“Meta devised an ingenious system (“localhost tracking”) that bypassed Android’s sandbox protections to identify you while browsing on your mobile phone — even if you used a VPN, the browser’s incognito mode, and refused or deleted cookies in every session.”

  • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 days ago

    The solution is to have stronger privacy laws.

    If everyone followed your solution then Graphene will become the normie os and Facebook will start targeting it. Choosing an esoteric system for yourself is a good way for a free people to protect their privacy, but it won’t scale.

    When we write our new constitution we need to include privacy as a right.

    • the_abecedarian@piefed.socialOP
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      3 days ago

      grapheneOS isn’t security through obscurity, they make efforts to harden the phone’s privacy. You’re right that, if it was mainstream, Meta would target it directly though.

      The solution is to remove the profit motive from acquiring, selling, and monetizing our data. Laws alone don’t stop big corps from doing things.

    • unhrpetby@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      The solution is to have stronger privacy laws.

      Many people have the power to make certain privacy attacks impossible right now. I consider making that change better for those people than adding a law which can’t stop the behavior, but just adds a negative incentive.

      I wouldn’t wait around for the law to prosecute MITM attacks, I would use end to end encryption.

      Choosing an esoteric system for yourself is a good way for a free people to protect their privacy, but it won’t scale.

      If this is referencing using a barely-used system as a privacy or security protection, then I would regard that as bad protection.

      Everyone using GrapheneOS would be a net security upgrade. All the protections in place wouldn’t just fade away now that Facebook wants to spy on that OS. They’re still in place; Facebook’s job is still harder than it otherwise would be.

      • n0face@lemmy.wtf
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        3 days ago

        The problem is that GrapheneOS is only available for Pixel devices.

        I really wish they would support other manufacturers, because I don’t really trust Google to make decent hardware (and to be frank, I don’t trust them with anything at all).

        • Little8Lost@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          I use e/os which is at least de-googled & based on Lineage
          Its not exactly Graphene but it works on 8+ old devices of various manifacturers

          • n0face@lemmy.wtf
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            3 days ago

            I am very keen to get a Fairphone with e/os next time I switch devices.

            Does it work well with Android Auto? I can’t drive much without a map and my music playlist.

            • Little8Lost@lemmy.world
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              16 hours ago

              did not test that but here is a page how to “google” the “de-googled” os for supporting that
              https://doc.e.foundation/support-topics/android-auto

              because of that lineage could be a better option

              About Fairphone: there is an alternative (Shiftphone) that is more expensive but with the main plus points of having a higher storage option and the mainboard is replaceable, they also have somewhere a cheap (~200€) phone that should work if you really just need a phone
              (i mention that as an option, because having choice is always better even if it ends up being the first thing that gets choosen)