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In other words, drug dealers are privacy-conscious and the Google Pixel is one of the strongest hardware platforms for privacy-aware configurations.

bapak 1y ago
> GrapheneOS boasts particularly secure and well-executed full disk and metadata encryption, a security feature So, the default iPhone experience?
- SoftTalker 1y ago
  Yeah I would have guessed it was more the easy availability of cheap android burner phones than Google Pixel specifically.
- const_cast 1y ago
  GrapheneOS goes much, much further than that, providing stronger sandboxes for apps and Google Play Services. GrapheneOS also allows multiple users, isolating things like your filesystem and camera roll from groups of apps. You can do things like install and update apps in one profile with stronger permissions, and then actually operate the apps in another profile that's locked-down. You can also do things like install apps that require Google Play Services in one profile, but then run them in another with no Google Play Services. In practice, you can have a phone that never phone homes to Google while still running apps that depend on Google Play Services. If you're really savvy, you can even protect your identity from google entirely, using anonymous accounts for the Play Store. You can even get RCS up and running with no Google Services running or Carrier apps running. As far as I know, you can't turn off phoning home to Apple on iOS. Nor do you know what, exactly, is being phoned home.
lazide 1y ago
Maybe they can also sideload custom apps that would never pass App Store review?
- bapak 1y ago
  Being in Europe, I think that's not an issue for iOS anymore.
  - lazide 1y ago
    They can use alternative AppStore’s now, but that isn’t sideloading. It still is a centralized place to track/attack/control what I can do. Which would be a problem for someone doing something illegal in that same jurisdiction. Also, if I was doing something illegal, the other controls Apple has over iOS would make me reconsider using it, even with the ‘other AppStores’. At least if I’m flashing my own OS, and installing things directly and locally, I can think I’m bypassing most factory level spyware and without centralized monitoring. In theory at least.

bapak 1y ago

> GrapheneOS boasts particularly secure and well-executed full disk and metadata encryption, a security feature So, the default iPhone experience?

SoftTalker 1y ago
Yeah I would have guessed it was more the easy availability of cheap android burner phones than Google Pixel specifically.
const_cast 1y ago
GrapheneOS goes much, much further than that, providing stronger sandboxes for apps and Google Play Services. GrapheneOS also allows multiple users, isolating things like your filesystem and camera roll from groups of apps. You can do things like install and update apps in one profile with stronger permissions, and then actually operate the apps in another profile that's locked-down. You can also do things like install apps that require Google Play Services in one profile, but then run them in another with no Google Play Services. In practice, you can have a phone that never phone homes to Google while still running apps that depend on Google Play Services. If you're really savvy, you can even protect your identity from google entirely, using anonymous accounts for the Play Store. You can even get RCS up and running with no Google Services running or Carrier apps running. As far as I know, you can't turn off phoning home to Apple on iOS. Nor do you know what, exactly, is being phoned home.

lazide 1y ago

Maybe they can also sideload custom apps that would never pass App Store review?

bapak 1y ago
Being in Europe, I think that's not an issue for iOS anymore.
- lazide 1y ago
  They can use alternative AppStore’s now, but that isn’t sideloading. It still is a centralized place to track/attack/control what I can do. Which would be a problem for someone doing something illegal in that same jurisdiction. Also, if I was doing something illegal, the other controls Apple has over iOS would make me reconsider using it, even with the ‘other AppStores’. At least if I’m flashing my own OS, and installing things directly and locally, I can think I’m bypassing most factory level spyware and without centralized monitoring. In theory at least.