Is it worth unlocking the bootloader on my phone? It’s a Samsung with One UI 7.0 (I’ve been avoiding upgrading to 8.0 since they don’t let you unlock it after that). I just want to avoid having Google Services and AI installed. I use my phone to take photos of my art / send it to friends on signal and hate the idea of it being scanned by AI. I use a camera and gallery from fdroid but somehow the default photos app still has access (I know because it makes GIFs of pictures I took even though I marked permissions as “not allowed”). I also would love to get rid of the default apps I don’t use. While I can unlock the bootloader (for now), I can’t install a custom ROM because there are none compatible with my phone, so will I just be forced into using 8.0 at some point anyway? :( ATP I’m pretty much ready to give up smartphones and get a digital camera for anything I don’t feel comfortable feeding to tech companies.

  • uKale@lemmy.world
    1·
    3 hours ago

    While your model may not be supported now, it may be in the future. I would join some of the communities that make custom roms and operating systems and lurk a bit to see if someone is doing a port to your phone and are near the stage where they need testers.

    Look at deGoogle guides to see what you can do to make your phone safer in the mean time. Every little bit can help you be more secure.

  • doodoo_wizard@lemmy.ml
    1·
    4 hours ago

    Are you sure the animations it’s giving you are ai? Android recently got the thing where the phone actually takes a short movie and picks a frame, processes it and hands it to you as the “picture”.

  • lemmyreader@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    15 hours ago

    Besides having a go at removing apps you can install NetGuard https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.faircode.netguard and then block all apps including system apps from using network. From there allow only the apps like Signal you want to give network access to. Drawback is that NetGuard needs an internal VPN connection to work so you can’t use a VPN services and NetGuard at the same time.

  • PiraHxCx@lemmy.mlEnglish
    31·
    20 hours ago

    My biggest beef when someone asks a question about improving security and privacy on a commercial OS and people say “just buy a Pixel/Fairphone” is that, besides not really answering the question, it complete ignores reality outside first world countries.

    • Autonomous User@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      6 hours ago

      Wrong, sold and unsold software spies. We need libre software, software we control.

      This is the type of guy who tells obese people they can get healthy without losing weight, never really answering the problem, totally ignoring reality.

      • PiraHxCx@lemmy.mlEnglish
        11·
        6 hours ago

        Yeah, but while libre software is only available on specific, expensive hardware, it is a PRIVILEGE for the rich.

        Do a test: think of a country that you believe people would need GrapheneOS to protect themselves against the government. Be sure Pixel phones aren’t available there, so just take the retail price of the latest model (because of its limited support time, and other models are going to be just as expensive, buying the latest is more cost-effective) and convert it to that country’s currency. Add 5% because banks get a share in the exchange. Expect that this cost will be at least doubled by tariffs, as third-world countries are full of protectionist taxes and corruption. Wait, we didn’t add the shipping costs yet. So if the retail cost of a Pixel is $800, expect someone from a third-world country to pay $1600~$2000 for it.
        But wait, now check the average income of that place, and you can safely remove 30% of it to get a number closer to the real average income because of top 1% earners and higher income inequality. Now consider that if someone manages to spend only 80% of that income on housing, utilities, transport, clothing, food, healthcare, education/childcare, etc, that person is in a really comfortable zone and can think about buying a new smartphone. Hell, if that person is committed to not eating out even once and only keeps some money for emergency medicine and such, they could spend up to 10% on it. How many months would it take for them to pay for a Pixel 9?
        I did the math quickly here: for a Venezuelan, it would take about 88 months of heavy sacrifices and having no savings, which means the phone would go out of support before they could fully pay for it… oh, and I didn’t take interest rates into account.

        So yeah, thanks to everyone who gave tips on how to improve privacy and security on commercial OS.

          • PiraHxCx@lemmy.mlEnglish
            12·
            6 hours ago

            Like saying it’s useless to use Tor if you are not on Tails…
            I suggest that you just admit you don’t want to help people improve privacy within their means. If they can’t have it all, they should have nothing.

            • Autonomous User@lemmy.worldEnglish
              21·
              6 hours ago

              We can spread Tor without lying about Windows or macOS being private or crying over comments showing libre system software.

              • PiraHxCx@lemmy.mlEnglish
                1·
                6 hours ago

                Do you really block the word “improve” in your head? Not fucking once I claimed commercial OS could be private so you are arguing against your own imagination here.
                Yeah, if someone got a phone and he doesn’t have the means of getting one compatible with a better OS, I really hope he manages to IMPROVE his privacy with better programs and workarounds. If you however don’t give a fuck and think it’s useless to try to improve his privacy because the OS is still shit, well, either buy that person a device that can use a better OS or move on, because telling that person to just buy it isn’t helping.