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Pixel Security

security.googleblog.com

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11–20 of 152 posts

Re: Pixel Security

#11

Post by tree_of_item »

jwtadvice wrote: post #4

Pixel/Google does not motivate a threat model under which to evaluate or understand their design and marketing promises, but we can take a hint from "protects your data if your phone falls into someone else's hands." - Namely thefts of opportunity. Unlike other phone manufacturers, Google does not promise potential customers that your data will be protected from Google, it's partners and from law enforcement and mass…

How would Google protect its customers from law enforcement and mass surveillance programs? The government can just force them to do whatever and issue a gag order to keep them quiet.

Apple is just putting on a show with their tough security rhetoric, they can't resist the US government if they really want some data.

Re: Pixel Security

#12

Post by mianos »

I have not seen so many gotos in many many years. I guess it's the programming model in this case. I am sure this bit of code is going to be audited quite closely.

Re: Pixel Security

#13

Post by jc4p »

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-g...

They have no Google provided support, if you drop the phone and break it your only option (if you didn't buy the third-party warranty upsell) is to take it to a repair shop. I called the ones near me, none had seen or touched the device before.

Don't spend $800 on a phone that you can't send back to the manufacturer to repair.

Edit: I originally said "they have no warranty" and people seem to have understood that as "they don't provide free repairs" -- what I'm trying to say is that this phone is supposedly a competitor to Apple, but if you break it you can't walk to the Apple Store and ask them how much it'd be for a repair. You can't send it in the mail to them either. You have to go to an authorized third-party repair shop. That does not sound like first-class flagship $800 product support to me.

Re: Pixel Security

#15

Post by crypto5 »

jc4p wrote: post #13

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-g... They have no Google provided support, if you drop the phone and break it your only option (if you didn't buy the third-party warranty upsell) is to take it to a repair shop. I called the ones near me, none had seen or touched the device before. Don't spend $800 on a phone…

What phones have warranty against dropping included?

Re: Pixel Security

#16

Post by Klathmon »

jc4p wrote: post #13

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-g... They have no Google provided support, if you drop the phone and break it your only option (if you didn't buy the third-party warranty upsell) is to take it to a repair shop. I called the ones near me, none had seen or touched the device before. Don't spend $800 on a phone…

Is that a common thing? Being able to send your device back to the manufacturer for user inflicted issues for repair?

I can't say I've ever done that with any product ever...

Re: Pixel Security

#17

Post by et-al »

scotchio wrote: post #5

Sorry - not post related: #2 spot on HN, 2 comments, submitted 28 minutes ago. Is this normal? Never seen that happen on HN before. Just curious

^ commenter shouldn't be downvoted for this.

Re: Pixel Security

#18

Post by mrbill »

jc4p wrote: post #13

Just FYI in case anyone is considering buying a Pixel: I strongly urge you not to. http://kasrarahjerdi.com/2016/11/dont-buy-anything-made-by-g... They have no Google provided support, if you drop the phone and break it your only option (if you didn't buy the third-party warranty upsell) is to take it to a repair shop. I called the ones near me, none had seen or touched the device before. Don't spend $800 on a phone…

I don't know of any phone vendor that offers a warranty against accidental damage (that doesn't cost extra).

By the way: "Google and uBreakiFix offer walk-in repairs for Pixel and Pixel XL" http://www.androidauthority.com/google-ubreakifix-repairs-pi...

Re: Pixel Security

#19

Post by Klathmon »

mianos wrote: post #12

I have not seen so many gotos in many many years. I guess it's the programming model in this case. I am sure this bit of code is going to be audited quite closely.

I don't know if this is the case here, but I often hear that this kind of thing is the only valid use case for goto.

In low level performance critical code where refactoring it to something more "traditional" would not only cause much more complexity, but would also be slower.

Re: Pixel Security

#20

Post by jwtadvice »

Given recent news about mass surveillance, it's important to note that Pixel's security model does not and can not seek to protect your data for use for private messaging, conversation with attorneys, for journalists, or to organize for political reasons.

If you are interested in a communications device that can be used for any of these things, Pixel's security model will not cover you and you will need to look for an alternative product.

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