Privacy

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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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119

What phone should I buy for privacy? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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My current phone is 7 years old, does not support recent android versions, and battery life is becoming atrocious. This feels like right time to change my phone.

Currently, I know of & am considering 3 options:

Google Pixel
iPhone
Samsung Galaxy

I heard that Pixel is the best choice for privacy, despite it being Google^TM. Should I go with it, and install Graphene OS or similar options? The very fact that the name "Google" is attached makes me nervous. Also, I don't think I can trust android, so I would have to install Graphene OS or the like. In the case, app support would be lacking, though.

I am considering iPhone as well, since it has "reputation" of being secure. Of course, Apple can access my data, but that might be a good enough compromise? Honestly, I don't know. It's the best supported option as well - lots of apps support iPhone.

Galaxy is just the one that I am the most familiar with (my current one is Galaxy S8). I don't trust it, though. Do they even make good hardware nowadays?

EDIT: Turns out, Pixel phones are poorly supported by local telecomm companies. It is relatively cheap though. Still worth it?

EDIT2: I heard that data & message is fine, but the call quality is impacted by lack of VoLTE compatibility.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (16 children)

Just to let you know, GrapheneOS uses AOSP (the base Android system) and sandboxed Google Play Services, making it compatible with 90% of all Android applications. From what I've heard (don't take my word for it), the apps that have the least compatibility / more breakage are banking ones.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (11 children)

While this tends to be true, the vast majority of the banking app incompatibilities are overcome with a simple app-specific toggle.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Which toggle is that and does it work with cash app?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The other answers are correct but I have not gotten cashapp to work. I use an old phone connected to my current phone via hotspot on the rare occasion I need cashapp.

I still recommend GrapheneOS regardless, almost everything else works with nothing more than minor tweaks. If you want something that "just works", you'll run into some hangups. Privacy unfortunately has a cost.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Yeah I've been using graphene for about a year without many issues, cash app is the only one I still can't get working.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dude the exploit protection compatibility mode worked. I'm logged in

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Great! 👍

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