this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2025
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Privacy
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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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Maybe? There are ways to limit what apps are able to access the internet. Rooting, or installing a Custom ROM may be possible on your current phone.
I won't break entirely. It'll probably mostly work, but a lot of systems in normal android phones do rely on google play services.
Definitely. FOSS apps tend to be entirely local, not phoning home unless there is good reason in the context of the functionality of the app. At the very least, they will more often than not still work, if denied internet access. This doesn't mean good commercial software doesn't exist, though.
A VPN is probably not necessary for your privacy. Using one is potentially even a privacy risk, as you then need to trust the company providing it, in addition to your ISP. Your actual internet traffic is encrypted either way, unless you visit websites that do not use HTTPS, which is extremely rare nowadays.
A VPN provider can potentially log every site you visit, just like your ISP.
The actual benefits are mostly practical, being able to access streaming services and other sites from other countries.
It does hide your IP but this isn't as big a deal as you might think, and moot, if the ISP logs your activity.
It does not provide some special extra layer of encryption. It does encrypt the traffic, but most of the time, it was already encrypted anyway. The vast majority of internet traffic is.
Makes sense! Thank you so much! I didnt kmow much about the vpns