What do you mean? Just buy a phone that doesn’t include tracking features if you want a phone without tracking features…? Like why buy a Mazda CX5 if you are going to modify it and replace the engine and body to turn it into a Honda Civic?
I get why people would want to privacy proof their phone but it’s going overboard to basically undo everything that makes a flagship device a flagship device.
Ah yes, the market will surely regulate itself. So what phone would you recommend if I want flagship hardware (nice screen, fast processor etc.) but don’t want to be tracked? You make it sound like I’d have a bunch of phones to choose from.
That’s a false equivalency. You’re not replacing the engine but replacing what controls the engine. No-one is ripping out the hardware of their phones in this picture. It’s the software being replaced.
Privacy conscious people buy flagship phones for the hardware. The screens are better, the performance is better, they have more connections and whatnot (some higher wifi version, some higher bluetooth version, etc.).
Just buy a phone that doesn’t include tracking features
Such as?
I’ve looked, and I can’t find one. The best I found are:
PinePhone/Librem 5 - basic phone features don’t work properly (crap battery life, can’t use all carriers in the US, audio sucks)
FairPhone - not directly available in the US (can get from reseller)
alternative Android ROM GrapheneOS/LineageOS/Calyx/DivestOS
I went with a Google Pixel 8 w/ GrapheneOS. I don’t have any of fancy AI features that Google advertises because they all rely on Google Play services (no thanks), but it works competently as a phone, has 7+ years of promised SW support, and gets a decent repair score (not perfect, but everything important seems serviceable).
I’m coincidentally looking at buying a newer car, and everything has spyware, so I’ll definitely be ripping out whatever phone home devices they have. This means no remote start, probably no navigation (though navigation doesn’t need to phone home), and a bunch of other modern features won’t work. But I don’t get the option to get one w/o it w/o getting an older car, so I guess that’s what I need to do. So I plan to rip apart the car to remove the SIM or antennas, or at least remove their power.
I wish there were actual privacy-respecting options available, but I guess this is the world we live in now…
What do you mean? Just buy a phone that doesn’t include tracking features if you want a phone without tracking features…? Like why buy a Mazda CX5 if you are going to modify it and replace the engine and body to turn it into a Honda Civic?
I get why people would want to privacy proof their phone but it’s going overboard to basically undo everything that makes a flagship device a flagship device.
Ah yes, the market will surely regulate itself. So what phone would you recommend if I want flagship hardware (nice screen, fast processor etc.) but don’t want to be tracked? You make it sound like I’d have a bunch of phones to choose from.
That’s a false equivalency. You’re not replacing the engine but replacing what controls the engine. No-one is ripping out the hardware of their phones in this picture. It’s the software being replaced.
Privacy conscious people buy flagship phones for the hardware. The screens are better, the performance is better, they have more connections and whatnot (some higher wifi version, some higher bluetooth version, etc.).
Such as?
I’ve looked, and I can’t find one. The best I found are:
I went with a Google Pixel 8 w/ GrapheneOS. I don’t have any of fancy AI features that Google advertises because they all rely on Google Play services (no thanks), but it works competently as a phone, has 7+ years of promised SW support, and gets a decent repair score (not perfect, but everything important seems serviceable).
I’m coincidentally looking at buying a newer car, and everything has spyware, so I’ll definitely be ripping out whatever phone home devices they have. This means no remote start, probably no navigation (though navigation doesn’t need to phone home), and a bunch of other modern features won’t work. But I don’t get the option to get one w/o it w/o getting an older car, so I guess that’s what I need to do. So I plan to rip apart the car to remove the SIM or antennas, or at least remove their power.
I wish there were actual privacy-respecting options available, but I guess this is the world we live in now…