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Cops say criminals use a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS — I say that’s freedom


GrapheneOS offers some of the best privacy and security features of any smartphone operating system, but is it too effective at what it does?

Case in point: even though GrapheneOS doesn’t include any Google services, I was surprised to find that you can install the Play Store with relative ease and almost all apps work flawlessly — even most banking ones. On almost all Android phones sold outside China, Google has far-reaching and system-level access to everything: your precise location, contacts, app usage, network activity, and a load of other data. Specifically, a proposed “Chat Control” legislation would compel secure messaging platforms to scan all communication — including those protected by end-to-end encryption — for illegal content such as Child Sexual Assault Material.

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