Privacy

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Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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What phone brand do you like the best? (midwest.social)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

130 comments fedilink hide all child comments

*In terms of privacy, customisation, camera quality, and battery time.

For the longest time I have only used either iPhone or Samsung. I plan on switching to Android for the next phone I get, but I find that Samsung phones are often too big for me and put too much energy on camera quality (I don’t take many photos). I have started to look into brands such as Nokia and Motorola, and I would like to know what you guys think of them. Additionally, do you suggest any other phone brands aside from them? My biggest priorities are privacy and long battery time. Bonus if the phone can run LineageOS (I have excluded Graphene as they are only compatible with Pixel phones).

Thank you for any answers. Cheers!

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I will read more into this, but it sounds reasonable. If I were to get a Pixel, is there any particular model I should get or does it not matter? Does Graphene support all models?

[–] TCB13 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Read this: https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support

Unlike others, Graphene has very strict requirements when it comes to devices to ensure you're safe.

As usual if you’re looking to have any security (Verified boot) GrapheneOS + Pixel phone is the only options. I really don’t get it how come people in places like this are okay with having a phone with all their personal data and logins without verified boot. Stolen / lost phone and game over.

Calyx, for instance, isn't as good as GrapheneOS, they do a lot of snitching on you (including to Google and Mozilla) and they overlook critical details such as this one allowing the OS to contact 3rd parties such as Qualcomm.

Other phone brands, let's say Fairphone just don't make thing right. Fairphone guys have been petitioned multiples times to open their platform and/or collaborate with projects such as GrapheneOS and CalyxOS so user can have private and secure phones but they don't care.

CalyxOS does support the Fairphone 4 however that's only due to the persistence and reverse engineering efforts of the CalyxOS project / community. If you decide to use it you won't have a secure bootloader anymore due to a bug in Fairphone's firmware that they choose not to fix. That's how "fair" the "Fairphone" really is.

Here is more relevant information for you from here:

XTRA is technology offered by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. in the US and QT Technologies Ireland Limited in the European Economic Area to improve mobile device performance. XTRA downloads a data file from Qualcomm containing the predicted orbits of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites. Using the XTRA data file reduces the time the device needs to calculate its location, thus saving time and battery power when using location-based applications. Newer versions of the XTRA software also upload a small amount of data to us. We use the uploaded data for purposes described in this Policy, such as maintaining and improving the quality, security, and integrity of the service. XTRA uploads the following data types: a randomly generated unique ID, the chipset name and serial number, XTRA software version, the mobile country code and network code (allowing identification of country and wireless operator), the type of operating system and version, device make and model, the time since the last boot of the application processor and modem, and a list of our software on the device

Before you say this is the CPU's fault, it isn't, at least on its own. GrapheneOS also deals with this kind of stuff and has patches and options so you can block it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Calyx does a lot of snitching on you

That is certainly over dramatic for what is in that article. All they do with Google is trivial things like updating your systems internal clock. A large portion of what is in that article is able to be disabled and prevented by not using Micro-G.

There seems to be massive beef and drama between Calyx and Graphene communities, I have no idea what any of that is about, but this dramatization doesn’t help.

[–] TCB13 4 points 7 months ago

That is certainly over dramatic for what is in that article. All they do with Google is trivial things like updating your systems internal clock

No it's not... https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/security/network-activity/ and even if it "only" updating your clock, don't you think that google adds that info to their database? I'm sure they'll at least log your IP and try to cross with your other google queries to know who you are. Mind that with the IP you get an approximate location. It also contacts SUPL for GPS and Remote Key Provisioning that opens the door for you to become hostage of Google in certain situations.

There seems to be massive beef and drama between Calyx and Graphene communities, I have no idea what any of that is about, but this dramatization doesn’t help.

This is not dramatization, Calyx is good in some aspect, way better than everything else stock and whatnot, but they overlook important details as described before.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

GrapheneOS supports recent Pixels. I think right now they are supporting the 5a and later, with legacy and extended support back to the 4.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In general, they stop providing updates when Google does. Check both to be sure, but newer is better if you want longer support.

I'm going Google will launch a Pixel 8a in a couple months so I can either get it or the 8 at a discount.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

For posterity and nuance, here's the answer from their site: Which devices are supported? but you're right for the most part.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Grapehene has historically offered extended support, but for the longest support time the pixel 8 isnt a bad option. The 7a is also I think the king of budget phones right now but the 8 is on sale for a few hundred off the last I checked :)