Hi,

A friend wants to degoogle his phone, so I suggested the OS I’m currently using. The one we can’t talk about… He wants a small/compact phone, so I suggested pixel 4a (not buying second hand though), but I’m afraid that planned obsolescence may kill the phone rather soon. What’s your opinion?

Cheers and thank you for your help,

  • delirious_owl
    68·
    4 months ago

    Phones are insecure devices, by design. Should be OK.

    Just don’t do anything on a phone that falls under “sensitive” on your threat model. Use a proper computer with a proper password for that.

    • jetEnglish
      70·
      4 months ago

      Could you explain how phones are insecure by design?

      • delirious_owl
        30·
        4 months ago

        How long is your password? Do you ever type it in public?

        • jetEnglish
          30·
          4 months ago

          You can use two factor, fingerprint plus pin and have the pin layout randomize each time.

              • jetEnglish
                10·
                4 months ago

                I think phones are the MOST secure devices most people have. They are locked down, they run software in very restricted containers, they have more restrictive feature allowance. for 99% of the people the phone is the most secure device, full stop.

                Can you do better on a computer? Sure, but it takes a bunch of work and isn’t the out of box experience

                  • jetEnglish
                    10·
                    4 months ago

                    Please help me understand your point of view. So far all you have said in this conversation is that other people are wrong. That may be, but your not helping us understand you

              • delirious_owl
                12·
                4 months ago

                So you’re saying that, in order for me to steal everything on your phone, all I have to do is stand behind you in a supermarket and film you unlock your screen once. Then, on the way to your car, I quickly pull a knife on you and force you to tap your finger on your phone, then I hop on a motorbike and ride away.

                Hope you didn’t have any banking apps or crypto on your phone, because now that’s gone.

                QubesOS on a laptop is much much safer.

                • jetEnglish
                  20·
                  4 months ago

                  Qubes is immune to the knife to the throat threat model?

                  • delirious_owl
                    20·
                    4 months ago

                    They would need to kidnap you to type multiple different passwords. The point is that they can’t quickly unlock the device. Mobile phones are literally designed to be easy to unlock.

                • zephyr
                  20·
                  4 months ago

                  If you have GrapheneOS, I’m pretty sure you can randomize the numbers on the pin. You can also set a password instead of a pin and disable biometrics if you use stock Android. All the more difficult to obtain access.

                  For banking/crypto, I assume a wallet app would allow you to set an app password/pin.

                  • delirious_owl
                    11·
                    4 months ago

                    What does randomizing the numbers do? I just film you tapping them, and it doesn’t provide any security.