this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
1 points (100.0% liked)

DeGoogle Yourself

8807 readers
1 users here now

A community for those that would like to get away from Google.

Here you may post anything related to DeGoogling, why we should do it or good software alternatives!

Rules

  1. Be respectful even in disagreement

  2. No advertising unless it is very relevent and justified. Do not do this excessively.

  3. No low value posts / memes. We or you need to learn, or discuss something.

Related communities

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The technical mechanism:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.devicelock

update


To be clear, I am not the OP who experienced this problem. I just linked them from here.

(page 2) 32 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I for one am glad that it was deemed safe for 3 year olds to be indebted to creditors.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (22 children)

Don't buy a phone on random creditors that install this shit. This has nothing to do with Google.

You going to ditch Linux because they support remote management too?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

This has nothing to do with Google.

Google welded anti-consumer logic into the kernel. Of course that’s on Google. Just like Intel started making CPUs with a management engine that can only work against non-corporate consumers, basically saying fuck the individuals’ needs.. putting individuals at unconscionable risk without their knowledge or consent.

Consumers have decisions to make. Is a consumer happy to feed a supplier who sells them something that works against them? Some are. I’m not. Going forward they fail to earn my business because they have too many masters.

You going to ditch Linux because they support remote management too?

Linux is not locked down. Users can remove anything they want from it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

If you get Linux from work it school it uses the same exact tech. No, you can't remove it. You don't own the phone. That's how credit works. Don't like it, buy the phone. You are just pissed that creditors are using it. Welding against the consumers 🤦‍♂️.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (21 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

@coffeeClean
Won't disabling that not allow me to find my device and to disable the phone remotely if stolen?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Probably. But if you want that anti-theft feature, I wonder if you could disable it and then install another app for that which serves you alone. Whatever you install probably wouldn’t be baked into the kernel but probably a good trade-off.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

@coffeeClean
I don't know but that article probably only applies to 'murica, if it's even accurate. I'm doubtful. Doesn't apply to Canada, that's illegal practice hete I'm sure.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Wasn't this app some exclusive thing for a marketing scheme in Kenya for Android Go? If so… maybe your phone has a… African history?
https://blog.google/intl/en-africa/products/android-chrome-play/growing-access-and-inclusion-with-more/

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (5 children)

You have a pixel phone. Just install Calyx OS on it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I don't think that necessarily helps. I'm running GrapheneOS and "DeviceLockController" is installed there as well. From what I read, it's because it's part of AOSP.

I did take all permissions and from the system logs it reads that this app never has been used or tried to send anything to begin with.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

To be clear I linked to someone else’s post. I don’t have the Pixel phone.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is that the one that was the confirmed FedOp?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

What does that mean?

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Couldn't you just remove it with ADB?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think someone mentioned this is in the Playstore services stuff that’s hardwired in to the platform. Which means if a device is unrooted you can possibly do: $ adb shell 'pm disable --user 13 com.google.android.gms'.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Root or get out, I have been rooting since 2020 and I decide what the heck to do with my phone 😁

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

I mean, the people this was targeted at were Kenyans who otherwise couldn't afford a phone, I don't think the people this applies to can afford to chose a phone model

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

If I were to simultaneously demand:

  • a phone with a relatively non-evil brand (thus obscure), and
  • a rootable phone (thus a mainstream one)

that leaves me with no phone at all. Because only popular mainstream models get rooted and they’re all made by the worst companies.

When my current phone loses its usefulness I might even go without. Or possibly get one 2nd hand although the 2nd hand market still supports the 1st hand market.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Iirc when this came up yesterday, it disables Developer tools when active

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Don't buy a phone on collateral credit (like from a cell provider that "gives" you a phone with service). If you must, ebay a phone and use paypal.

If you can't afford a $1200 phone by paying for it in "cash", you need to aim lower.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

I must say Paypal shares customer data with over 600 corporations among other scummy things, so I boycott them. I also boycott eBay because the javascript required to use their website port sniffs your LAN and feeds that back to them, apart from other evils.

But most importantly, I’m not necessarily worried that I would personally get burnt by this. But just like my unwillingness to buy an Intel CPU with a management engine (or AMD’s flavor of this), I am unwilling to buy a product that was designed to work against me. I do not want to finance anti-consumer suppliers. ATM I don’t know how to check whether my version of AOS has this “feature”.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Sniffs your local pc to look for remote desktop and vnc ports on it. I can see this being useful in finding RAT risks, but the portscan thing is something the browser should be blocking or sandboxing.

As for PayPal, well, your cc / bank also shares lots of data.

If your threat modelling is that severe, your best bet is Tor Craigslist, a couple blokes packing heat and a briefcase of money in a place with no parking lot surveillance.

But then at that point security and safety is on you and your mates to implement.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

As for PayPal, well, your cc / bank also shares lots of data.

Paypal is not a bank. Paypal is an additional MitM. Using Paypal adds another surveillance capitalist to the chain along with your bank and credit network. But indeed, the banks and credit cards are shit so I am fighting the war on cash quite hard. I’ve already been dragged into court for insisting on paying a creditor in cash. I won that case and will continue insisting on cash payments.

If your threat modelling is that severe

My threat model simply includes mass surveillance. Which is in the threat model of everyone who understands and embraces privacy. It’s worth noting that it’s not purely and infosec stance. I also object to feeding a supplier who is acting against me. The moment I detect that a supplier is working against me, I walk on ethical grounds. They have failed to earn my business. The snooping just happens to be the manner in which they are working against me.

your best bet is Tor Craigslist,

I was doing that at one time but something pushed me off. I don’t recall what.. whether it was SMS verify or CAPTCHAs or phone numbers or fussy email address verifiers... something drove me off.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Can't help you there. Buying stuff isn't anonymous, even brick and mortar stores have cloud surveillance cams now.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

So you just don't buy anything? Get over yourself and your unhealthy obsessions.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Ethical consumers patronize the lesser of evils, and go without if it’s feasible given only quite shitty options. Affluenza-driven OCD consumption is the unhealthy obsession that ethical consumers manage to avoid.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Comments from the last post indicated it made no difference to having the killswitch on their devices as per screenshots.

Still I agree, buying on credit is not a good idea.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't think any of the major (I know someone will probably come in here and tell me about some tiny provider that's only in like 2 states that does) US carriers that do phones on secured credit, they default to unsecured credit. Maybe, they have an alternative plan for people with not so great credit, but I doubt it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Someone in the original thread said this swindle does not apply to the US. Though I’m a bit surprised.. it’s the first place where I would expect this to happen.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Everyone is too busy in the Apple circlejerk threads to care about this type of thing

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Apple has the exact same thing btw. In the same situation, a creditor can icloud lock your iphone.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Never said they didn’t.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›