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Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

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Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#141

Post by CountDrewku »

snypher wrote: post #100
CountDrewku wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of what software you put on the phone it is a tracking device. It has gps, audio, cameras, and web browsers that are all vulnerable to being hacked or used for tracking. I signed into gmail via the Bromite browser on my Pixe3a. I immediately received an email from google about my new Pixel device. They now know what device I use, what browser etc. I don't care how locked down and FOSS you make your smart p…

If you think Google is adversarial then don't use Gmail; It seems strange to avoid using their 'apps' but continuing to use their products? I think you just handed them that information when you logged into their website.

>I think you just handed them that information when you logged into their website.

Obviously and that's my point. You are not going to avoid Google if you use the web. The best you can do is limit exposure.

>Google is adversarial then don't use Gmail

This is ignorant and unhelpful. Do you think I just decided not to consider that option? I don't have an option. I have to use it for work. This is the problem with the "don't use it" crowd. Most people are not going to get away from the major email provider options. The best I can do is sign in via browser or a 3rd party app.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#142

Post by Kototama »

Dutchie2020 wrote: post #59

Does anyone here have any experience with the /e/OS mentioned in the article?

It's rather good and at some point they managed to have release for my previous phone model when the lineageos stopped!

I used it without their cloud services. Some of the pre-installed apps cannot be removed (like email, pdf readers) which is slightly annoying. They have their own launcher/desktop but it's not that good, it even crashes time to time.

Last time I checked, it was not super transparent which non-FOSS store they used.

Overall I think the experience with LineageOS is better but /e/ comes with MicroG so it's practical if you need a few proprietary apps.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#143

Post by kekebo »

cookiengineer wrote: post #123
doc_gunthrop wrote: post #69

A distinction needs to be made clear here with regards to the data being transmitted to Google by LineageOS in this study. In the cited paper ( https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/Android_privacy_report.pd... ), the device used to test LineageOS was a Google Pixel 2 running LineageOS 17.1 which also included an installation of OpenGapps 10.0 nano . It's not the OS that is transmitting the data over to Google, but rath…

Technically, the Internet Connectivity Check on LineageOS also sends your position/IP to Google, and also avoids a VPN tunnel because it's lower down the stack. I can recommend LineageOS, however be aware that lots of malware infected builds have made it to xda dev in the past, so you should build it yourself if possible (or use the official downloads). Regarding the Connectivity Check: You can add all google related…

One used to be able to change the captive portal url using adb [0], although I'm not sure that's still the case in current android builds.

[0] https://gist.github.com/tonyseek/bc5b72197ddb15418c614060617...

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#144

Post by johnbrodie »

cookiengineer wrote: post #123
doc_gunthrop wrote: post #69

A distinction needs to be made clear here with regards to the data being transmitted to Google by LineageOS in this study. In the cited paper ( https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/Android_privacy_report.pd... ), the device used to test LineageOS was a Google Pixel 2 running LineageOS 17.1 which also included an installation of OpenGapps 10.0 nano . It's not the OS that is transmitting the data over to Google, but rath…

Technically, the Internet Connectivity Check on LineageOS also sends your position/IP to Google, and also avoids a VPN tunnel because it's lower down the stack. I can recommend LineageOS, however be aware that lots of malware infected builds have made it to xda dev in the past, so you should build it yourself if possible (or use the official downloads). Regarding the Connectivity Check: You can add all google related…

I can't recall the exact settings to push via ADB, but the Internet Connectivity Check is "easy" to fix. Create a server that's always up that responds with a 301 (or whatever the check expects), and push the address to the phone. Done.

It's a shame that Google's servers are the default, and I wish it were at least called out by Lineage. That said, I doubt they want to cover hosting costs of such a service (although I'd think they'd be fairly minimal).

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#145

Post by xanaxagoras »

markenqualitaet wrote: post #76
jonstaab wrote: post #49

Feeling quite smug about switching to CalyxOS earlier this week.

Can I expect CalyxOS to support the Pixel 6 rather soon? Is e.g. camera performance dependent on closed source Google code/firmware? What are the limitations there? I was going for GrapheneOS, but tbh seeing that one main developer's personality issues turned me off big time. I don't care about technical advantages, if I have to trust in that guy's impulse control. Too small a project for that.

You can expect a dedicated team to start working on it once they're able to get their hands on some Pixel 6 devices. They don't get them early from Google you know, there's no cooperation there. They buy them when they're released just like we do, and it hasn't been released yet so work hasn't started.

The general attitude towards GCam seems to be... Calyx isn't going to ship it but it's generally understood most people will be using it. The recommendation I got when I switched was to install the apk and disable all network access via Datura before I launched it for the first time. That works well, the pictures look great too. A recommendation I heard after I did that which I will be following next time is to extract the gcam apk from your new phone before you flash calyx and install that one (to avoid apkmirror or whatever).

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#146

Post by xanaxagoras »

doc_gunthrop wrote: post #69

A distinction needs to be made clear here with regards to the data being transmitted to Google by LineageOS in this study. In the cited paper ( https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/Android_privacy_report.pd... ), the device used to test LineageOS was a Google Pixel 2 running LineageOS 17.1 which also included an installation of OpenGapps 10.0 nano . It's not the OS that is transmitting the data over to Google, but rath…

> One can find custom LineageOS builds that include MicroG

Why bother? Just use Calyx.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#147

Post by AuthorizedCust »

marcellus23 wrote: post #66
extr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How have you found the transition to iOS? For me, the task switcher OCR feature is absolutely killer, one of the main things still keeping me on Android. Does iOS have anything similar?

iOS 15 now OCRs text across the OS, including screenshots. So you can take a screenshot and get OCR'd text from there.

That's more of a process than simply selecting text on the task manager tile.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#148

Post by kitsunesoba »

numair wrote: post #53
AuthorizedCust wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switc…

As I understand it, each iOS application is sort of like its own 3D plane within a larger environment, hence why the launcher shows up without any lag. I hope someone can do the work of pasting the original Aqua framework overview that’s probably still hiding somewhere on the Apple website. The manner in which the combination of OpenGL (Metal?) and PDF work to render UI and elements on OS X and iOS is really quite re…

Yeah the iOS multitasking view tracks all the way back to windows in OS X 10.5 Exposé being actual windows instead of snapshots, and the parlor trick of QuickTime player windows continuing to play video when minimized to the dock all the way back in 10.0 (and perhaps the 10.0 public beta, I forget). It’s the kind of thing that family of operating systems has handled well for a long time.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#149

Post by streamofdigits »

How far are we from a phone that: ships fully formed - no flashing and stuff, has reliable supply chain and production, is open source only, usable on a daily basis (stable, normal battery life, all basic apps, easy upgrades) and ideally repairable / recyclable as much as possible?

I would leave "high-end" specs and price constraints out of scope to make this a reality sooner than later.

There are several contenders and combos /e/, lineageOS, pinephone, fairphone etc and I wish them all godspeed (also other small efforts out there I am not aware of), but its not clear which one is ready for just the simple, honest, society and environment friendly mobile computing that we should have had all along and it is really a crime that we don't.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#150

Post by AuthorizedCust »

extr wrote: post #54
AuthorizedCust wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switc…

How have you found the transition to iOS? For me, the task switcher OCR feature is absolutely killer, one of the main things still keeping me on Android. Does iOS have anything similar?

I find the Pixel experience to be superior. But I took each of the areas where Pixel is better, item by item, and scored their value, and came out with a score recommending I keep the iPhone: https://www.arencambre.com/iphones-are-inferior-to-android-p...

Context: I made that right after I got an iPhone 12 Pro Max. It was running iOS 14. iOS 15 may bias the score towards Apple even more with the current phone, and iPhone 13 biases it a bit more.

I still like Android better.

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