Notes on openness of mobile
This commit is contained in:
Bob Mottram
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2618226dd7
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@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ Mobile phones are insecure devices, but they're regarded as being so essential t
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* Open
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Use a Linux based phone operating system. Typically this will mean Android, but could also mean LineageOS or Replicant. LineageOS is the most preferable, because you can usually get an up to date image with a recent kernel which will give you better security against exploits. If you're buying a phone then look for a model which is supported by LineageOS. Replicant is the most free (as in freedom) but only runs on a small number of phone models. If you have a phone which runs a full GNU/Linux system then that's fantastic, and you can probably use it in much the same way as a desktop system and the rest of the advice on this page won't apply. If you don't have a phone capable of running a Linux based operating system then consider selling, giving away or bartering your existing one.
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Why is it so important to run Linux on a phone? Aren't /iThings/ supposed to be highly secure? Isn't the CEO of Apple a good guy, fighting for freedom against the evil Feds? In the end it comes down to the fact that /if the source code for the device cannot be independently audited to check for backdoors, bugs and so on, then it can't actually be trusted/. No matter how well-meaning or brave people running companies may be, local laws may force them to add backdoors into their systems or to give away the encryption keys (Lavabit) or they may also do that purely for business reasons such as being able to sell you to their advertising customers and so on.
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Why is it so important to run Linux on a phone? Aren't /iThings/ supposed to be highly secure? Don't the "experts" always tell you to just use an iPhone with its supposedly superior secure enclave? Isn't the CEO of Apple a good guy, fighting for freedom against the evil Feds?
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In the end it comes down to the fact that /if the source code for the device cannot be independently audited to check for backdoors, bugs and so on, then it can't actually be trusted/. It doesn't matter if there's a supposedly secure enclave on your closed source gadget. No matter how well-meaning or brave people running companies may be, local laws may force them to add backdoors into their systems (sometimes called "technical capabilities order" or "legal intercept") or to give away the encryption keys (Lavabit) or they may also do that purely for business reasons such as being able to sell you to their advertising customers and so on.
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* Remove
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@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
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"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<!-- 2018-03-09 Fri 10:21 -->
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<!-- 2018-03-09 Fri 10:54 -->
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
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<title>‎</title>
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@ -277,58 +277,62 @@ Mobile phones are insecure devices, but they're regarded as being so essential t
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</table>
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</center>
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<div id="outline-container-orgd2ad011" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgd2ad011">Open</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgd2ad011">
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<div id="outline-container-org0a6af8d" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org0a6af8d">Open</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org0a6af8d">
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<p>
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Use a Linux based phone operating system. Typically this will mean Android, but could also mean LineageOS or Replicant. LineageOS is the most preferable, because you can usually get an up to date image with a recent kernel which will give you better security against exploits. If you're buying a phone then look for a model which is supported by LineageOS. Replicant is the most free (as in freedom) but only runs on a small number of phone models. If you have a phone which runs a full GNU/Linux system then that's fantastic, and you can probably use it in much the same way as a desktop system and the rest of the advice on this page won't apply. If you don't have a phone capable of running a Linux based operating system then consider selling, giving away or bartering your existing one.
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</p>
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<p>
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Why is it so important to run Linux on a phone? Aren't <i>iThings</i> supposed to be highly secure? Isn't the CEO of Apple a good guy, fighting for freedom against the evil Feds? In the end it comes down to the fact that <i>if the source code for the device cannot be independently audited to check for backdoors, bugs and so on, then it can't actually be trusted</i>. No matter how well-meaning or brave people running companies may be, local laws may force them to add backdoors into their systems or to give away the encryption keys (Lavabit) or they may also do that purely for business reasons such as being able to sell you to their advertising customers and so on.
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Why is it so important to run Linux on a phone? Aren't <i>iThings</i> supposed to be highly secure? Don't the "experts" always tell you to just use an iPhone with its supposedly superior secure enclave? Isn't the CEO of Apple a good guy, fighting for freedom against the evil Feds?
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</p>
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<p>
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In the end it comes down to the fact that <i>if the source code for the device cannot be independently audited to check for backdoors, bugs and so on, then it can't actually be trusted</i>. It doesn't matter if there's a supposedly secure enclave on your closed source gadget. No matter how well-meaning or brave people running companies may be, local laws may force them to add backdoors into their systems (sometimes called "technical capabilities order" or "legal intercept") or to give away the encryption keys (Lavabit) or they may also do that purely for business reasons such as being able to sell you to their advertising customers and so on.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org7824ccf" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org7824ccf">Remove</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org7824ccf">
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<div id="outline-container-org80aa046" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org80aa046">Remove</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org80aa046">
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<p>
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So maybe you're running Android and the phone came with some apps already installed. Almost certainly they'll be proprietary. Go to Settings/Apps and then uninstall or deactivate any apps which you really don't need. Mostly preinstalled apps are intended to send your data to companies who will then sell it to advertisers or governments under the business model of <i>surveillance capital</i>. It's not a good idea to get caught up in that, and to avoid becoming addicted to apps which are surveilling you without consent or installing spyware in the background without your knowledge.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org69a25b9" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org69a25b9">Encrypt</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org69a25b9">
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<div id="outline-container-org5fde238" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org5fde238">Encrypt</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org5fde238">
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<p>
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Encrypt your phone. This can usually be done via <b>Settings/Security</b> and you may need to fully charge the phone first. Encryption means that if you lose your phone or it gets stolen then there is less chance that anyone who picks it up will get access to your data, photos and so on.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org843df41" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org843df41">Apps</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org843df41">
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<div id="outline-container-org482ef2a" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org482ef2a">Apps</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org482ef2a">
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<p>
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Installing <b>F-droid</b> and only adding any new apps via F-droid will ensure that you are always using free and open source software. Open source is not a panacea, since bugs can and do still occur, but it will help you to avoid the worst security and privacy pitfalls.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-orga3c7ee3" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orga3c7ee3">Lock</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orga3c7ee3">
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<div id="outline-container-org370d4d4" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org370d4d4">Lock</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org370d4d4">
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<p>
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Add a lock screen, preferably with a password which is not easy for other people to guess or for quicker access with a PIN number. Install an app called <b>Locker</b>, activate it and set the maximum number of password guesses to ten (or whatever you feel comfortable with). If bad people get hold of your phone then they may try to brute force your lock screen password or PIN (i.e. automatically trying millions of common word and number combinations) and the locker app will prevent them from succeeding by resetting the phone back to its factory default condition and wiping the data.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org86f5c36" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org86f5c36">Onion</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org86f5c36">
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<div id="outline-container-org79cbaa0" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org79cbaa0">Onion</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org79cbaa0">
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<p>
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Both governments and corporations want to compile matadata dossiers about you. Who you communicated with, when and how often. They want this so that they can data mine, simulate, predict and then ultimately influence (sometimes also called "nudge") your actions and preferences in the directions they prefer. By routing your connections through a number of proxy servers (Tor routers) you can make it perhaps not <i>theoretically</i> impossible but at least <i>very hard</i> for them to have a complete and accurate list of who your friends are, your religion, politics, likely health issues, sexual orientation and what news sites or books you read.
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</p>
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@ -339,26 +343,26 @@ In F-droid under the <b>repositories</b> menu you can enable the <b>guardian pro
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-orgd32a4ef" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgd32a4ef">Email</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgd32a4ef">
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<div id="outline-container-org74435b6" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org74435b6">Email</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org74435b6">
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<p>
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The easiest way to access email is by installing the <a href="./app_mailpile.html">Mailpile</a> app. This keeps your GPG keys off of possibly insecure mobile devices but still enables encrypted email communications in an easy way. You can use K9 mail if you prefer, but that will require installing OpenKeychain and having your GPG keys on the device, which is a lot more risky.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-orgb2231db" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgb2231db">Services</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgb2231db">
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<div id="outline-container-org02772aa" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org02772aa">Services</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org02772aa">
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<p>
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For information on configuring various apps to work with Freedombone see the <a href="./usage.html">usage section</a>. Also see advice on chat apps in the <a href="./faq.html">FAQ</a>.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org59cc6a8" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org59cc6a8">Battery</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org59cc6a8">
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<div id="outline-container-org96f657c" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org96f657c">Battery</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org96f657c">
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<p>
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Even with free software apps it's not difficult to get into a situation where your battery doesn't last for long. To maximize battery life access RSS feeds via the onion-based mobile reader within a Tor-compatible browser and not from a locally installed RSS app.
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</p>
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@ -377,9 +381,9 @@ It's also recommended to disable battery optimisations for Conversations and Orb
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-org808ec5c" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org808ec5c">Blocking bad domains</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org808ec5c">
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<div id="outline-container-org08b9c3a" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="org08b9c3a">Blocking bad domains</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org08b9c3a">
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<p>
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You can block known bad domains by editing the <b>/system/etc/hosts</b> file on your device. It is possible to use extensive ad-blocking hosts files used by other ad-blocking systems such as pi-hole, but merely blocking Facebook and Google Analytics will protect you against much of the corporate surveillance which goes on. Even if you don't have a Facebook account this may still be useful since they will still try to create a "ghost profile" of you, so the less data they have the better.
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</p>
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