If you don't want AI spying on your phone, there are options besides continually disabling it. One great one is, next time you need a new device, get one with e/OS. Android minus the spying. murena.com/america/products/sm…
Update: See below for some very compelling critiques of e/OS.
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
Hobson Lane
in reply to Nathan Schneider • • •Nathan Schneider
Unknown parent • • •@MandyMay No, totally reasonable. No, you can use any wireless data plan. You can also flash e/OS on an existing Android phone with an unlocked bootloader, if the phone is supported.
But if you're less technical, it's easiest to buy one of their phones with e/OS preloaded.
I have the Fairphone 4.
Tom Stoneham
in reply to Nathan Schneider • • •@MandyMay I wouldn't say you need to be 'technical' to use their Easy Installer. Just be able to follow instructions precisely. Any good cook could do it 😀
And you also get to make good use of an older phone model abandoned by its manufacturer. A Pixel 5 running /e/ Android 13 is a wonderful everyday device.
doc.e.foundation/easy-installe…
Try the Easy Installer beta
doc.e.foundationJorge Saturno :niboe:
in reply to Nathan Schneider • • •GrapheneOS
in reply to Jorge Saturno :niboe: • • •@jorge
GrapheneOS and /e/OS are very different. GrapheneOS is a hardened OS with substantial privacy/security improvements:
grapheneos.org/features
/e/OS is not a hardened OS.
They're always on a very old release with partial support. Android 15 QPR1 is needed for full privacy/security patches. Only patches for issues deemed High/Critical priority are backported to older Android releases, and most privacy patches are not backported.
They also lose a bunch of security features.
GrapheneOS features overview
GrapheneOSGrapheneOS
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •@jorge
Compatibility with Android apps is also much different. GrapheneOS provides our sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer:
grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/…
Can run nearly all Play Store apps on GrapheneOS, but not /e/OS with the far more limited and less secure microG approach.
eylenburg.github.io/android_co… is a third party comparison between different alternate mobile operating systems. It could include many more privacy/security features but it's a good starting point.
GrapheneOS (@GrapheneOS@grapheneos.social)
GrapheneOS MastodonGrapheneOS
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •@jorge
The eylenburg comparison has a useful comparison of how some of the default Android Open Source Project connections to Google services and GNSS vendors are handled. That's not a full list of default connections and most of the operating systems including /e/OS add a bunch of additional connections, many of them problematic themselves.
Aside from that, moving to a different set of privacy invasive services without end-to-end encryption doesn't really protect people's privacy.
GrapheneOS
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •@jorge
iPhones provide better privacy and security than /e/OS including for their services which largely support end-to-end encryption with the Advanced Data Protection feature for iCloud.
/e/OS has far worse privacy from apps than iOS. With /e/OS, you cannot give apps access only to certain contacts or certain media/storage if they insist on demanding access to all of it. There are a bunch of other unaddressed privacy weaknesses, especially due to the older Android version.
GrapheneOS
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •iOS does not have basic exploit protections and security features intact. They do not properly sign their releases, do not use have a secure update system, do not use verified boot, etc. They aren't taking privacy or security seriously at all. Industry standard security features are missing or even outright disabled. The starting point of LineageOS is where many of these issues come from, but it's a further step down from there for security.
fid02
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •Nathan Schneider
in reply to fid02 • • •GrapheneOS
in reply to Nathan Schneider • • •/e/OS is Android with a massive reduction in security and their own privacy invasive, non-end-to-end encrypted services instead of Google services. iPhones provide far better privacy and security than Murena devices. These lack basic industry standard exploits mitigations and other security features, still integrate Google services with privileged access and do not take privacy/security seriously at all. Not having Google Play isn't enough for privacy.
grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/…
/e/OS is Android with a massive reduction in security and their own privacy invasive, non-end-to-end encrypted services instead of Google services. iPhones provide far better privacy and security than Murena devices. These lack basic industry standard exploits mitigations and other security features, still integrate Google services with privileged access and do not take privacy/security seriously at all. Not having Google Play isn't enough for privacy.
grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/…
GrapheneOS
2024-12-11 15:00:12
Nathan Schneider
in reply to GrapheneOS • • •