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Pixel Security

security.googleblog.com

61–70 of 152 posts

Re: Pixel Security

#62
I would really love to see Google tackle fixing the security problems presented by the radio chip. A closed source esoteric firmware full of vulnerabilities that has DMA on your primary CPU and is remotely exploitable by state and private actors? Not to mention that it's an entry point into a device that's always on your person, has all of your contacts, emails, text messages, and phone calls, and has a GPS module in it. The radio is a huge problem and dramatically outweighs any other security concerns on a phone imo.

Re: Pixel Security

#63
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nice job slipping a completely unfounded lie into your response. Oh my. Yes Apple backdoors their phones for government surveillance access. There's no sneaking here. I'm saying it very clearly as a central tenet of my comment. ----------------------- Here's a list of things that Apple will provide from Apple's own Guide for Law Enforcement Access: - Device Registration (name, address, email address, telephone numb…

Nothing listed is a backdoor. US law means that Apple must turn over data when demanded by authorities. These are access logs or files stored on Apple servers. A backdoor would be granting access into your device so that authorities could access your non-icloud email, or data saved locally on device.

> Nothing listed is a backdoor.

I'm baffled. I like to think of the quality of HN comments as much higher.

Apple had options to make this data unavailable by design to themselves and to law enforcement. They chose a design so that they could provide this information. The phone does it without the user's consent.

However, I understand that there are people who would rather redefine terminology to suit their cognitive dissonance.

In any case we can agree on the following:

-----------

Apple provides a near majority of your sensitive information to law enforcement by the design of the product, and you can not use the product in a meaningful way without that information becoming available to state surveillance and state law enforcement.

Re: Pixel Security

#64
post #53
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What phones have warranty against dropping included?

>I can’t send my $800 phone to the manufacturer and pay some extra money to get it repaired like I could if this was a Samsung or Apple device. It's not warranty or free repairs he is asking for isn't it? He is asking for paid support.

Ah, I didn't read article. But google also provides some options for that: https://store.google.com/magazine/device_protection https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6309809?hl=en

Re: Pixel Security

#65
post #43
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I called the uBreakiFix in Denver: "we've never seen that phone before, but yeah I think I could fix it". I'm not upset that they don't have an accidental damage warranty, I'm upset that I can't send it to them and pay them the $100/$200/$300 or whatever it is directly for _them_ to fix it, not some random dude who's never seen the Pixel before.

Google will never do anything that involves hiring O(N) employees to support N customers. They'll always outsource things like support, repairs, etc. so that someone else can handle scaling people, while they just go on scaling machines. Given that, the only real possibility is that "some random dude" is going to end up fixing your Pixel. On the other hand, the "who's never seen the Pixel before" part? C'mon, the pho…

If an i-device breaks on the first day and you take it to an Apple Store, the tech fixing it has:

* A repair manual

* Parts

* Tools

* The ability to replace your device on-the-spot with a new one if they brick it

Re: Pixel Security

#66
Isn't the pixel the phone that was just pwned inside 60 seconds by security researchers?

And doesn't google have a terrible track record of releasing data to federal agencies?

So, aside from purchasing a phone that is built by data-mining, internet advertising giant, google can't even begin to make the claim that they value user security.

Re: Pixel Security

#67
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…

It's funny, I'm this exact same boat. My pixel died a little after two week (which is the requirement to get a return). I filled out their warranty claim thing, and >48 hours finally got a response, which is a trouble shooting guide. I replied that I tried all that stuff, and had to wait another 2 days for another response (asking for information I already gave). I'm extremely disappointed. I thought with their whole…

> I thought with their whole advertising of "24 hour support" they identified customer support as a weakness of theirs, and are trying to remedy it. Nope.

I'm very sorry you had that awful experience. I know it doesn't remedy your past experience, but please know myself and many other Googlers have been and still are putting a lot of work into the tools being used by the customer support reps around the globe to better help you.

Re: Pixel Security

#68
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

I don't know how many people really understand the algorithm that ranks posts, or perhaps more importantly, how much human intervention is a factor.

Re: Pixel Security

#69
post #14

Google security is so strong, they'll even lock you out of your own account when changing cities, with no chance to get it reinstated : https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/5dif8j/psa_google_...

http://www.slashgear.com/pixel-phone-flipping-scheme-googles... Looks like Google is reinstating accounts.

Good, now whenever I need tech support, all I need to do is get my gripes published in a global news site and trend on Hacker News so I can get Google to respond to me...

Re: Pixel Security

#70
meanwhile we still have to deal with a SIM and the baseband is a whole other clusterfuck entirely...

Can the users actually get the keys to their own stuff?

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