4 ms·
If it were a feature phone, this would be an accurate summary. For a smartphone, calling is a minority usage (an actual issue with the modem, sure) and network
by Piskvorrr 7y ago
If it were a feature phone, this would be an accurate summary. For a smartphone, calling is a minority usage (an actual issue with the modem, sure) and network access is assumed over a hostile link anyway; does it matter if it's hostile at hop 1 or hop 2, if the modem is not a privileged part of the system?
- numpad0 7y agoAn FBI tracker under your car is not a privileged part of your car
- Piskvorrr 7y agoI do not follow the car analogy, please explain.
- lvh 7y agoNot GP: but I assume the answer is "because GPS is in the modem, the closed source untrusted part could still be actively disclosing your location".
- Piskvorrr 7y agoAha! That is a valid concern indeed. Lesser than the usual "baseband has full access to whole system", but still significant.
- lallysingh 7y ago.. But the modem itself is broadcasting it's identity to multiple radio receivers. Is there enough of a difference wrt GPS positioning for the distinction to matter?
- lvh 7y agoSure, I agree it’s subtle. But it is: a) much higher resolution b) potentially to a specific third party who may not have access to cell network data. Like, say, an angry ex-spouse.
- throwaway41597 7y agoCould it be made less bad if you could turn the tracker off (switch to airplane mode by physically removing power from the modem) any time you want? It'd be nice if the PinePhone supported this.
- mirimir 7y agoBoth the PinePhone and Librem 5 have physical kill switches for the modems.
- RL_Quine 7y agoRight. We're just moving the DMZ, and that's for a lot of cases totally fine. Rather than how people would assume it works like this. CPU -> LTE Modem || DMZ || Cellphone Provider We have this for the Pinephone. CPU || DMZ || LTE Modem -> Cellphone Provider This is fine. Remember that in the first model, and in most typical phones, the LTE Modem have above root access to the CPU through DMA. The exception is some more modern devices like the iPhone, which give the modem a specific sandbox device to DMA into that's not the actual processor.