I hear many people say that the Google Pixel is good for privacy, but is it?

I’m asking this because I find it weird, of all the companies, Google having the most “privacy”.

  • Vik
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    10 months ago

    I sorely miss the hardware features from my previous phone, like a notification LED, MicroSD card slot and headphone jack, but I can’t go back to a phone where I can’t re-lock my bootloader after installing a custom ROM like CalyxOS or GrapheneOS.

    MAC address randomisation is pretty neat too.

      • Vik
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        210 months ago

        An Asus Zenfone 6. Still ended up being a regrettable purchase for other reasons.

    • @drspod@lemmy.ml
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      410 months ago

      I can’t go back to a phone where I can’t re-lock my bootloader after installing a custom ROM

      Is this something that only certain models of phone are capable of doing? Or is it a new Android/hardware feature that only new phones have?

      • @CatWhoMustNotBeNamed@geddit.social
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        10 months ago

        It requires a flashed rom with a valid (key signature? Crap, forget what it’s called).

        If you flash an unsigned kernel and try to boot lock, it’ll brick.

        I get from an absolute security perspective why this is deemed important, I just feel there’s a bit too much focus on it, as if an unlocked bootloader is really that insecure. It would still take tremendous effort to get the encryption key for storage, so it’s pretty effectively secure still.

      • Vik
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        10 months ago

        It’s specific to the bootloader of a given device. Most devices don’t seem to support being locked with custom OS images using self signed keys.