this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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Privacy

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I am a long term GrapheneOS user and would like to talk about it. r/privacy on the redditland blocks custom OS discussions which I think is very bad for user privacy, and I hope this post will be useful to anyone who are in the hunt for better privacy.

Nowadays smartphones are a much bigger threats to our privacy and Desktop systems, and unfortunately manufacturers has designed them to be locked down devices with no user freedom. You can't just "install Linux" on most smartphones and it is horrible. And most preloaded systems spy on us like crazy. That was why I specifically bought a pixel and loaded GOS onto it.

According to https://grapheneos.org/features , they start from base AOSP's latest version, imptoves upon it's security and significantly hardens it. There's hardened_malloc to.prevent against exploitation, disabling lots of debugging features, disabling USB-c data, hardening the Linux kernel and system apps etc. They even block accessing the hardware identifiers of the phone so that apps cannot detect whqt phone you're using. That means with Tor and zero permissions given, apps are anonymous.

Compatibility with apps are best in Custom ROMs but there are still that can't work, especially if they enforce device integrity. Very few apps usually enforce that tho. Also their community isn't the friendliest but you can get help. Just don't try and engage too much or have too many debates.

Anyone else here use GrapheneOS, or any other privacy ROMs? What is your experience? Do you disagree on any point? Let's have a discussion!

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[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've been using a Fairphone with /e/os. No Google at all. Rooted with Magisk. MicroG to run apps that need Google services. Everything I need works.

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Did it come installed or did you need to complete a 27-step process involving cables and obscure commands and fiddly key combinations and the risk of bricking the thing?

[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Do Google Pixel phones come installed with GrapheneOS? We're talking about custom setups with more privacy here.

I did have to follow the installation instructions, which included unlocking my bootloader, installing adb on my PC, and entering a few command lines.

There is the possibility to buy it preinstalled though, but from a third-party company.

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

So the answer to the 27-step question is Yes. Alas. Still nowhere near as easy as installing Linux on an Intel laptop. Which of course is already way too hard for most folks.

Still, well done for doing it.

U: downvoting facts does not make them go away. This was not a personal attack. I want this solution to to be more viable than it is, that is all.