Change default data collected by Firebase/Google analytics

Question

We use Firebase/Google analytics in our android app. Each event is saved with a lot of extra information (user-id, device-info, timestamps, user-properties, geographical location …). The extra info is there by default but we don’t want it to be collected.

We tried 2 things:

1) Update Big Query Schema

Delete the unwanted columns from Big Query. Unfortunately, Big Query creates a new export every day. So we would need to know where those fields are coming from. Something we don't know.

2) DefaultParameters within the app

Tried to use default parameters from inside the app, so the city will always be null. Here is an example with the user’s city

Bundle defaultValues = new Bundle();
defaultValues.putString("geo.city", null);
FirebaseAnalytics.getInstance(ctx).setDefaultEventParameters(defaultValues);

Unfortunately, we still see geo.city in our BigQuery data filled in.

Is there a way of changing what is collected by default?

Answer 1

There is no way to disable the geography information. Analytics uses IP addresses to derive the geolocation of a visitor. Probably the solution about update Big Query Schema is a viable way. You have to create a system that carries out this update on a daily basis precisely because the export takes place every day.