4 ms·

That's one of its primary arguments: besides the hardening against exploits, they're considered such a safe OS because you cannot access your data either and gi

by Aachen 4mo ago

That's one of its primary arguments: besides the hardening against exploits, they're considered such a safe OS because you cannot access your data either and give the wrong app root access. Everything lives in a sandbox. Whether not being able to grant full access to e.g. adb shell, Termux, or Restic is what you want is a personal choice, but it adds a layer of security against any malware that tries to get you to grant them root access This is also the argument they use to try to convince app vendors to add their keys to the allowlist, because the app makers can trust that their DRM will be active (if Netflix sets a "no screen recording" flag, you the user cannot circumvent it by e.g. reading /dev/fb0). It should have broader compatibility than other FOSS Android builds (when running the officially signed version of course, you can't compile it yourself and expect such apps to run there)

kuschku 4mo ago
So it doesn't actually do anything to give control of the device back to the user? One of the core tenets of truly free software is that I as user must be able to run, access, edit, and view everything.
- armadyl 4mo ago
  You are free to make your own build of GrapheneOS with root access and have extremely reduced security. Just don’t expect support on the forums and waste everyone’s time when something happens.
  - kuschku 4mo ago
    "extremely reduced security" That's such a fun statement. Any security measures taken always remove agency from one person and give it to another. iOS takes my control away, and in turn gives that control to Apple. GrapheneOS takes my control away and gives that to the GrapheneOS developers. The "security" you're talking about doesn't prevent certain data from being accessed, it just changes who controls the access. If the user cannot be trusted with their own data, then there is no solution anyway. They'll just tell their private data to a scammer on the phone instead. There is no solution against a user that wants to give their own data away, but if you try to prevent that, the only thing you'll accomplish is destroying general purpose computing.
    - gruez 4mo ago
      >If the user cannot be trusted with their own data, then there is no solution anyway. They'll just tell their private data to a scammer on the phone instead. Security isn't binary. Putting up barriers makes it harder for scammers to steal money. There's a reason why they exploit malware to steal money, rather than asking their victims to send them crypto directly.
      - kuschku 4mo ago
        > There's a reason why they exploit malware to steal money, rather than asking their victims to send them crypto directly. The vast majority of scams literally work by them asking their victims to buy cryptocurrency or gift cards directly. Malware is exceedingly rare. You know what would really help against scams? Avoid putting people in situations where they need to decide right now or they'll face punishment. Modern society has created far too many situations where people need to react without being able to think through the consequences. The only reason scams work is because there are enough actual situations with unnecessary life-or-death decisions.
        gruez 4mo ago
        >The vast majority of scams literally work by them asking their victims to buy cryptocurrency or gift cards directly. Malware is exceedingly rare. Source? This article suggests otherwise: https://www.economist.com/interactive/asia/2026/04/10/scam-inc-has-a-new-weapon https://www.economist.com/interactive/asia/2026/04/10/scam-i... Moreover it seems to be limited to south east asia for now. Just because you're in the US and all the scams you're getting is cold calls from microsoft tech support, doesn't mean scams with smartphone malware doesn't exist. >You know what would really help against scams? Avoid putting people in situations where they need to decide right now or they'll face punishment. >The only reason scams work is because there are enough actual situations with unnecessary life-or-death decisions. In other words, "if we had world peace and everyone could hold hands and sing kumbaya, then we won't have to worry about scams!"
    - HybridStatAnim8 4mo ago

by Aachen 4mo ago

kuschku 4mo ago

So it doesn't actually do anything to give control of the device back to the user? One of the core tenets of truly free software is that I as user must be able to run, access, edit, and view everything.

armadyl 4mo ago
You are free to make your own build of GrapheneOS with root access and have extremely reduced security. Just don’t expect support on the forums and waste everyone’s time when something happens.
- kuschku 4mo ago
  "extremely reduced security" That's such a fun statement. Any security measures taken always remove agency from one person and give it to another. iOS takes my control away, and in turn gives that control to Apple. GrapheneOS takes my control away and gives that to the GrapheneOS developers. The "security" you're talking about doesn't prevent certain data from being accessed, it just changes who controls the access. If the user cannot be trusted with their own data, then there is no solution anyway. They'll just tell their private data to a scammer on the phone instead. There is no solution against a user that wants to give their own data away, but if you try to prevent that, the only thing you'll accomplish is destroying general purpose computing.
  - gruez 4mo ago
    >If the user cannot be trusted with their own data, then there is no solution anyway. They'll just tell their private data to a scammer on the phone instead. Security isn't binary. Putting up barriers makes it harder for scammers to steal money. There's a reason why they exploit malware to steal money, rather than asking their victims to send them crypto directly.
    - kuschku 4mo ago
      > There's a reason why they exploit malware to steal money, rather than asking their victims to send them crypto directly. The vast majority of scams literally work by them asking their victims to buy cryptocurrency or gift cards directly. Malware is exceedingly rare. You know what would really help against scams? Avoid putting people in situations where they need to decide right now or they'll face punishment. Modern society has created far too many situations where people need to react without being able to think through the consequences. The only reason scams work is because there are enough actual situations with unnecessary life-or-death decisions.
      - gruez 4mo ago
        >The vast majority of scams literally work by them asking their victims to buy cryptocurrency or gift cards directly. Malware is exceedingly rare. Source? This article suggests otherwise: https://www.economist.com/interactive/asia/2026/04/10/scam-inc-has-a-new-weapon https://www.economist.com/interactive/asia/2026/04/10/scam-i... Moreover it seems to be limited to south east asia for now. Just because you're in the US and all the scams you're getting is cold calls from microsoft tech support, doesn't mean scams with smartphone malware doesn't exist. >You know what would really help against scams? Avoid putting people in situations where they need to decide right now or they'll face punishment. >The only reason scams work is because there are enough actual situations with unnecessary life-or-death decisions. In other words, "if we had world peace and everyone could hold hands and sing kumbaya, then we won't have to worry about scams!"
  - HybridStatAnim8 4mo ago