GrapheneOS: Privacy Oriented Android
Phones: The appendage we can not live without
Cell phones have become a part of our lives that we rely on. A recent study shows that the average American checks their phone 344 times daily or every 4 minutes. That has become borderline addiction levels, and with the average American going to spend 44 days on their phone in a year, we need to understand how that impacts our privacy.
Phones are constantly with us, as the statistics show. Phones are always on and collecting a wide range of data. Everything from our activities and habits to the way we hold our phone and the words we type the most and worst. This data is shared with device manufacturers, apps, and telecommunications companies. This in-depth invasion of our privacy is our fault as we have allowed it to happen. We have valued convenience over privacy, and companies have found a way to monetize our usage.
What do we do to protect our privacy and maintain the convience a phone provides?
Remove the collection vector.
The best thing we can do is remove the vector of collection that removes our privacy. Phones are inherently built to collect data on the usage and user. We need to make a change that will protect our privacy but provide a level of convenience we can live with.
If you are an iPhone user, this will seem like an impossible task. If you are not ready to protect your privacy, stop here. An iPhone protects some of your data, but Apple still collects a significant amount of data.
Android users, this will just require you to change phones. There will be a change to how the operating system feels as a large portion of it is removed to stop the collection of your data. The good news is mostly it will operate the same. You now do not have Google infesting every last corner of the device.
GrapheneOS is simple. It is designed entirely around one premise. Privacy and Security for the user.
The private and secure mobile operating system with Android app compatibility. Developed as a non-profit open source project.
~GrapheneOS
If you are ready to change, you must pick up a supported phone. This is a must as it will only work on certain phones. It is possible to make it work on other devices if you are an advanced user.
GrapheneOS has official production support for the following devices:
Once you have your new phone, there are two processes.
- The first is a command line manual way that can be overwhelming.
- Some people may feel uncomfortable hooking their phone up to a website.
- The second is to use the web installer.
- This is the way I do it, and I have not had any issues.
The Web-Installer is the best and easiest way to get your new phone up and running with GrapheneOS. The button below will get you to the steps. Go slow and read before you execute a step. Good Luck.