I cannot find many of the settings they talk about (android v.9), is it my o.s. old?
How to stay private when using Android
131–140 of 177 posts
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "android is awful!" ... "I bought a cheap one" Nothing like condemning the entirety of a thing based on a single limited intentionally-bottom-of-the-barrel experience!
A cheap device would deliver lower performance, but that doesn't explain the poor OS design issues. I used to be quite a fan of Android, but even as performance has improved other things have gotten worse. I don't like the Apple ecosystem either so perhaps I will be a customer for the Pine phone as my app needs are quite limited.
> A cheap device would deliver lower performance
That's one way to lower price, but in an industry of razor sharp hardware returns if you really want to make something cheap you do it by getting money from services and if those "services" include interest based advertising then it's even better. Just look at why all modern TVs are "smart TVs" and default (often hard to disable) "call home" tracking features.
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#133> How to stay private when using Android 1. Stop using Android. FTFY > How to stay private in general 1. Stop using the smartphone - some of its tracking features are near impossible to disable 2. Use VPN or/and TOR 3. Enable either DNS over TLS and DNS over HTTPS 4. Never login anywhere 5. Use the most common OS (Windows 10 at the moment) + the most common web browser (Chrome at the moment) 6. Make sure your web bro…
> 5. Use the most common OS (Windows 10 at the moment) + the most common web browser (Chrome at the moment) Use the OS with built-in telemetry and the web browser that constantly reports your activity to a data harvesting company and which keeps trying to prevent people from blocking ads or limiting data harvesting on the browser? Try again.
Wiping all data in Google Chrome is enough for Google to lose track of you.
Windows 10 leaking personal data hasn't been conclusively proven by anyone in the entire world. There's no evidence Microsoft has ever downloaded a single file off Windows 10 PCs (except for telemetry, e.g. application minidumps, which doesn't uniquely identify you, or contains any of your personal documents). Disabling telemetry in Windows 10 isn't too difficult either.
There's a lot of unwarranted mass hysteria in regard to the most innocuous things in this world which is perhaps an indication that people have no other real worries to attend to.
Even this post about "staying private in Android" is overblown out of proportions. Yes, there are individual apps which abuse your data but you can get rid of them.
Yes, Google assigns a unique identificator to your Android device but that doesn't mean this data is leaked/sold left and right.
And no one is even talking about the fact that US cell operators have been implicated in tracking their users 24/7 and it's not apparent they've stopped doing that.
Your cellphone company (which also serves for most as an Internet operator) is already a threat enough not to use any cell phone at all.
Then there are technologies to break into cellular networks by impersonating cell towers and monitor users against their will and I'm quite sure this feature is used and abused to no end by at least three-letter agencies in the US.
If you're an average American you're passing by dozens if not hundreds of CCTVs daily which are monitoring your whereabouts 24/7.
Privacy in this world only exists for those who don't use the perks of our modern society or who's quite rich and can afford their own island without dealing with the rest of the world.
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is why I have a serious aversion to using any kind of Google Product. They're an advertising company first and foremost - why would anyone expect their products to do anything BUT maximize ad revenue?
But maximizing ad revenue (long term) does also imply not losing user's trust and information.
Not necessarily. You can run a very effective misinformation campaign.
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#135At this point you’re probably better off buying an iPhone and disabling iCloud backup (or disabling iCloud entirely).
some of you wrote here, many months ago, something I will never forget: "how can you pretend privacy from a phone 'made' by an ads company"
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#136A simple step toward thwarting a mischievous app that demands internet access privileges (even though its functionality has no apparent need for it) is to install a firewall like NetGuard[1]. It's a simple step because it doesn't require rooting your device.
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#137A simple step toward thwarting a mischievous app that demands internet access privileges (even though its functionality has no apparent need for it) is to install a firewall like NetGuard[1]. It's a simple step because it doesn't require rooting your device. 1: https://www.netguard.me/
NetGuard is great, but it uses battery about 20% faster with it on (mainly because the cpu cannot enter sleep states long enough iirc)
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just checked the emails I received from Amazon from Christmas purchases, and it is not false. I don't doubt you, but I'm curious what the difference is. I'm looking at order confirmation emails and package ship/delivery emails. They only list order numbers for me, and I need to click through to the Amazon account to see the actual items. Is there a different category of purchase that you're looking at, or is there…
I have no clue. https://i.imgur.com/qiKBJQf.png
Do both of you use gmail?
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#139So why do I need google play store to install and google play services to use the ProtonMail app on android? Please release a standalone version like whatsapp does.
Re: How to stay private when using Android
#140I hate iOS but good god android is awful! I bought a cheap one on new years to use as a balloon tracker (GPS boards are expensive so it seemed like a good idea.) There are absolutely no diagnostics, every setting (including critical ones) seems to move around between OS updates. They’re constantly breaking things you actually need (termux API is missing half of what’s useful and silently fails on most things now) whi…
> "android is awful!" ... "I bought a cheap one" Nothing like condemning the entirety of a thing based on a single limited intentionally-bottom-of-the-barrel experience!
This is one thing I don't understand about the Android ecosystem... Android fans like to point out that you have a choice of phone price points from $100 up to $1000, where on Apple devices it's generally $600 to $1000. But if you actually buy one of those $100 phones and have a problem with it, the first response is always "well yeah that's what you get for buying a cheap phone".
Seems like an illusion of choice if you're guaranteed a working phone only if you buy the latest $1000 Samsung flagship.