Sure, but they also have a tendency to just “ask” Google et. al. for a data dump, besides doing their own collection.
And keeping your device patched (i.e. not relying on your carrier/OEM to ship patches) does discourage them to some extent, using 0days is usually only done manually.
The radio FW is still an issue. Not sure if it is isolated on the S5.
Can I get a quick rundown?
locked bootloader, just more steps and not as easy.
I think you’re thinking of the AT&T version
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nope, I know this as I have one…and need to do all of this lol
Hmm, well dont get an AT&T one either, there’s no way to unlock the bootloader on them. If you’re on AT&T and want to do it, just get the T-Mobile version.
damn, lucky me then. You can unlock the bootloader on a V phone…just a pain in the ass
Sprint and T-Mobile are EZ-PZ
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Seriously hoping this lives up to expectations. Looking to replace my daily driver with something that fits into my pocket; and to replace my phone with something that isn’t sending all my data to Google.
There are ways for current devices to not send data to google. Purism has delayed release of the device multiple times. I woudn’t be waiting on it.
I mean, you could also just get a laptop running linux with a SIM slot.
walking down the street, a wild ringing appears.
You tell your friends - boys someone is calling me, wait a sec.
You get your bag off your back, open your laptop, plug headphones as you don’t want everyone to hear your call and answer.
On the other side you hear - Hello this is Windows support center, your computer has been affected with a virus.
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Or you have bluetooth headphones and a smart watch.
As one learns one finds ways and why privacy equals security. Learning takes time as one gets past the fist-fed propoganda that is today called (PR) public relations continually dumbing down those who do not understand the similarity.
The commentary of those understanding how the internet can and is used to mine your mind, pause, take a good look at the rapids from all angles noting currents, rocks, vortex motions, undertows etc. and will either go for it knowing the vessel’s capabilities and their own…
OR - will simply say “forget it” and portage around it to safe passage.
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With COMPUTEX 2019 washing over many in the tech space it is something where it is “look here, don’t look here”. Google is not the only sapper of internet users data and mind mining.
For all the people at Level1Tech who wish a safe internet, take heed in those teaching, demonstrating and experiencing freedom amd privacy relaying to those starving for the same.
Andriod is not safe even if a Unix/linux kernal is used. Let us just say that a windows-based and driven Linux system used INSIDE WINDOWS PLATFORM O.S. is secure is the same as wolves protecting deer in he headlights.
Google’s over-riding and powerful O.S. on Android is the same as the above. you Android phone, sad to say, is your paid for - by you - personal spy spying on you.
Learn from the GNU/LINUX people. Yes; they are human and do care.
YOU are not a “user.” You are a human.
Think like one.
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I would be cautious of the firmware it installs to run itself. Android generally doesnt have to do this but other OSes need a shim most of the time. Given its community developed but seems primarily chinese ran. I probably would not run it due to china
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To Ethernet_Warrior and all fine people regarding this particular converse
Where boundaries, rights, sovereignty, national boundries of territory are addressed in these insane times; all SEEMS lost to a world out of its collective mind. In attempting to help grandchildren and their friends understand this conundrum upon them reading this topic it is imperative in understanding the present environment they are subjected to verses what was 50/60 years ago before the instant "convenience"of supposed free services pumped out via the prevelant communications means of today.
https://easydns.com/blog/2019/06/03/googles-gmail-scans-parses-analyzes-and-catalogs-your-email/
So the question one damn well better be able to answer those grandchildren had better be the reseached truth after all the hoopla of “convenience” put out by current world wide corporations running the world’s communication highways back-dooring data right through to governments.
Hope this helps as, in earlier post, there are homegrown companies taking back (albeit in its infancy) what was once fair, open and transparent where products are made and you own them instead of you being the product and a company owns you in their ‘closed garden’
Cheers
There is now an alternative to Kai OS, called Puffin OS. It has the same target area of Kai, which is developing countries
I wanted to reply to this thread because although it is older, the issues it raises are every bit as relevant in 2022 as they were in 2019 if not moreso. The partnership between big tech and big authority has dropped the mask in the intervening years.
Also, at least in the US, Sprint has been absorbed into T-mobile and AT&T has begun agressively banning handsets not on their “whitelist” (which presumably is a move against BYOD so that they can sell you a handset with preinstalled AT&T software that makes it easier for them to commoditize your data). The last 2g/3g networks will shut down in two to three months resulting in the loss of not only generations of older handsets but also Sailfish OS which is not VoLTE compatible. Many flavors of Lineage are not either.
The direction in the smart/cell phone industry is clear: consent to data surveillance or be shut out from our devices.
I do not think KaiOS, or anything Google has its fingerprints on (let alone millions of dollars invested) is a safe harbor. There are no free lunches after all.
My strategy was sandboxing: a Nokia 225 for text and voice, a mifi hotspot for those times i must have mobile data which otherwise is powered off, an android tablet without a Google account logged in and a VPN strictly for Telegram, Signal, and the few familial troglodytes still using WhatsApp, a dedicated Garmin GPS for navigation, and a Linux tablet +/- a VPN or for all other everyday matters. I do keep a Windows 8.1 laptop around for document handling, but it is airgapped and the only way on or off it is with an encrypted USB drive. I’m testing a tablet with tails/tor to see how it fits into this puzzle.
Its probably not a perfect solution but one of the ways to combat centralization is decentralization. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to listen to Edward Snowden’s autobiography “Permanent Record”, I’d highly recommend it. I’d listen to it as an audiobook, the tale is told better than it is read.