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I had my email signed in on the Gmail app on my boyfriend's phone who is now on the other side of the country. I've asked him a couple times to disconnect it but recently checked out Google Play and there's a bunch of new apps connected to my account. (I don't have a smart phone.) Is there a way to disconnect it remotely without access to his phone?

Second, I've recently been flooded with spam mail, which is unusual for me. Could this be because of that connection?

ale
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jordan
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    should activate 2-step authentication on your account, and ensure that the verification code is always sent to your phone via SMS. The gmail service should fail automatically on his phone then. – t0mm13b Jan 28 '14 at 13:27
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    If you ever get stalking urges (or just want to be horrified at how much data smartphones "leak"), just have a look at your own location history... – Basic Jan 28 '14 at 23:00
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    @Basic What has stalking got to do with your own location history, unless you're stalking yourself? – t0mm13b Jan 28 '14 at 23:03
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    @t0mm13b Well... If your google account is tied to someone else's phone (As per the OP's question) then it applies. That said, I'd hope most people realise I was being tongue-in-cheek. – Basic Jan 28 '14 at 23:06
  • Update: There's one new application associated with my account. My old email that I signed into on his phone once or twice (through a web browser, not the app) has had sign ins in ontario, bc and alberta. I've changed the password on that multiple times as well.

    his entire email account was just recently deleted. I'm guessing it's more a breach of security on his phone. Other than destroying his phone and setting up two step verification (I don't have a phone at the moment) I've done everything suggested. Guess I'll wait and see if my email has the same fate as his?

     – jordan Feb 03 '14 at 01:34

6 Answers6

100

Go to:

https://accounts.google.com/b/0/EditPasswd

and change your password, then go to:

https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions

and revoke access to everything.

pierluca.masala
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    Looking at the permissions site, you might be able to just revoke the permissions from your phone without needing to change your password. I'd advise doing both anyway just to be sure though. – bmdixon Jan 28 '14 at 10:05
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    @bmdixon I assume the password changing, is so that he can not just log back in again. Else it would render the second part useless. – IAmGroot Jan 28 '14 at 14:22
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    Also it wouldn't be a bad idea to add two step verification to your account. Once you have that setup you can add and remove phones to your account. – Danny Jan 28 '14 at 16:12
  • In a comment to @geffchang's answer, she states she has already changed password and it didn't work, so she definitely has to removed the linked apps. – o0'. Jan 29 '14 at 14:10
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    The second step is the key: apps use authentication and session tokens, not password, to authenticate. This include google apps (gmail, hangouts and of course play). You have to revoke the token, so the app cannot access your data and behave on your behalf anymore. – Lorenzo Dematté Jan 29 '14 at 14:49
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If Android Device Manager was enabled, and you HATE your ex, you can Lock and/or Erase that phone. Refer to the official guide for more details.

  • Lock. Lock your device with a new password.
  • Erase. Permanently delete all of your data.

Of course, as others suggested, changing your password is sufficient.

geffchang
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    Yikes! That would be some strong hate.

    I changed my password the day we split (just changed it again now anyways). The apps associated are obviously new and completely useless to me, Toronto transit apps where he moved, I stayed in BC. Probably something simple I'm missing? I've been away from computers/internet for over a year. A lot has changed.

     – jordan Jan 28 '14 at 11:15
  • @jordan Just observe if you're still getting new apps. Then, come back here and keep us updated if changing the password wasn't enough. – geffchang Jan 28 '14 at 12:09
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    This is not the kind of behaviour to advocate on SE. It's also likely illegal, depending on laws where you live, and could end up at the very least with a civil suit if not criminal charges. Do not do this. – Bob Jan 28 '14 at 15:26
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    @Bob: We are not to decide. It is an answer, and it is valid. If the guy is an a-hole enough to keep the account logged in even after getting asked several times not to do so... I think it's a well-deserved counter-step. But again, we are not to judge. If someone writes a fork-bomb on Stackoverflow, people won't ban him because it could be used for malicious things. – Apache Jan 28 '14 at 16:30
  • @Bob Nothing to see here, sir. Move along. Thank you. :-P – SpYk3HH Jan 28 '14 at 20:06
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    @Shiki I don't mind the answer (though it's not really necessary/correct for this question) - my problem is with the tone of the answer. There's some difference between "this is a fork-bomb" and "if you really hate this person and want revenge, you should set off a fork-bomb on his computer!". Don't bring emotions in where they are not needed. – Bob Jan 29 '14 at 00:50
  • @Bob I'm curious how this could be illegal. – dspyz Jan 29 '14 at 06:54
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    @dspyz I think it could be considered hacking. After all, it's not her phone. – geffchang Jan 29 '14 at 07:03
  • Well, in light of his non-cooperation, it might be necessary for you to take steps to remotely purge your gmail account from his phone.., in the course of doing so, it could accidentally happen that his phone gets locked or erased =) – Kevin Fegan Jan 29 '14 at 08:29
  • @geffchang well, it's her account, and he knows he's using it with her account. It's in her full moral right to do so IMAO. No clue about if it's also legal by law, but (again IMAO) it should. He could switch to his own account if he wanted to avoid such a thing. – o0'. Jan 29 '14 at 14:09
  • Elaborating this answer, technically she could also just lock the phone with a password, and ask him a ransom in order to unlock it. This is also legally and morally gray area at best. Just pointing it out, not suggesting to do it. – o0'. Jan 29 '14 at 14:12
  • @jordan Changing password will not be sufficient. See my comment to Eerendil answer – Lorenzo Dematté Jan 29 '14 at 14:51
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Login to Gmail on a browser. At the end of the page, in the bottom right-hand corner, you have a small hyperlink to see the sessions where your account is being used called "Details". Click that link, and then click on the "Sign Out" for all the sessions. Voila! All of your logged in sessions (except the current browser login) will be logged out.

Community
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Kanta
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    This is the best way to solve the question in the title. The OP is unclear as to whether the boyfriend has the password and how he is buying apps with her account. – jfa Jan 29 '14 at 00:47
  • he doesn't have my password, I accidentally left my email signed in through gmails application when we split ways.

    As far as I've seen, email sessions logged in through the application don't show up under your account activity. I don't have access to a phone to verify that right now though.

     – jordan Feb 03 '14 at 01:16
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I also recommend going to the account security activity : https://security.google.com/settings/security/activity
It will show you when and where your account is used.
For example : if you boyfriend is loggued on some other device

Christ-OFF
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  • Interesting tip! Might not help the asker though since it shows log in events, while the problem is knowing if the person stays logged in. But it's certainly worth a look. – user56reinstatemonica8 Jan 28 '14 at 17:52
  • I've never seen activity for gmail app sign ins, even when I was using his phone regularly. – jordan Feb 03 '14 at 01:18
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Change your password. That will log out everywhere else and prevent people installing apps on your account.

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You could just change your Google password? That way when his phone does the regular check, authentication will fail and the phone will effectively be cut off from your account.

Le3ky
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    Changing your password is not enough. Many apps don't use your password after the first login. When you have authenticated for the first time a special authorization token just for that application is stored in your Google account, and used by the phone. – Zoredache Jan 28 '14 at 22:00
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    We're talking about the Google password though, the main account of the device, iirc it does poll the Google servers to authenticate the password regularly.. – Le3ky Jan 28 '14 at 22:06
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    @Le3ky Nope not even vaguely regularly. When I changed my google password, an old phone of mine kept working for over a year before its auth tokens expired and it finally got around to asking for a password. – Mark Booth Feb 01 '14 at 12:34