smartphone privacy oriented

[OcTradism]

At the end, I decided to buy a Samsung a30 model. Very good cost benefit in my country.

I think it is better to be spied by Google and Samsung than spied by Chinese lol

That's it. At least there are transparent rules in the US and the South Korea, where locals can raise their voices and contribute to build up better laws over time. In China, there is no transparency and all things controlled and manipulated by the governments.

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[Negotiation]

I think the smartphone is the best Android smartphone for privacy based Android smartphones include Xiaomi, Samsung these phones protect their privacy and are very cheap in price. Most people use it There are also Apple phones but many are not used because they are expensive Xiaomi, Samsung, these phones are risky and very safe.

[Thirio]

If I have to pick, I'll choose Pixel (if Apple is not included), but on this list that I searched for, Blackberry is #1. Maybe it's worth checking out. [2]


A30 is a good model too, not bad for the price also. I don't think the depreciation rate of the phone would be reasonable, unlike the flagship phones.

Must say I'd go for pixel too. Especially for a mid-ranger, probably Pixel 3a. Not only it's much cheaper than Pixel 3XL, but most of the internal hardware was also retained including the Titan M chip which helps you protect your sensitive data.

Based on my experience, Samsung's non-flagship phones are really a no-no. The phone would only last a year or so then you'd feel how slow your device is. With Pixel, you won't need to worry about the depreciation of your device because google keeps you updated for at least 4 years. +++ Pixel's camera is a beast.

[Lucius]

At the end, I decided to buy a Samsung a30 model. Very good cost benefit in my country.
I think it is better to be spied by Google and Samsung than spied by Chinese lol

In my opinion I think it's a very solid phone, with pretty good specs, certainly a good value for money. I hope you still buy a model that has 4B RAM, because I see that there is also a model that has 3GB RAM, and I have to tell you that RAM is very important, especially since the operating system alone takes at least half of it.

Regarding spying, if Samsung is using some parts from China, it is possible to spy on users through hardware as well. In my opinion this is not too important anyway, such things simply cannot be escaped in the modern world. Good luck with your new phone

[Kurokonobasuke]

Hello.
I am buying a new smartphone these days.
Which one do you think is better for privacy?
I prefer Android os. I know it is a contra sense somehow,  I am open to suggestions (but apple , I don't use their products)

Android isn't bad to protect you privacy but it's not good as Apple because thet've proven a lot in protecting their user's privacy by not allowing stolen device be acessible via trying to crack it with computers. Anyway, if you really know howto protect yourself with windows computers, you can apply it in using android too because they have a lot of similarities in terms of priacy approach.

[bitmover]

@op since you now have bought the phone and if you arent't looking for any (more) opinions, should this thread be closed?

I think this thread might be important for future users who wants to buy or discuss about privacy on smartphones. Look at how many good replies after yours.

If I have to pick, I'll choose Pixel (if Apple is not included), but on this list that I searched for, Blackberry is #1. Maybe it's worth checking out. [2]


A30 is a good model too, not bad for the price also. I don't think the depreciation rate of the phone would be reasonable, unlike the flagship phones.

Must say I'd go for pixel too. Especially for a mid-ranger, probably Pixel 3a. Not only it's much cheaper than Pixel 3XL, but most of the internal hardware was also retained including the Titan M chip which helps you protect your sensitive data.

For some reason, there are no pixel models in Brazil, so I can't buy one. I can, but i will have to pay a higher price which is not worth.

In my opinion I think it's a very solid phone, with pretty good specs, certainly a good value for money.
-snip-
Regarding spying, if Samsung is using some parts from China, it is possible to spy on users through hardware as well. In my opinion this is not too important anyway, such things simply cannot be escaped in the modern world. Good luck with your new phone

Thanks. I had a Samsung (an S4) and I liked it very much, it worked for years. My old motoG4 was almost 5 years old, I was pretty satisfied with the durability and it was in good shape, except for the camera (which is much worse than the current smartphones) and the glass broke (so i decided to replace my smartphone.)

[boris singer]

most of the latest Samsung Android has adopted Knox Security System which encrypts data that can only be accessed manually by each user, they are quite good with privacy, especially Samsung S10 which has implemented the Samsung Blockchain keystore. I believe nothing is really safe for smartphone privacy, they still have a policy to spy on their users, who are already part of the tracking system policy. But so far their OS has always guaranteed the user's financial activity.

[dkbit98]

At the end, I decided to buy a Samsung a30 model. Very good cost benefit in my country.

I think it is better to be spied by Google and Samsung than spied by Chinese lol

lol
Why do you think it is 'better' to by spied by anyone?
Google is Not good, just because it's name starts with a letter G  

One guide how to reduce tracking:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2019/02/14/your-smartphone-tracking-you-how-stop-sharing-data-ads/2839642002/

[bitmover]

lol
Why do you think it is 'better' to by spied by anyone?

That´s so obvious, and if you read posts in this thread before writing you would know, because we talked about it already here.

Ofc being spied by different people is completely different. Do you prefer being watched by your mom or  by your boss??
Does it makes any difference for you being spied by a friend or by a criminal?

USA (Google) and North Korea (Samsung) have laws to protect individual rights and their privacy, while China doesn't.

Google and Samsung have more legal limitations about what they can spy and what they can do with the data collect.

[Anonaneadone]

Hello.
I am buying a new smartphone these days.
Which one do you think is better for privacy?
I prefer Android os. I know it is a contra sense somehow,  I am open to suggestions (but apple , I don't use their products)

I have used some lot of phones but for me, the best phone for privacy is samsung. There are lots of feature in samsung that can help you to locate your phone. To back up your files like iphone. Because there are account. You cannot off or reset the samsung without some of the password you set. That is why i am using samsung now.

[Artemis3]

Hello.
I am buying a new smartphone these days.
Which one do you think is better for privacy?
I prefer Android os. I know it is a contra sense somehow,  I am open to suggestions (but apple , I don't use their products)

If you want privacy you'll have to look elsewhere. Of course it will also mean a reduced app ecosystem, but then again it might be for the best, especially if you want a phone and not a gaming platform disguised as such

Try this:

PINEPHONE


An Open Source Smart Phone Supported by All Major Linux Phone Projects

Perhaps you’re in a line of work where security is a must, or a hard-core Linux enthusiast, or perhaps you’ve just got enough of Android and iOS and you’re ready for something else – the PinePhone may be the next Phone for you. Powered by the same Quad-Core ARM Cortex A53 64-Bit SOC used in our popular PINE A64 Single Board Computer, the PinePhone runs mainline Linux as well as anything else you’ll get it to run.

The purpose of the PinePhone isn’t only to deliver a functioning Linux phone to end-users, but also to actively create a market for such a device, as well as to support existing and well established Linux-on-Phone projects. All major Linux Phone-oriented projects, as well as other FOSS OS’, are represented on the PinePhone and developers work together on our platform to bring support this this community driven device.


SPECIFICATIONS

• Allwinner A64 Quad Core SoC with Mali 400 MP2 GPU
• 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM
• 5.95″ LCD 1440×720, 18:9 aspect ratio (hardened glass)
• Bootable Micro SD
• 16GB eMMC
• HD Digital Video Out
• USB Type C (Power, Data and Video Out)
• Quectel EG-25G with worldwide bands
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, single-band, hotspot capable
• Bluetooth: 4.0, A2DP
• GNSS: GPS, GPS-A, GLONASS
• Vibrator
• RGB status LED
• Selfie and Main camera (2/5Mpx respectively)
• Main Camera: Single OV6540, 5MP, 1/4″, LED Flash
• Selfie Camera: Single GC2035, 2MP, f/2.8, 1/5″
• Sensors: accelerator, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, ambient light
• 3 External Switches: up down and power
• HW switches: LTE/GNSS, WiFi, Microphone, Speaker, Cameras
• Samsung J7 form-factor 3000mAh battery
• Case is matte black finished plastic
• Headphone Jack

https://itsfoss.com/pinephone/
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/11/pinephone-specs-price-release-date
https://news.softpedia.com/news/the-pinephone-open-source-linux-smartphone-is-now-available-for-pre-order-528169.shtml

They say its about 150$.

[bitmover]

Thanks for te the suggestion
Unfortunately I could not find this one in my location and I have already bought it. But good to know.

It is sad to see that we cannot block all those trackers in our mobile phones, as they are built deep inside in.

[Lambowei]

I know you already bought a phone but: If you really value your privacy, use a Pinephone or a Purism Librem 5. But the hardware is not that good and the software is worse.

[IHF]

I like to be free, so i definitely prefer Android. But I've heard apple ist a bit more private/secure.

So you need to set priorities ...

[semobo]

Thanks for te the suggestion
Unfortunately I could not find this one in my location and I have already bought it. But good to know.

It is sad to see that we cannot block all those trackers in our mobile phones, as they are built deep inside in.

You can increase your privacy by rooting your mobile but has potential risks as well so if you are a techie the rooting will give you full access and can disable any access to any apps even for built in apps.

[Artemis3]

Thanks for te the suggestion
Unfortunately I could not find this one in my location and I have already bought it. But good to know.

It is sad to see that we cannot block all those trackers in our mobile phones, as they are built deep inside in.

I believe the product is on pre-sale orders anyway, but its something to consider next time anyone wants to seriously go this path.

Indeed the hardest thing is, replacing the OS, and having the new OS recognize all the hardware components. I don't think Samsung is any good for that.

Rooting can help mitigate things somewhat, but it can also open vectors for malware, its a double edged sword. Android is rather poorly designed, but iOS isn't much better so never think you are better in there (perhaps its worse if you lower your guard).

Full free open source (Linux with corresponding userspace) is the only way to be sure. While Android does use Linux, it doesn't use free and open source userspace, and what good is a kernel surrounded by garbage? Its like Microsoft replacing their NT kernel with Linux (which some rumors about a plan for doing it actually exist). And Apple falls in the same category.

Besides Pine there is also Librem. There are not many projects oriented for secure and privacy smartphone/tablet, it needs hardware documented so people can use the software they want, something the likes of Samsung don't care or don't wan't.

One thing you could do when rooting, is remove all the garbage the phone comes with, proceed to install F-Droid and install free open source counterparts. Its also a good exercise, because if you ever get an alternative OS phone, you might find you have F-Droid but NOT Google's playstore, so either way its good to familiarize yourself with what is available in the free and open source app space.

For example in my phone i replaced the camera app with Open Camera. Its so much better, it isn't funny how people actually PAY for worse replacements out there... You can find apps for most basic things in there, including basic phone, sms handling and contacts.

Of course not all phones can be rooted, or are easy to. There is a specialized forum for that. And chance of bricking it is high.

[Naida_BR]

I'm using android and xiaomi devices for a lot time.
I am pretty satisfied with the services they provide. However, I am not sure if you can achieve high levels of privacy any more. Smartphones are made to give access to many functions of your data.

[Ucy]

Hello, active Reddit r/privacy dude here.

Your best bet(in my opinion at least) would be to look for a phone, preferably a Pixel or an older Nexus device, that has good support for custom ROMs(check xda-developers). As if you really want decent privacy, you're going to need to install a custom ROM like CopperheadOS or LineageOS, which are far better privacy-wise. Not sure if you want to go this far, but yea.

Note: rooting and unlocking the bootloader of your Android phone can cause you security problems though. So I suggest doing a lot of research first before going on with this if you choose to go this path. Also, depending on what phone model you're using, certain custom ROMs can be unstable and have some hiccups here and there. So again, do your due diligence.

If you're not willing to spend some time into doing some tinkering though, probably an iPhone. As far as I know an iPhone is still better than stock(and untinkered) Android privacy wise.

Interesting.
I checked lineage site, it doesn't seem to be focused on features. I guess they are more focused on privacy, which is a very good thing.
The way I would handle this is to have a seperate phone for the Privacy ROM and another phone for feature-rich ROM. Will then use the privacy phone for security purposes and the feature-rich one for other things.

[semobo]

I'm using android and xiaomi devices for a lot time.
I am pretty satisfied with the services they provide. However, I am not sure if you can achieve high levels of privacy any more. Smartphones are made to give access to many functions of your data.

Data gives them more money than selling their mobiles but actually the one who gives access to the app store get more benefits from the manufacturer because they need to follow the terms mentioned in order to have play store on their mobiles.