How is LineageOS for privacy?
How is LineageOS for privacy?
I assume it not completely locked down, but does it mean Google doesn't have access to everything like I assume it does with Android?
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Even without explicit installation of GApps, Lineage still uses and connects to quite a few Google services in the background.
It's a great way of keeping older devices up to date, but not much more than that.
Yes, this is the crux of LineageOS. There is a fork called DivestOS that is more libré and reduces dependence on Google services, as well as having bootloader re-locking for some devices.
Divest is pretty great, I use it myself
It's more like a way to make your devices insecure by unlocking your bootloader, disabling Verified boot and letting all kinds of malware persist on your device as well as allowing anyone with physical access to your device to modify the system partition and load malware onto it.
It's a trade-off, everyone needs to decide for themselves
Sure, but DivestOS is better for old devices as it supports bootloader relocking and it's just much better for both privacy and security. If you want the most secure mobile OS on a modern sevice, go for GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel (which also has hardware security with the Titan M2 secure element).
Divest doesn't officially support MicroG or Sanboxed Play Services though, which can be an issue depending on what apps you need.
Lineage will still be the better option for most people because of this, unless they actually need to buy a new phone anyway
I haven't tried microG on DivestOS yet, but from my experience on CalyxOS (before I switched to GrapheneOS) I can tell that it works really well. Doesn't really matter whether it's officialy supported, you can just install it yourself.
After reading up on it on the DivestOS page, it mostly seems to work, with the exception of SafetyNet
https://divestos.org/pages/faq#microgOptions
Some apps require SafetyNet to work, while the option to enable it currently exists it will not work in the unprivileged mode that DivestOS uses and will be removed in a future update.
But then again, the whole point of the DivestOS project is to remove as much Google and other proprietary code as possible.
So if someone wants to use DivestOS specifically, they likely don't use any apps that need microg.
Right, SafetyNet. I haven‘t tried banking apps (or anything else that requires SafetyNet) with microG, but SafetyNet is just a flawed system in general. Even on GrapheneOS, with the proprietary Google services running in a sandbox, only SafetyNet basic integrity can be achieved, because the OS needs to specifically be whitelisted by Google order to get full integrity. It‘s a ridiculous monopolistic move by Google. I just never use banking apps on my phone, I have a dedicated small and light laptop only for banking, that I can also take on a trip if I need to do anything related to banking on the go. I do this for extra security, so my banking is separated from all my other digital activities, but I‘ve heard that basic SafetyNet integrity that be achieved on GrapheneOS is enough for many banking apps.
Can confirm that a lot of good banking apps and other secure verification app works on graphene without Google. Some shittier banking apps still need the sandboxed Google play.
Well, flawed or not, it's what we need to use if our apps are dependant on it. I guess I'm lucky that my bank doesn't push their App, and even recommends Firefox alongside the other Browsers for Online Banking.
As I said, I don’t do banking on my phone, but if I needed to use a banking app and it was unsupported on GrapheneOS I would honestly consider switching to another bank. The system of banking is flawed as well, that’s why I try to use Monero as much as possible.
Those things could happen. ..maybe, or you could of course cut out the middleman and let Google install a rootkit they call Google play services and guarantee a lack of privacy and security.
Yeah, you shouldn't do that either. That's why I use GrapheneOS and recommend DivestOS for older devices.