Samsung is coming after apps that abuse your personal data

Samsung recently urged Galaxy users to enable the new anti-theft and anti-robbery features in One UI 7 on their devices for additional safety. With its upcoming Android 16-based One UI 8 skin, the company will go a step further and introduce a new privacy-focused feature called “Alert Center.”

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As the name indicates, the center will act as a hub for all privacy and security-related notifications on your device. While the feature is not part of the existing One UI 8 beta build for the Galaxy S25, the Android Authority team found references to it while digging through the code.

One of the strings says, “Suggestions and alerts will appear here to help you keep your phone and personal data safe,” while the other highlights how “You’ll be notified when apps use permissions to access your personal data frequently or in the background. You’ll be given the opportunity to review the permissions and decide if you want to continue allowing them.”

Similarly, “you’ll be notified when security threats are detected on your phone. This may include malware apps that need to be uninstalled, settings you can change for stronger security, or actions you can take to keep your phone safe.”

Based on the strings, the Alert Center will notify you if apps keep frequently accessing sensitive permissions in the background. You can then take action on them accordingly. The Alert Center will also display warnings if your phone is running an outdated security patch, if suspicious activity is detected in your Google or Samsung account, or if biometric verification hasn’t been set up.

Old wine in a new bottle?

Samsung already offers something similar on its current Galaxy devices under Settings > Security and privacy. You can get a quick overview of your phone’s key security settings from here, including whether lock screen protection is enabled, if any Google Play or software updates are pending, and whether lost device protection is active. It will also display suggestions to address any security issues that need your attention.

Additionally, the menu provides a quick overview of apps that accessed sensitive permissions such as the camera, microphone, and location in the past 24 hours.

It seems with One UI 8, Samsung will build on this menu, making it more user-friendly and accessible.