The privacy sub may be even more paranoid than the stim subs.
This haunts them in their sleep:
iPhone? Reddit? Where the hell is your GrapheneOS Pixel?
Obviously most apps are stealing your data but people’s reactions to Temu are literally insane. They have a thing where they’ll literally paypal you £20-£40 to refer other users, I was 1 referral away and 2 friends wouldn’t download it because it’s Chinese. Another two friends said that people they know had money stolen by it… like, legality and possibility aside yes, I’m sure Pinduoduo, one of the BIGGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD needs to steal your last tenner
why would one of the BIGGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD need
You can say the exact same thing about PayPal which is known to ‘misplace’ people’s money and make it extremely difficult to get back. I don’t see how any other fintech company would be different.
Is there an iPhone equivalent of deleting System32 because that’s clearly the answer to this question.
If anyone is that worried about data privacy, they shouldn’t have a smartphone lol.
I think that attitude is frankly toxic. It’s the digital equivalent of “if you don’t like America, you can move to Afghanistan!”.
The real toxic attitude is simply expecting everyone to have a smartphone. Stop trying to make me install an app or scan a QR code for everything. I’ve gone without using a smartphone for months at a time and I was fine. Pre-covid there were usually a couple times where some event or restaurant or work thing required some unnecessary app, but since covid I think people have gotten sick of this type of stuff and it’s not as common. Worse case scenario just get a burner phone for when you’re forced to use a smartphone.
Privacy sub… Iphone
What a lack of computer literacy and libre software thought does to a mf.
As if Android is any better?
Android is leagues ahead of Apple, first of all, the core of Android is libre, anyone is able to take Android and create their own mobile operating system around it (with various amounts of success). Of course, this leads to OEMs who create bastardized nonfree operating systems with privacy holes, but it also leads to things like Vanilla Android, GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, /e/ etc.
There are also GNU/Linux phones like UBports, GNOME/KDE mobile shell, so it’s not a binary decision.
Android is not without its flaws (like Google play services and closed down hardware), but to say it’s not better than Apple is misleading. Countries choose Android, only America pushes their Apple sludge.
Every cell phone, even dumb phones, can track you with a warrant or Stingray. Rather than picking which is better, understand that every single cellphone is snitching on you and act accordingly.
To be clear, it is possible to defend yourself, but ofc no defense is perfect. For illegal activities that might attract federal attention? best to avoid them at all costs. But for general privacy in your day to day life that isn’t practical for most people, and “every cellphone is snitching on you” is way too reductive, even if it’s true in a sense.
For example the person you are replying to mentions Linux phones, many of which publish schematics and make hardware kill switches for the discrete modem a big selling point. That still isn’t perfect protection, but it would protect you from a stingray… and if you have a thought out threat model, you can make the choice whether or not that device is appropriate for your situation.
