Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 adds a new Data logging menu to the Privacy dashboard, and it is aimed squarely at the Private Compute Core. That is the sealed-off part of Android that runs the on-device AI features you use every day. Until now you could not see what left it. In this beta you can switch on logging, read what was recorded, download it, or wipe it.
Where to find Private Compute Core data logging
The new page sits at Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy dashboard > Data logging, as 9to5Google documented in its screenshot comparison against QPR2 Beta 3.
The top-level switch is “Allow data logging.” Turn it on and you pick one of two tiers:
- Limited — records a subset of data for up to three days, or until it hits a 100MB cap
- Detailed — captures exhaustive raw logs for up to 12 hours, or 100MB
Choosing Detailed throws up a warning first. Android tells you the raw data it collects may contain sensitive personal information. Take that at face value. These are diagnostic logs of an AI subsystem that handles your notifications, your audio and your messages.
The page also has buttons to download the logs to your device or delete them outright, plus a Summary logs section for individual on-device intelligence features such as Proactive Assistance.
What the Private Compute Core actually does
Google describes the Private Compute Core, which it introduced back in 2021, as a “secure environment that is isolated from the rest of the operating system and apps.” It is the sandbox behind Now Playing, Smart Reply, Live Caption, Live Translate, Google Messages spam detection, and cough and snore detection on Pixels.
The pitch has always been that these features work without your data going to the cloud or to other apps. The problem with that pitch is that it has never been checkable by a normal user. You either trusted the description or you did not.
That is why this menu is worth more than its plain name suggests. A logging toggle turns a claim into something a curious owner, a researcher or a security reporter can inspect for themselves. It is a small feature with an outsized principle behind it, and it is the direction more of Android’s AI plumbing should be moving.
Two caveats keep it honest. Logging is opt-in, so nothing changes for anyone who never opens the menu. And a log is only as useful as your ability to read it, which for most people will mean waiting for someone else to publish an analysis.
Which Pixels can try it now
The compatible device list 9to5Google publishes with its QPR2 beta guide runs from the Pixel 6a up through the Pixel 10 series. It covers the Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, 7 Pro and 7a, Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8, 8 Pro and 8a, Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold and 9a, and the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, 10 Pro Fold and 10a.
Pixel 11 owners are waiting. 9to5Google reports that a build exists for the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL and 11 Pro Fold, but was not downloadable as of Friday afternoon, with Google saying it will follow. QPR2 is on track for a stable release in December, so anyone unwilling to run beta software on a daily driver has a few months to wait.
This is the third notable privacy change spotted in the same beta, after the one-time sideloading permission and a new Agents dashboard at Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy controls > Agents.
Sources: Android Authority, 9to5Google
