Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by boopmaster on Sunday September 12, 2021 @09:43AM
(#28501072)
I was overseas recently checking out the Huawei Harmony OS devices and did stop to consider that while the Chinese could be spying on me with their distribution, they’d totally lack authority over me and may be less inclined to provide account details as Google will do for location based dragnet requests.
Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by Iolaum on Sunday September 12, 2021 @02:07PM
(#28503378)
I d be cautious of that approach given Apple's history in China. Your use case is a mirror image of it (Apple in China).
Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by AnonHP on Sunday September 12, 2021 @11:00AM
(#28501746)
> Apple scans your information in your own device (and its operating system is even closed source and cannot be verified).
Open source may be better in certain ways, but a statement that closed source cannot be verified as to what it’s doing is narrow and incomplete. Android’s key parts are also closed source (there’s a lot more in “Android” than AOSP).
Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by nicce on Sunday September 12, 2021 @11:55AM
(#28502263)
Open source is also quite meaningless in terms of privacy, unless you can verify that the running binary is build from the visible source.
Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by m4rtink on Sunday September 12, 2021 @12:23PM
(#28502512)
Thats where reproducible vuilds come in - I would not be surprised if reproducible builds became a legally enforced default in security sensitive contexts after all the high level cases of outside attackers slipping mallware into blobs built by enterprise vendors.
Re:Linux Phones [are less secure than mainstream Android]
by the_rectifier on Sunday September 12, 2021 @08:32PM
(#28506574)
Reproducible builds are pretty standard in Debian.
Large firms offer platforms that are secure against anyone other than themselves (and their partners, such as states).
Google tracks and collects huge data through various channels, and Apple scans your information in your own device (and its operating system is even closed source and cannot be verified). Their platforms might be incrementally more secure against advanced expensive attacks, e.g., targeted attacks performed by a company such as NSO.
If you are an average user, do you worry more about maximizing the security or major privacy concerns, namely: automatic mass data collection, tracking and profiling by governments and those in power, or fancy attacks targeted to you?