Privacy Guides

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In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.

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make google pixel as private as possible (kbin.social)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

ill intall graphene os, i just need my carrier to unlock it first. for now though, what can i do to make it as private as i can?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Install GrapheneOS, don't install the Google services package. Install as few proprietary apps as possible. Use free and open source apps, for example from the F-Droid repository. Mind that your carrier always knows where you are, because you're connected to a cell tower nearby. Choose a good carrier and forbid them to use or sell your data. (Or activate airplane mode.)

Also use a suitable browser like Mull. And no social media or "free" services that harvest your data. Instead get a mail provider and instant messenger from companies/projects that respect your privacy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

can't install graphene until my carrier unlocks it. only temporarily using pixel os

I already use graphene normally on my old pixel

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Ah, I thought you were asking a general GrapheneOS setup question. I somehow missed the "for now". Now I get it, you want to know what you can do in the meantime... Well phones come with a load of bloatware. And I don't think you can get rid of the Google stuff on a normal phone, let alone on a Pixel. Not connecting it to a google account is a start. But it pings Google every few minutes and transfers data anyway. You can go through all the settings and disable all targeted advertising and cloud services. Apart from that I'm afraid there isn't much you can do. As far as I know the google services run with more privileges as "system-apps". And unless a phone is rooted, there is nothing that can be done on the device itself to prevent such an app from talking to the internet. Well you could use Wifi only and block everything with the firewall of your router. I don't now your threat scenario / what you want to protect against... Disabling everything and not having a google account tied to it might be enough. If you absolutely need privacy, disconnect the device from the internet, use it just to call people and use a Linux computer to access the internet... I think you have to compromise.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Download fdroid and start switching to open source apps

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

not gonna set it up, as I won't be staying. I already use 99% foss