deGoogle

cross-posted from: https://leminal.space/post/8396158

I've used LineageOS with microG on my Oneplus 6 for years — so happily, in fact, that I haven't bothered with major updates since version 17 (Android 10). Oops!

Now I've been flashing updates to an older phone, and I might as well continue getting my daily driver up to date. I'm going to dirty flash my way up to the current version (21). But I'm rusty as all heck, and the upgrade instructions seem to have changed since last:

1. Back in '21 I recall being recommended to disable screenlock (fingerprint/PIN/pattern, etc) before upgrading. Is that still a thing?
2. With a/b slot devices it used to be necessary to flash ROMs twice or use a copy-partitions or simiilar zip file. The instructions make no mention of it, is that rolled into the upgrade package now?
3. Finally, is it safe to just upgrade directly from LOS/mG v18 to v21? Because neither LOS main or the mG branch seem to archive older versions but I'd hate to miss some system update or other.

All help is appreciated!

Edited for clarity: Please don't offer suggestions on "better" phones or OSes — my question regards the above only. Thanks in advance 👍

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/17202620

I have OnePlus 7 Pro that I successfully flashed with LineageOS 21 with MicroG. Do you have some interesting apps or ideas to take advantage of it? I thought of some Magisk modules. Maybe someone is more experience than me! This is the spare smartphone, the main one is GrapheneOS, so I don't mind breaking stuff.

Some companies are easy to quit. If I decide I don't like Coca-Cola anymore I can simply stop drinking Coke. Sure, the company makes more than just Coke, so I would need to do some research to figure out which products they do and don't make, but it's theoretically possible.

Quitting Google isn't like that. It makes many products, many of which you depend on to live your digital life. Leaving a company like that is like a divorce, according to an expert I talked to. "It's not easy, but you feel so much better at the other side," said Janet Vertesi, a sociology professor at Princeton who publishes work on human computer interaction. "Think of a friend who gets a divorce and is so happy to be out. That could be you. That's how it feels to leave Google."

She'd know. Vertesi researches NASA's robotic spacecraft teams and also publishes work on human computer interaction. In March 2012, after Google significantly changed its privacy policies, she decided to stop using Google entirely. Vertesi also runs The Opt Out Project, a website full of recommendations and tutorials for replacing "Big Tech" services with community-driven and DIY alternatives. She is, in other words, someone who has done the work, so I wanted to ask her for some advice about how someone should approach quitting Google.

Lifehacker has already published a comprehensive guide to quitting Google and a list of the best competitors to every Google product years ago, and that information stands up for the most part. But not using Google anymore isn't just a technical process—it's a massive project. Here's some advice on how to tackle it.

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/13155149

other people’s iPhones more intrusive than other people’s droids

According to the linked research, all iPhones are spying on everyone within Wi-Fi range. If your phone of any kind is squawking wi-fi, all in-range iPhones are grabbing various bits of data like your MAC address and the SSIDs your phone normally looks for (e.g. your home SSID) and reports that back to Apple along with time and location data. The same study could not say the same for Google. So other people’s iPhones are more of a privacy intrusion to you than other people’s droids.

your own iPhone is less intrusive than your own droid when navigating

However, another study shows an inversion between Apple and Google when it comes to what you own and use for navigation. If you use an iPhone for navigation, the iPhone will only send one or two BSSIDs near you to Apple’s server, and the server then floods you with detailed information about other possible BSSIDs around you and their position, so your own device computes your precise location, not Apple’s servers.

Whereas if you navigate using Google’s location services, your device feeds everything to Google and Google’s server does all the work, computes your precise location, and tells you. This is of course more intrusive because Google learns your precise location and time, and (IMO) is likely interested in whatever shop you might be in.

These two studies actually seem superficially contradictory. But there is a difference between ratting out other portable devices and reporting stationary devices.

free-world proponents might be able to exploit Apple for better nav

In any case, the take-away for people living in the free world: forget about using Google Location Services to improve your navigation if you do not want to feed Google your precise location. OTOH, there seems to at least be a theoretical possibility for people not pawned by tech giants to use Apple’s API to get better-than-GPS navigation. Though I suspect it would mean many people would have to share someone’s sacrificial Apple account or get burner accounts.

I’m always on the look out for ways to improve my shitty navigation on a deGoogled phone that’s limited to a slow energy hungry GPS receiver -- without feeding the baddies.

The GPS receiver in Androids takes a long time to acquire satellites. I find that suspicious because back in the days of TomTom and Garmin, satellite acquisition was only slow on the first bootup or after being powered on far from home. But those dedicated satnavs seemed better at remembering satellite data. It seems like Android might be deliberately slow in order to incentivize users turning on “Google Location Services” (GLS). I also notice OSMand sometimes thinks I’m moving along a few meters away, sometimes on another parallel street. I did not see that degree of inaccuracy on TomTom or Garmin.

I will not agree to GLS because I will not feed Google. So how can I improve the speed of getting a fix and the accuracy?

I know there is an app that uses the phone’s other sensors to track position from an origin that you specify. It claims to not even need GPS. I still have to try that. But it might be useful if it would use GPS to periodically recalibrate.

Is there any free-world way to fetch a db of SSIDs and GSM towers in a city, and bypass GLS?

update

Thanks for the replies. Just now (14 days after my post) I happened to discover replies here when visiting the instance directly while logged out. That’s really screwy that I apparently need to be subscribed to the whole community to get notifcations of replies to my single post. Now that I’m logged in and viewing the slrpnk mirror, I can’t interact with the other comments.

I am trying to take control of my digital footprint and not trust big tech with my privacy.

The big step is to #degoogle my life. In order to do that, ironically, I need to buy a google pixel😁

I would like to collect the scenarios in which people are forced to enter Google’s #walledGarden (that is, to establish and/or maintain an account).

If someone needs a Google service to access something essential like healthcare or education, that’s what I want to hear about. To inspire a list of things that are “essential” I had a look at human rights law to derive this list:

• right to life
• healthcare
• freedom of expression
• freedom of assembly and of association
• right to education
• right to engage in work and access to placement services
• fair and just working conditions
• social security and social assistance
• consumer protection
• right to vote
• right to petition
• right of access to (government) documents
• right to a nationality (passport acquisition)
• right of equal access to public service in his country

Below is what I have encountered personally, which serves as an example of the kind of experiences I want to hear about:

• Google’s Playstore is a gate-keeper to most Android apps in the world and this includes relatively essential apps, such as:
  • major medical provider (megathread)
  • emergency apps (e.g. that dial 112 in Europe or 911 in the US)
  • banking apps
  • apps for public services (e.g. public parking)
  • others?
• (education) Google docs is used by students in public schools, by force to some extent. Thus gdocs sometimes cannot be escaped in pursuit of education. When groups of students collaborate, sometimes the study groups impose use of gdocs. Some secondary school teachers impose the use of Google accounts for classroom projects.
• (education) A public university’s wi-fi network involved a captive portal and the only way to gain access was to supply credentials for a Google or Facebook account.

I’ve noticed that when creating an account for a public service I often have the option to supply credentials for Google or Facebook to bypass the verification process. In all cases of this kind of registration shortcut being used for public service, there was an alternative Google-free way to open the account. But in the private sector, I’ve seen this style of registration that absolutely required a proxy login via some shitty walled garden (like the university wi-fi). So I wonder if there are any situations where a government (anywhere in the world) requires a Google account in order to get service.

geteilt von: https://feddit.de/post/9709788

"Thema: Ungoogle Your Life oder Reduziere deinen Datenoutput

Kurze Begriffserklärung: Was ist Tracking

Wie Tracking in Apps die Sicherheit und den Datenschutz unnötig gefährdet Was mit den gesammelten Daten noch verfolgt wird Was trackt Google an Daten Zusätzliche Probleme (Cloud Act und Freedom Act: in den USA) Was bedeutet der Verzicht auf die Google-Dienste? Die Liste der Dienste ist lang. Hier nur die Wichtigsten der weit über 100 Dienste: Suche: Text, Bilder, Flüge, Bücher, Reisen, Videos, Finanzen, News, ... Kommunikation: Chat, Classroom, Fonts, Meet, VoiP, Messages, ... Produktivität: Gboard, Gmail, Kalender, Charts, Docs, Drive, Translate Karten: Maps, StreetView, Sky, Earth Software: PlayStore, Chrome, Android, Wallet, Auto, Pay, Firefox, Flutter, Gemini Hardware: ChromeBook, Pixel Phones, Nest, ChromeCast, FitBit, Glass, Stadia Controller Das Geschäftsmodell von Google ist seit 20 Jahren bekannt. Es gab unzählige kritische und aufklärende Berichte darüber, auch in Mainstream-Medien. Der Spruch "don't be evil" stand seit dem Jahr 2000 im Code of Conduct von Google. Laut einer Recherche der ZEIT wurde das Motto von Anfang an missverstanden; es ist aus einem Witz entstanden. 2015 hat der Mutterkonzern Alphabet das Motto in “do the right thing” geändert und am 5. April 2018 erneuert. Seitdem heisst es inoffiziell "And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!” Der Spruch gilt intern, stellt jedoch kein nach aussen gerichtetes Motto dar. Was hat sich über die Jahre am Verhalten informierter Nutzer:innen verändert? Gibt es überhaupt Alternativen zu alldem, die mehrheitsfähig sind? Müssen die Alternativen überhaupt mehrheitsfähig sein? Links Google Jahresumsatz 2023:

https://www.googlewatchblog.de/2024/02/google-milliarden-dollar-jahresumatz/

Quellen:

Welche Daten sammelt Google: https://mobilsicher.de/ratgeber/was-sammelt-google-ueber-mich

Android: Bei jeder Standortermittlung erfährt Google deine Position:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/android-bei-jeder-standortermittlung-erfaehrt-google-eure-position-inkl-imsi-nummer/

Paper Zeigt: Ios als auch Google Android übertragen trotz Opt-Out Telemetrie-Daten:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/paper-zeigt-ios-als-auch-google-android-uebertragen-trotz-opt-out-telemetrie-daten/

Gmail liest eure E-Mails mit:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/gmail-google-liest-eure-e-mails-mit/

Google One Ein VPN Dienst von Google, ein Paradoxon:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/google-one-ein-vpn-dienst-von-google-ein-paradoxon/

Geheime Komonadozentrale Google Play Dienste:https://mobilsicher.de/ratgeber/geheime-kommandozentrale-google-play-dienste

Cookies, wie Google seine Nutzer Seitenübergreifend erkennt bzw. Trackt:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/cookies-wie-google-seine-nutzer-seitenuebergreifend-erkennt-bzw-trackt/

Wie Tracking in Apps die Sicherheit und den Datenschutz Uötig Gefärdet:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/wie-tracking-in-apps-die-sicherheit-und-den-datenschutz-unnoetig-gefaehrdet/

Take Control Googles Datensammelwut unter Android Einschränken:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/take-back-control-googles-datensammelwut-unter-android-einschraenken/

Mastercard Verkauft Transaktionsdaten an Google:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/mastercard-verkauft-transaktionsdaten-an-google/

Wie Google jemanden fast über das gesamte Internet Verfolgen kann:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/wie-google-jemanden-fast-ueber-das-gesamte-internet-verfolgen-kann/

Google No Captcha Recaptcha Datenstaubsauger:https://www.kuketz-blog.de/google-no-captcha-recaptcha-datenstaubsauger/

Drittanbieter die auch eure Daten erhalten:https://appcheck.mobilsicher.de/drittanbieter

Erklärungen:

Nutzerverfolgung:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutzerverfolgung

MAC-Adresse:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC-Adresse

Was sind Identifier Imei:https://mobilsicher.de/ratgeber/was-sind-identifier-android#IMEI

IMSI:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Subscriber_Identity

Freedom Act:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act

Cloud Act:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CLOUD_Act

Motto: Don't be evil; https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2015-10/alphabet-google-dont-be-evil-slogan-motto "

This is the ASN script by Mike Kuketz and maloe. It is used to block the IP address spaces of Google and other companies. Originally it was developed for IPFire. However, it also works with AFWall and iptables.

I also have a modified version for macOS pf if anyone needs it.

Terminal:

Download:

curl -O https://notabug.org/maloe/ASN_IPFire_Script/raw/master/asn_ipfire.sh
chmod +x asn_ipfire.sh

Run:

./asn_ipfire.sh --add "Google,Facebook,Twitter,Oracle,Acxiom"

If it is to be used with iptables then --iptables must be used instead of --add.

For AfWall use --afwall.

Any major company can be selected by typing in the appropriate name as shown here.

At the end the output file will be generated.