Revoke Camera and Microphone Access (Android)
Most guides still send you to Settings then Privacy, and a level was added since. Here is where the permission manager actually lives now, plus the indicators that show when something is listening.
Camera and microphone are the two permissions most worth auditing, because an app that holds them can collect when you are not using it and the cost of revoking them is usually nothing.
The menu moved. Older guides, including the previous version of this one, send you to Settings → Privacy → Permission manager. Google now documents an additional level, so that path stops one screen short.
Audit by permission
Settings → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Permission manager → tap a permission type, such as Camera or Microphone.
Android sorts apps into allowed and denied. Work down the allowed list and ask a blunt question of each: does this app's core function require this sensor? A calculator, a torch, a wallpaper app and most games do not need either. Set those to Don't allow.
This is the view worth starting from, because it shows every app holding one permission rather than every permission held by one app.
Audit by app
Settings → Apps → tap the app, using See all apps if it is not listed → Permissions.
Use this when you have a specific app in mind rather than a specific sensor.
Watch the indicators
Recent Android versions show a small green dot in the top right whenever an app is using the camera or microphone. Pull down the notification shade while it is lit and it will name the app.
The same Quick Settings panel usually carries Camera access and Mic access toggles that cut off every app at once, which is more useful than it sounds for meetings and border crossings. If they are not visible, edit the Quick Settings tiles and add them.
Manufacturer differences
Samsung, Xiaomi and others rename these menus. If the path above does not match, open Settings and search for Permission manager. The search box survives menu reshuffles in a way that written paths do not.
What this does not fix
Revoking sensor permissions does nothing about what an app already collected, and nothing about data the app gathers without a sensor: your account identity, contacts you granted earlier, network activity and advertising identifiers. This closes one category of collection, not the category most apps rely on.
Verified against Google Android support documentation on 17 August 2026. Menu names vary by OS version and by manufacturer skin, so if a step does not match your device, search Settings for the bolded term rather than following the path blind.