This isn't a conspiracy, so sorry in advanced if this is against the rules.
I was wary of the government and big tech before 2020, but nothing could have prepared me for the level that wariness would increase too. I'm currently trying to distance myself from prying eyes as much as possible, but my Android smartphone is a huge glaring hole in that plan.
Is anyone aware of any secure smart phones? I think it'd be awesome to have a phone with physical switches (like the little iphone silence switch) that physically disabled things like the microphones, cameras, etc. by cutting power to them. I feel like that would be the only way to both have the convenience of those items while being able to have guaranteed privacy when wanted.
Thanks I'll look into it. I also came across grapheneOS which looks like it has some android app compatibility. It would still rely on the software itself being secure, but it does look to get away from google and google services, which is at least a step.
I've got LineageOS going with no google services. It's not the ultimate, but it is compatible with a lot of different android phones. I gave up on app push notifications and getting my bank's app, but fuck that shit anyway.
Yes that's a good recommendation. I don't use too many apps so I haven't had a need yet.
No rules here post what you want
great list for degoogling here https://github.com/tycrek/degoogle
I looked into Pinephone, Librem5, and LineageOS, but ultimately GrapheneOS is enough of a step for me and still lets me get work done.
Are you using GrapheneOS now? If so, how do you like it and how arduous was the install?
Yup, the OS install took an hour and was straightforward. Its finding replacement apps that takes some diligence, but its fun work
There is the Librem5 phone but by all accounts it is a crap phone with outdated tech that is way over priced and with a battery life that is most accurately measured in single-digit hours...
What operating system it uses is a bigger concern than hardware switches although they sure are useful