privacy

What criteria does "Intelligent Wi-Fi" use to "Detect suspicious networks" when you ask to be notified of suspicious activity in Samsung Galaxy Android 13 settings? Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > 3dots > Intelligent Wi-Fi Detect suspicious network = on "Get notified when suspicious activity...

[Privacy] What does it mean to "Spoof Wi-Fi Provider" in your default Fake GPS mock location app? (Such as Lexa GPS spoofing)? <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakegps>

[Privacy] What does it mean to "Spoof Wi-Fi Provider" in your default Fake GPS mock location app? (Such as Lexa GPS spoofing)? <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakegps>

Is it possible to somehow remove the Google services that were originally installed in the firmware? I would like to use microg instead. And could that be bad for you?

Hello, everyone. I am phiilippi2, obviously. I am a privacy oriented person who enjoys a small challenge. I am looking to run a TicWatch Pro 3 degoogled, using MicroG. I am new to XDA. If you have any pointers to share, I would appreciate it very much. Anyways, I just wanted to introduce...

What is your personal threat model when it comes to choosing a phone OS? Mine is not extreme security/privacy focused, although I'm trying to degoogle as much as I can. I wanted to install LineageOS because of frequent updates and big community, and of course, no google with an option to install...

[PRIVACY] When you force stop & disable Google Play Services, does that one action alone change your Android 12 Settings to remove Google spyware? As part of the research in the thread on Google Maps no longer working only with GPS, and as a follow on to preventing Google from turning on Wi-Fi...

Bad news. Apparently Google has recently changed the Android Google Maps app such that it no longer routes using only GPS. I tested it without a Google account, and with the following turned off in the Android 12 Settings. STEP 1 In Settings | Location | Location services, turn everything...

So I recently reinstalled Pixel OS (the Android 13 version) after playing around with some new ROMs cause overall it was less buggy, gave great battery life but mainly preferred it for the native App Lock feature. After installing though I found out it was removed from the Android 13 versions...

CalyxOS 4.12.0 Unofficial and currently built by ncarvalho99/onygan CalyxOS is an Android mobile operating system that puts privacy and security into the hands of everyday users. Plus, proactive security recommendations and automatic updates take the guesswork out of keeping your personal data...

I had an unpleasant experience with location tracking that I have described here. Thinking about it, Bluetooth appears to be one culprit. My Galaxy Watch remains connected to my phone at all times over Bluetooth. So turning OFF the Bluetooth will disconnect the watch from my phone. These are...

Introduction The goal of adX Launcher is to allow you to take advantage of our app enhancements, like ad and tracker blocking, directly from your device's home screen without requiring you to launch a separate app. How to install? Our beta is available for everyone on Google Play...

I have an S8+ model SM-G955FD already rooted and TWRP 3.2.3 installed. Been using like this for some time now, stock rom, just used root to block some apps I want to try some secure rom like grapheneos, lineage, or calyxos, but none of this offer support for this device. I'm looking for...

Hey Guys, Hope you're doing great For the people who wanted privacy based roms like CalyxOS or GrapheneOS you have to 1. install vanilla version from ArrowOS or LineageOS 2. Flash Magisk 3. Then in Magisk go to Modules tab, click top button 'Install from storage' install...

The rapid speed and convenience of mobile data have seen more and more people use smart devices to surf the Internet. This convenience, however, appears to have compromised their privacy as users often find that when they open their phone after a chat, they will come across product ads of things...

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Conventional pop-up ads and roll ads in apps not only frustrate users, but are a headache for advertisers. This is because on the one hand, advertising is expensive, but on the other hand, these ads do not necessarily reach their target audience. The emergence of personalized ads has proved a...

VPN/Sentry Virtual private network with firewall Features Encrypt all the internet traffic leaving your device Allow or block internet traffic per app or address Simple to use while still offering advanced features Encrypting internet traffic can help to: prevent man-in-the-middle attacks...

Truvark is a modern file encryption app for Android. You might be wondering why building another vault app as there are already a lot of options. The difference is that Truvark is built around security by design and privacy by default. To proof that I take that serious, this is an offline app...

it's crazy when you don't want Google on your phone for privacy, like some devs have "google play DRM" with their app, so even if you do "APK" backup, it won't work unless you have google services and google play store. heck, some of these apps require you to be "OnLiNe" for 24h wtf is this...

Background When using an app, if pop-up ads keep appearing when we browse app pages but we are not interested in the advertised content, not only will our browsing experience be negatively affected, but we will also quickly become tired of the advertised content. Unwanted ads are usually...

Is the builtin app named "Storagemanager" a hidden system administrator in LineageOS 19.1? I ask this because in LineageOS 14.1 Storagemanager is a systemadministrator app. In LineageOS 14.1 under > settings > apps > special app access > deviceadministrators, nothing showed up by default, but...

Web Browsers: FOSS Browser: fully open source, no telemetry, Material You. https://github.com/scoute-dich/browser Mull: unblobbed Firefox fork. https://gitlab.com/divested-mobile/mull-fenix App Stores: F-droid: only open source apps. https://f-droid.org/ Aurora Store: Play Store front-end...

Hey guys, is there any way to disable the Android 12 Location/Camera/Microphone indicator PERMANENTLY. This is one of the most annoying features of A12 so far if you have apps that have to access your location on a regular basis (like every minute or so). I've been looking for a script or...

[Privacy] How much of a unique threat is publishing your Android (perhaps unique?) serial number to the Internet in the many screenshots we post to illustrate results? I, for one, publish illustrative screenshots in almost every thread I author so that others can easily see what I'm writing...

Hi everyone, let me preface this with saying that I have searched for similar threads to avoid redundant threads, and I didn't find anything similar to this. I apologize in case I somehow missed it and am accidentally making a duplicate thread. That said, let's continue. I recently got a Xiaomi...

Update on 3rd-party MUAs (e.g., K-9 Mail) using OAuth2 on Android after May30th, 2022... which we have been searching for since early March of this year when Google notified us of the demise of the venerable login/password credentials. PSA: K-9 Mail is (AFAIK) the ONLY 3rd-party MUA on Android...

This is a PSA for those who mirror their Android phone onto Windows each day that there is a wonderfully convenient new TILE for Wireless debugging. Android Wireless-debugging tile That new Wireless-Debugging tile replaces this sequence of commands: Settings > Developer options > Wireless...

Hi Again Folks! This is my first shell script and I didn't think twice before showing it to everyone, look the Github Repo. It is a script that prevents access to the internet until this application is executed when system boots up! What do you think about it?

Hello. Made a script that hardens, Improve security, privacy and performance of Brave browser on windows by changing brave://flags settings automatically. You can choose from three categories : 1.Security. 2.Privacy. 3.Performance. Here is the script in action...

Hi, although I read here and there that SELinux is important for the security/privacy of a phone, I was still never 100% sure. So can someone, who knows a thing or two about security of a phone/custom-rom/android tell me if I should install a custom rom from xda like LineageOS-unofficial with...

In a world where privacy is so exploited an app with this functionality would be very useful, there are many "spy apps", most of the time we need to copy some sensitive data through the clipboard, I heard news about the beta version of Android 12 with this functionality. But the verdict is: is...

Do virtual spaces apps like 'Parallel Space' can be used as a Virtual Machine? Say for instance installing high risk apps or browsing unsafe websites?

LibreTube is a application which is a YouTube alternative frontend built with piped, it is open source which means anyone with coding skills can help in the development. LibreTube is not connected to google directly, instead it uses piped instances to load data and play videos. Therefore this...

Can someone point me to more information about what "trackers" & tracker "classes" are? For example, using the best FOSS App Manager I know of, the Microsoft Link-to-Windows app shown in my annotated screenshot below happened to have 6 trackers with 632 classes. NOTE: I could have picked...

Who here has changed their supposedly permanent unique Google Services Framework tracking ID? I'm not rooted and yet I've easily changed my supposedly unchangeable Google Services Framework ID tracking identification; so the GSF ID is clearly not permanent (however it might be unique each...

A personal assistant to protect your privacy online. - Google Play. - App Store.

Hi, Long time lurker, first-time poster .. I recently gifted myself a Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, and although it comes with Stock Android, I want to DE-GOOGLE it.. I'm thinking of installing a Privacy/Security focused Custom ROM, such as LineageOS, GrapheneOS or CalyxOS.. The trouble is, I'm...

Two years after my previous guide for Android 10, this is Niall's modernised guide to reconfiguring stock Samsung S10 Android 11 into a privacy focused MicroG based system purged of the stock spyware and annoying and useless stuff, but with the actually useful Samsung Apps such as Camera, and...

Which firmware (privacy-focussed) is better?

Verizon notifies its customers about their default participation in Verizon's data collection program By Preslav Mladenov Verizon has begun notifying its subscribers with emails and text messages, informing them that they have been opted-in by default to the program. This comes after Verizon's...

Hi all, I was trying to move my settings from one phone to another but being unable to change the name of the SD card that breaks file and folder related data. Searching around I found that since Android 6 it's not possible, but must be a easy way. I think it's also a privacy issue as apps...

So I've been able to hide/secure/lock apps in some way on my past Samsung and OnePlus phones. When this is done the apps do not show up in the app drawer, show no details on notifications, and have to be unlocked to view. I've yet to find a way to do this via the Android 12 default launcher. If...

Recent reviews of Android 12 have been enticing me to check back to current changes. Personally, I enjoy Androids (nearly) full customizable & unlockable ecosystem, but the thought of being invasive by customized setups has always haunted me. I wouldn’t describe myself as paranoid, but with...

Really nice collection of scripts that can enhance privacy and security on macOS. All are reasonable and not like some 1-click-tools, where you don't know what they do. https://privacy.sexy/

Really nice collection of scripts that can enhance privacy and security on Windows. All are reasonable and not like some 1-click-tools, where you don't know what they do. https://privacy.sexy/

Hi so i am quite curious what happens if you put an Android phone (in this case a S21 Ultra Exynos) in offline/airplane mode with only wifi enabled and no sim card. I am quite privacy concerned and normaly use a pixel 4 with graphen, but since a few months i need a phone with more power and...

Hello Everybody, I would like to ask a question about Android Apps permissions: If I deny one permission for a particular App, does that mean the App has zero access to the denied permission? Or is there a possibility for the App to bypass the permission restriction and access the user Data...

I know, it's an oxymoron for some of these apps/services, but unfortunately, I need them for business purposes. I am seeing many out-of-date apps and posts about this topic and wondered if anyone has any current suggestions. I'm using Aurora Store, Aurora Droid, and Hermit. Hermit isn't always...

Hey guys, I think I'm at the point of just investing into creating a new case style. The case I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NDZX22W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The case that provides a magnetic plate - so you can literally attach your phone to most metals...