Until you get a chance to leave behind Google’s Android operating system completely, here’s an article I saw with a few fairly simple things you can do that will reduce (although not eliminate) the ability of Google and others to scrape your data and monetize you.
I already do step 1 (Firefox etc). But looking at step 5, for example, my phone had all those ad options set to “on”.
this was a surprisingly good article
Can recommend GrapheneOS. Very nice experience. You would think it is more work, but I feel it was less due to not having Google suggest some nasty stuff constantly during install and ever after. Everything works for me. Check your own banking app works from the list they keep and if it does, go for it!
But sadly it’s not available for Fairphones which really frustrates me. And other OS variants just lack the main features which make Graphene so great.
there’s CalyxOS and /e/ available on Fairphones, so at least there’s that
Yes. I got a spotless used pixel. But it is a huge paradox to have to get a Google phone.
The first thing(s) do:
- Install adguard with system-wide ad & tracker filters enabled; change my DNS to a private service that also features DNS-based ad and tracker blocking.
- Disable any google features: syncing, backup, uninstall/disable all google apps, etc.; replace with FOSS or privacy-friendly alternatives.
- after that, it’s the process of replacing the browser, keyboard, etc.
I’ve done a lot of these steps, but when I tried FOSS keyboard app my bank’s app refused to work because the keyboard was"insecure", accepted Google keyboard only 🤡
I’ve had that happen with Credit Agricole’s app in the past. it would close immediately and load a website that suggested using Google’s Gboard or Microsoft’s Swiftkey :|
That’s crazy! I bet the same bank used a “secure” method for 2FA… like SMS. LOL
Which adguard? Needs root?
Adguard for android (paid). It runs as a local VPN and cleans up everything, including most ads in apps.
You can find cheap lifetime licenses for sale. I’ve been using it for many, many years.
or instead of using a Russian service, you can try Swedish Mullvad’s DNS servers. it’s free to use and doesn’t require installing an app https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls#android
Just an FYI:
"AdGuard servers are located in Frankfurt, Germany, and the apps do not communicate to any servers in Russia. This was a deliberate decision to keep our servers (as well as the company itself) in a different jurisdiction. Even among AdGuard DNS servers, which are supposed to be located all over the world, we don’t have any in Russia. With how things are developing, we may soon have no office there either, or have a considerably smaller one. To reiterate:
- AdGuard apps do not connect to any servers in Russia.
- AdGuard DNS has no servers in Russia.
- AdGuard VPN also has no servers in Russia. The one that’s said to be in Moscow actually uses some IP address magic to present itself so, but is actually located in the Netherlands.
Secondly, we do not condone what’s going on in Ukraine and we have expressed our opinion on this earlier. Filters maintainers, support team members, QA, developers — the war has changed lives of many people that are very important to AdGuard as a company and to me personally. Our only desire is for it to stop as soon as possible." SOURCE
The Adguard team has been among the most trustworthy in the privacy space, and their self-hosted, and local-first services shouldn’t be casually cast aside so quickly.
Can you do ad and tracking blocking using their VPN thing? And can you turn off the VPN part leaving just the blocking going?
yes and yes. you don’t the VPN app to use their DNS servers.
Alternative is TrackerControl - again a local VPN, but aimed at blocking trackers (which could then include ads)
Find it on FDroid: https://trackercontrol.org/
Yes, that’s a great FOSS alternative.
The only reason why I don’t use trackercontrol is that I can’t use it at the same time as an actual VPN. And since I already paid for AdGuard, it’s on all my devices. 🤭
It seems a bit like a fool’s errand to buy a phone running an advertiser’s OS and then try to stop it from tracking you.
Fair point, but IMO it’s more than just the technical act of blocking, it’s highlighting to everyone that this is going on…
Some are happy to be tracked, cool, but, I’m fairly confident that millions of people aren’t even aware of it.
These articles barely scratch the surface of what can be done - for example, I presume you’re referring to loading a different OS, which would blow the minds of many users out there
But no mention of just disabling some of Google’s services running on the phone?
A possible alternative to step 6:
