I give up… Privacy is a fool’s game and it’s a losing one at that. We are slowly entering a world where more and more requirements are made on people to own a regular non-hipster cell phone. There are places you can’t even buy parking or look at a restaurant menu without having a proper cell phone.
Maybe the answer is not to flash some obscure on life support operating system on your Google pixel but rather… maybe the answer is to work within the system and simply adjust privacy controls as allotted?
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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Both ends need working on. I think creating and supporting new movements require change, it starts with individuals fighting for more rights on a microscopic level. Shifting to GrapheneOS will accelerate Google to make changes for the good of all of us.
Be wise and patient. I think our older politicians don’t accept these concepts, but as our young grow into old then we’ve got a platform to fight for.
that’s because you are trying an individual solution to a collective problem.
going for the roots of it involves going for the corporations and oligarchs taking control of our electronics, not simply installing a private rom.
The simplest thing you can do is to just use your phone as little as you can.
I use a regular phone because my model doesn’t support GrapheneOS or other custom OSs. So I just use my phone as little as possible: calls, whatsapp/LINE/telegram almost only for info about meeting people, not to discuss deep stuff. Proprietary backup deactivated. No games, no superfluous stuff if not a hardened Firefox as browser and my Bank app (sigh). All other few apps I have are FOSS and/or privacy oriented. I use syncthing with encryption enabled so I can backup all data on my desktop with little hassle and regularly delete photos/chats on my phone.
If I have to use a privacy invading app on my phone to buy a parking ticket or something similar: I download the app, block all permissions, use it, delete cache/datas and then delete it.
If I lose my phone tomorrow it would not even be a big deal because I have almost no data in it. I know it’s not a perfect model since a few apps and the phone itself do have telemetry, but it’s better than going around with a device filled with sensitive data. It reduces a lot of stress and it’s very manageable for me.
And when those controls are removed because most people went along with it and they were determined as a waste of development time by a corporate or government entity because people also give up on that then what? This is not an answer to anything, it’s complacency that will just erode privacy more and make the problem worse.
Eh privacy isint cheap, you gotta have multiple devices so it doesnt get too complicated
Why even post this? do you really need outside validation every time you decide to give up?
Unless you are an activist willing to dedicate large amounts of your time to the cause, that is probably our future.
I get the feeling. My wife and I keep wondering how long we can refuse to use smartphones. I like polluting the data pool. There is a developer app to set a faux location for the phone. anything I can do to send wrong data is a bigger thing to me than not sending the data.
Just install GrapheneOS. Simple.
Typical GrapheneOS user. Blindly shills it without even reading the thread.
God forbid the normie has to do anything to protect himself.
I did read the post. Way easier to install GrapheneOS then it is to fiddle with non-existent privacy controls on stock. GrapheneOS is highly popular and pretty much just works so the on life support thing is BS. Yes if you must have one of the few apps that don’t work, sure you’ll have to use stock or just not use the app. I’ve not found any apps that I need that don’t run on GrapheneOS but there are some.
Keep in mind too, that not all apps work on all stock phones either for one reason or another.
I think perhaps you missed the context there. The future for Android custom ROMs like GrapheneOS is looking quite bleak currently, even its developers have acknowledged this.
Why? Google closing android development? Lack of hardware to install it on?
I think they were saying that, with the google pixel reference in the post. Graphene also has issues, certain apps and services flat out dont work, Its not for everyone. but it is infinitely better than stock imo.
Being treated like cattle is for everyone though it seems.
Normies get what they deserve
Its a fight against corps and bad actors. Why attack potential allies? Genuinely hate people like you. you arent better than these people, get a grip.
That’s not an attack, thats a comment on the current reality.
Yes some don’t work but frankly none I needed. Originally my banking app did not work, but they upgraded it and after that it worked fine. So I would say mostly it just works. Not all apps even work on all stock phones either.
I want to run a bit faster than my hiking buddy to avoid being caught by the bear. I want my car or bike to look more of a pain to steal than the one parked next to it.
There’s no perfect privacy. I want to outpace my peers so that they are the more attractive targets.
No, thank you. I’d rather be without a phone than bowing down to these corporations.
Any place asking me to scan a QR for a menu, or need an app for parking probably wasnt worth it to begin with. Yes practicing privacy is not going to “feel” good thats exactly what they want. Just keep fighting back where you can, Make it as unlikely as possible for them to get what they want.
Every person In this comment section has leaks in their system. Unless they are some data security expert, theres simply no way to get by without being “exposed” at some point.
Keep up the good fight. Its worth it. Your eyes and your data are the new currency. Keep their hands off it.
Edit: there is alot of good info in this comment section people should upvote & downvote this post to balance it into being “contraversial” to get more eyes on it. Simply downvoting someone with a “bad take” Is imo unproductive.
Avoiding apps if you can and focusing on using the web and/or PWAs as a good direction too. Lot of the stuff out there for apps really should not be an app to start with. Then there is F-Droid which has most of the actual apps you need.
The ones not in fdroid and where you can’t use a web app, and must have, these are not so many. For me this is some health devices, some transit and travel apps, my local library, a hearing test app, Google Maps, my bank app (for check cashing). All of these also run just fine on GrapheneOS. Lot of those don’t have to be on my phone though if you only have one android device maybe they do. Really transit and travel apps, maybe my local library, and Google Maps are the only ones I use out and about.
Almost every one of these places (that’s truly worth it) will have a way to pay without tech. They still want your money. Hell, ask the guy behind you on line, they’d probably take the credit card points.
There’s no such thing as total privacy. When you walk in the streets, people can see you and that is no problem. Same goes online. You have to reach YOUR balance between privacy and convenience. I have reached mine with two excellent tools that are GrapheneOS and AdGuardHome. Of course I have also excluded privacy-invading apps such as WhatsApp or Google search. I suppose I evade 80% Big Tech usual tracking and I’m happy that way.
Picking your battles is not giving up.
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