this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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13 Creepy Things Your Smartphone Knows About You (www.rd.com)
submitted 1 day ago by altphoto@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world
28 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

We were promised a technological future with ways to search for things of interest, find out how to get to places on a map, etc. Instead the government can now track us in our daily lives anywhere and everywhere we go 24/7. That would be great in a world where the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. However in reality they want to find us and send us to el Salvador. WTF!

Until things change, I am not buying a single electronic device. Not an iPad or a TV or an empty-tree player. This is ridiculous. And now we can't even know anything because all news is coming from the Murdocks and they just killed off NPR and PBS. This is how the bad part of the story starts.

See you all in a fire pit somewhere!

top 28 comments
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[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 44 points 1 day ago

Out of all that, the one that really bothers me is one they didn't even list: it knows all of your friends and associates. They have your location data. They have the location data of everyone around you. If you and several other people are in the same location frequently, you'll start seeing Facebook and other apps suggest them as friends.

Fifteen years ago, I was among a community of people who primarily used aliases within the community to isolate their personal lives and identities from their community identity and activities. Facebook outed everyone to each other through friend suggestions.

All the rest of these things don't bother me all that much, but by knowing your associations, they can infer things like political affiliation, and currently it seems like being in a database of people who hang out with "the enemy" is very dangerous for folks who take action behind the scenes while keeping a neutral face in public.

[–] taladar@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 day ago (1 children)

[Your smartphone knows when] the phone is charging

Out of all the things that someone tried to scare me into worrying about that must be one of the most ridiculous.

[–] elvith@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wait if that's the most ridiculous part, then... Does the smartphone even know when it's switched on or off?

[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago

Absolutely. Power log will be uploaded immediately upon power up.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Using open source software on lineage OS or graphene OS with no Google Play services solves the vast majority of the problems brought up in this article. It doesn't solve all of them, but it solves most of them.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Barrier too high for the normie. We need a commercial Graphene OS offering.

But even then the normie will be compelled to install GPS. Can't even fucking get an uber anymore 🤡

[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

not graphene but i know the company Murena offers phones of different vendors with i think e/os, maybe other OS too

[–] eleitl@lemm.ee 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Install over browser is a really low entry bar. Commercial would see about zero users.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 9 hours ago

Yes the person who can flash ain't never paying for lower speced pre loaded phone

However, I think you are underestimating the market for people who would buy it imho. They care about privacy but they need to come in the box and device just needs to load

[–] raldone01@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

I moved over to mostly open source apps where possible. My main issue will be the banking apps that insist on safety net.

Graphene os is great on paper but I would like to buy a different brand than pixel like fairphone.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 4 points 9 hours ago

Access your bank through your web browser. And if your bank does not allow you access through your web browser, get a new bank. That's what I did.

[–] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago

I would want to get on a de-Googled grapheneos phone, but I know some apps will be painful to give up (e.g. Google Calendar) and I can't predict how many apps will not be installable or not work correctly without Google Play services.

[–] eleitl@lemm.ee 1 points 9 hours ago

Pixels are okay hardware-wise. Lifecycle is not much of a limit, since you're relying on the upstream for patches anyway.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 16 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

mutterring under breath: grapheneos

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 hours ago

I can't wait for Linux phones to be a thing. Until then, GrapheneOS and CalyxOS FTW!

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Buy a faraday bag and keep your phone in it at all times unless you're using it or sitting at home. That's what I do.

It's extreme, but I don't see any other defense except not having a phone.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Your windows laptop too.

But better go Linux

[–] eleitl@lemm.ee 2 points 9 hours ago

I only use MS stuff on my work notebook. My wife and kid do use it, though.

[–] Feyd@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Couldn't you just, like, turn it off?

[–] Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Off really isn’t off anymore, more like standby and it can still send data.

[–] Feyd@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Would you mind sharing why you think that?

[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 4 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

I'm not the person you're replying to, but I don't think it's paranoid to think the three letter agencies have this tech. Back in 2013 NSA could do it, seemingly through a virus. Now? It's probably more trivial on certain phones. Apparently the "find my iPhone" feature works on the most recent generations of iPhones even when they've powered off, and some phones will ring a set alarm when when off (I'll get back to you with an edit if my older smartphone has that feature).

If you're being specifically targeted by three letter agencies it might be a concern. Everyone else I don't know.

[–] Feyd@programming.dev 2 points 22 hours ago

I think acknowledging that there may be things we don't know and if you're trying not to be tracked not carrying a phone is probably smart makes sense. The people making these sweeping assertions about how phones work in general with no evidence not so much.

[–] eleitl@lemm.ee 1 points 9 hours ago

GrapheneOS does have modem isolation, and when it tells the modem to be off, then it's really off.

[–] Molecular5869@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago

Turning off GPS and turning on airplane mode should do the exact same, right? If you don't trust your OS you could use something like GrapheneOS or LineageOS, that's what I do. I don't feel the need to physically stop my phone from collecting data if it's Operating System is free software and built to respect my privacy. That way my smartphone actually does what I want, instead of working against my interests. Constantly fighting against the device you carry all day sounds exhausting.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 hours ago

But then you can't receive texts and calls, which is the entire point of a mobile phone. This just sounds like a landline w/ extra steps...

[–] Pudutr0n@feddit.cl 5 points 1 day ago

In the wise words of Carl Brutananadilewski...

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[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I suggest installing something like e/os which is phone without google and tracking. You somehow have to make sure that the hardware itself does not communicate outside but at least with a secure OS you are introducing the security issues by installing WhatsApp for work
I know that e/os is based on another degoogled os but i forgot the name

And you can put it on an up to ~8 year old phone so its good for the environment too