and genuinely useful.
Proton Pass
we may earnPassword manager from the Proton suite
Keeps your logins in one encrypted place. Free tier is fine to start.
Bitwarden
we earn £0Open-source password manager
Free, open-source, and excellent. We earn nothing here. We just rate it.
YubiKey
we may earnPhysical security key for your most important accounts
A login someone can't phish out of you. Belt-and-braces for email and banking.
Our promise
●No fear-selling
We'll tell you exactly what de-Googling protects you from, and what it doesn't. A privacy phone won't get you out of ID or age checks, or hide you from your network. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you something.
●No hidden secrets
The privacy software is free, and we say so. You get the full do-it-yourself guide whether you buy from us or not.
●Fair, not fearful
You pay us for time and convenience, never for a manufactured panic. Honest prices, honest answers.
Get the free guide.
We'll send you the full de-Google walkthrough, plus a free monthly scam alert: the scams going round the UK and how to spot them. And a heads-up when the law changes.
We hate spam, and we'd never sell your data. That would be a bit rich, wouldn't it?