Old but still trendy
Other people have already mentioned this, but Google absolutely spies on the whole OS when it makes the OS, either Android or Chrome OS, Google Play Services are spyware and also required for full Android functionality
GrapheneOS my beloved
Should I pull the trigger on the Pixel 8 listing I’ve got up on eBay right now? My level of tech savvy is ‘I installed Bazzite on my gaming laptop and it’s mostly just worked’, I think I should be fine with Graphene but…
(Also, anyone know if Tuta is good? I’m looking for a replacement for Google calendar and Gmail and that seems to fit the bill.)
Your tech level is more than sufficient. Just follow the install instructions on the official site.
Tuta is alright. One of many good alternatives. Just try it out in parallel.
Biased answer but:
- Tuta is good, free plan to try, 3 euros a month for the cheapest paid plan, they are supposedly adding a “cloud drive” to store some files
- GrapheneOS is amazing, easy to install, you control all the permissions if you want, and it’s the most plain and basic Android out there (they don’t make decisions for you out of the box, it’s the realest Android)
Flashing GrapheneOS is pretty easy. On Linux you may have few complications: you must install Chromium or Chrome in order for the USB flashing to work (feature not available with Firefox). You may have to also manually set some permissions for the device in order for it to be detected in Chromium/Chrome.
Tuta sucks, they deleted an acct of mine for inactivity, then when I went to replace it they flagged the new one for manual review and said “this addr cannot send mail until the review clears, please reach out to our support team using the email we just said can’t send email for some reason.” I went with Disroot.
GrapheneOS is super easy to install, they have a walkthrough on their site.
If you were able to install Bazzite then installing graphene shouldn’t be any harder than that. It has a web-based installer that was pretty easy to use as long as you follow the instructions.
The pixel 8 will be supported through the end of 2030 (graphene support follows the same timeline as Google because of firmware-level updates that are still needed from them) so you could still get a lot of use out of it.
And Apple aren’t that much better. They make a lot of privacy claims, but are still pushing hard for their online services like iCloud, and their hardware is designed to hide what it’s doing from the user. Apple is still collecting user data. They might be sharing less with third parties, but they are still collecting it.
We need to support Ubuntu Touch. It’s such a promising alternative and it would be a dream to have it at same level and app support as current major platforms.
Only Apple users think Apple isn’t spying on them.
And Apple users are about to realize with the new Apple AI aka Google Gemini that they ARE spying on them.
No they won’t. Apple users are either tech illiterate or sycophantic. They won’t realize that the “year in review” is actually just a showcase of how much info they have on you.
Used to know an apple fan in college, he almost screamed at me for buying a wired mouse with a good sensor rather than a wireless one with a bad one, because according to Apple, I would benefit more from the latter, and otherwise I’m setting back “wireless mains power tech”, which I showed a disinterest in by buying the wired mouse. He also called me a child when I bought a graphics card.
Everyone who believes their big tech software doesnt spy as much as possible are naive fools
But its almost impossible to avoid anyway
So i can understand that a lot of people just dont care
Myself included, though i do use linux, its not for privacy reasons. I just like linux better thqn windows.
Work requires a mac, and github by microsoft. What you want me to do?
i like the meme, but here is the real version
Don’t forget ChromeOS!
The mail (a web service), the calendar (a web service), YouTube (web videos), YouTube Music (web music), Google Maps (a web based mapping service)…
You get the picture.
Android spies on you when you’re doing things locally on the device. But, the rest of these are web-based services.
Also acceptable:
Linux: You guys have users?
Google spies through its OS too.
I’d make that plural. Google spies through its OSs too.
Meta Is Recruiting Former Pentagon Officials As It Ramps Up Military Ambitions
Reading that headline is crazy, why would Meta have any military ambitions. And then in the first sentence of the text they mention AI. I guess they need to use AI for any possible application to show that they get value from their large investments.
I mean spy only on the web? Android Google is like the most important piece of project in corporate surveillance and don’t get me started on A-GPS
Linux picks a random user out of the hat to prove it - gets someone using android with play services. erm . . . ignore them . . . that doesn’t count.
That really loops back to Google more than a function of linux.
Just because it uses the Linux kernel doesn’t mean it’s real Linux. Google took everything that made Linux good - customisation, root access, privacy, freedom - out of Linux to make Android
Akshually, . . . copypaste . . . mostly google removed the GNU Scotsman.
That is the same kind of pedantry as claiming that ketchup is a smoothie because the tomato is a fruit.
Google spies through androidOS
Time for our sponsor for today’s episode, GrapheneOS. I don’t need tell you what it does because y’all on Lemmy anyways. Honestly it was the most simple setup, you plug your phone into the computer you don’t need to download the software installer locally, its all distributed on their website and it take 2 clicks of the mouse to get a privacy focused OS.
If you have a pixel at least
This was really helpful. I know about GrapheneOS, but I didn’t know install was this easy
It really is. Took me a year to finalls go ahead with it and about half an hour from trying to find the correctly gendered usb cables to figuring out my favourit background image. It was really just go to website -> install graphene.
Next month, Microsoft forced Mojang to comply with the UK government Online Safety Act. All users must upload Digital ID or some other form of Age Verification to a third party company called Yoti. Or else they won’t get to use the chat, friends list, and other social features. All users are affected for now it seems. Yoti claim they will delete the data right away and not store it. This means that even in single player we can’t use commands and see achievements and stuff like that. Really annoying. EDIT: Turns out this is on both Java and Bedrock and probably all platforms such as mobile! Not sure how or when it will happen though.
I will literally never verify my real life ID for some online service. I will cut out that service from my life before betraying my own privacy to such a degree. I will throw my computer out the window before ever doing this.
What the fuck is wrong with people?
Abaurd laws aside, why is a third party involved? In my country we have a digital ID card with an open source governmental app that tells you exactly what data is given out to a service. Which in this example would only be “over 18 years yes/no”
Agreed, if it was Microsoft or Mojang I would trust them more. Though data breaches have occurred there of course. It’s not unheard of for Minecraft accounts to get hacked and stolen.
on a totally unrelated note, been playing a lot of voxelibre in luanti lately
Hold on a minute.
You can’t play Minecraft on windows without verification???.
Or any OS since the verification is for the java version?
But how would that work for single player?
I should be able to run anything on my fucking pc. Everyone who tells me otherwise is a fucking asshole.
You can still play single player but there will be restrictions such as not being able to use the chat (even for commands and coords) or your friends list. You likely won’t be able to access servers or realms. It is unclear if you can use modded versions or older versions to get around this new law. It is unclear how and when they will update this. You won’t have to use Digital ID only but the other methods are just as invasive. I believe this will be mandatory on all versions whether PC or otherwise. Yeah it is really dumb and annoying.
I am switching to a typewriter and physical mail 😐
Use Homing Pigeons. They won’t expose your darkest secrets.
