A growing number of experts are warning all Android users: "Using Google Chrome on your phone is dangerous..."

Until very recently, owning an Android smartphone meant being a Google user, as the software used in most smartphones on the market belongs to the American technology giant.

Fortunately, European anti-monopoly regulations forced Google to become more open and allow users complete freedom to choose the apps they want to use. This has meant that now, every time you get a new phone, Android requires you to choose a web browser as the default.

This means we now have the ability to choose any browser we want, and yet the vast majority of users still choose Google Chrome, mainly because it's the one we've grown accustomed to and we have other services, like Gmail, that work better with it.

However , convenience also has a downside , as researchers at cybersecurity firm Surfshark point out. They conducted a study and analysis of Google Chrome and found that it consumes and collects the most data from users compared to any other competing browser.

Chrome collects up to 20 different types of data, from browsing history, saved payment details, location, contact lists, and social media accounts to its users, among other things. What's striking is that these are aspects that no other of the 10 most used and analyzed browsers does.

Google collects all this information with a clear objective: to monetize it. Researchers point out that some of the data they collect is used for third-party advertising , either by displaying ads in the app or sharing people's information with companies that do.

At the same time, storing this information puts us at risk of any cyberattack on Google's databases. If it falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to a host of scams and frauds that will not only affect our bank accounts but could also land us in legal trouble.

While you can continue using Google Chrome, it's recommended that you set your preferences for the data that can be used (the less, the better for your security and privacy) and, if you prefer, do a little more research on the existence of other web browsers outside of Chrome and Safari, which account for 90% of the market.