Graphene OS
No one is going to give you back your privacy, you will have to take it.
We hear it all the time, Google is evil, Apple isn't any better, the regime is using social media companies to censor dissent, and they are shredding what little is left of your 1st and 4th amendment rights in the process. But before we get into what you can do about it, let’s start by unpacking how all this works. As you go about your day, your phone pings the towers around it regularly to maintain contact so that push notifications go through and it can supply location services so that you can quickly access maps. Every time it does this, it supplies your IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) code which creates a log, which mobile service providers keep, of your location. Social media companies then map your human terrain, your interests through your browsing history, keep a log of all your communications, and pair it with your location data to create a shockingly complete record of what you do both on and offline. This data, in the industry parlance, is your digital exhaust. All of this data is available to the government. Its not legal for it to be without a warrant, but since the service providers and tech companies are both seeking government contracts and subject to government regulations they have no choice but to comply with whatever is requested if they wish to continue as a viable business entity.
The regime wants to manage information narratives (see the twitter files or the massive deplatforming of anyone who questioned the Covid narrative) and just this past week it came out a log was kept of every person who liked or shared a Tweet from president Trump. Additionally, the regime is using meta data from push notifications to unmask anonymous accounts. The corporations that the regime is using are in turn monetizing this massive trove of personnel data to sell advertising, and making billions of dollars from it every year.
The question, patriot, is what are you going to do about it? Complaining about it doesn’t solve your problem, posting memes does nothing. No one is coming to save you, so you either man up and rise to the challenge or you choose (yes, I said CHOOSE!) To accept the status quo.
There is no better remedy to this than opting not to own or operate a cell phone, it truly is a tracking device that you apply to yourself. But this is impracticable for most. As long as we understand that true privacy can only be obtained in the absence (at least at those times when absolute privacy is required) of a cell phone, let’s talk about an intermediate option to drastically reduce both your total digital exhaust as well as the utility to an adversary of the exhaust you do create. That option is an alternative operating system for your mobile device called Graphene OS.
But before we get into Graphene, let’s talk about what the companies behind the duopoly of mainstream cell phone operating systems are.
Apple was for many years a seller of devices. When the iPod was released in 2001 it started what the company called a “super cycle” where consumers dutifully upgraded every year to have the latest in mobile technology with devices that changed the way we access information and communicate with one another. This led to 20 years of consistently stock price pumping sales numbers, and a reputation for security and privacy made possible by Apple’s reliance on hardware sales instead of advertising revenue to build the bottom line and shareholder value. As the super cycle cooled and the “latest thing” became a watch which consumers haven’t found nearly as essential as a phone, Apple has looked to other sources of revenue to continue the growth that shareholders require. Specifically, Apple looked to China as a market in which to grow their device sales, as well as to the vast pool of advertising revenue that their competitors are bringing in. What followed were a series of blunders where Apple largely traded their privacy friendly reputation for a set of concessions to the CCP in order to gain broader access to the market. This was followed closely by revelation of surveillance software on iPhones (only in the CCP market of course, couldn’t happen here in the USA!) and the rollout of surveillance of photos on user devices ostensibly to counter child sexual abuse material, which was “delayed” after consumer backlash. Apple has also made changes to application requirements to put Apple first in line to profit from the now ubiquitous add auctions that take place when you open a web site, putting them on track to quickly grow the portion of their profits generated by ad revenue.
Google followed a path almost inverse to Apple’s. In spite of recent attempts to diversify with devices and cloud services their earnings reports indicate that with over 200 billion in revenues in 2021, 170 billion came directly from advertising. This means that the old adage is certainly true, if you are not paying for a product, then you most likely ARE the product! Google’s advertising business model relies on the vast troves of data you willingly give them in order to maximize the price of the ad space you see online and in apps. Online auctions are held in real time using codes that Google has assigned to you which indicate your political / religious belief's, income and marital status, all the way down to your likelihood of being the parent of a disabled child. (code 350 from what I’ve read)
So with only two choices Apple has been the lesser of two evils for years, though the degree to which it remains a better choice is now significantly diminished. But, there are more than two choices. For years there have been other AOSP (Android Open Source Project) options such as Calyx and Lineage, both of which offer somewhat broad device compatibility and varying degrees of improved privacy and security. These options utilize the same OS onto which Google built its programs, except with less Google on them. But they don’t quite deliver a complete divorce from Google’s prying eyes. Graphene OS followed a similar developmental path as Lineage however provides the user with both the option to live completely Google free as well as isolate and “sandbox” Google programs where they cannot collect your data (or at least much less of it).
According to Graphene’s website it is “a privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility developed as a non-profit open source project. It’s focused on research and development of privacy and security technology including substantial improvements to sandboxing, exploit mitigations, and the permission model”. So what does that mean to the practical user in every day terms?
Think of an application on your phone and ask yourself: What data does that app have access to? Can it see my location? Does it communicate with another entity over the network? Users of standard Apple and Google OS’s will invariably answer that they don’t know. Some may have employed some sort of mitigation such as turning off location services, or the ever popular installation of an app which promises to prevent tracking, but efforts to validate if these mitigations work usually disappoint. The operating systems simply weren’t built to give you this type of access or control. Graphene gives you the ability to grant access when and where you want, including complete revocation of all privileges so that the app can interact with nothing except itself. Ads are gone with no access to the network, and it’s amazing how many apps want access to your location even though there is no need to have that in order to perform the apps stated function.
Another key to effectively compartmentalizing your digital life is separation of user profiles. When you close a user profile in Graphene, all applications are force closed and the entire partition housing that profile is encrypted. No information goes in or out, and anything deleted during the last session will never be unencrypted again since the file pathway is gone. This allows you, assuming you are using VPN or TOR as a baseline, to separate your digital life such that you avoid co-locating PII (personally identifying information) with the rest of your standard browsing or communication since all non-changeable serialized information is withheld from applications and websites, MAC addresses are randomized , and browser fingerprinting is limited by the OS’s strict privacy standards.
Like everything, however, nothing comes without compromise. Graphene focused on capability rather than compatibility, so the OS in its official distribution only works on (ironically) Google Pixel phones. The device was chosen for the quality of the hardware as the entirety of the software would be overwritten on install, rendering it’s relation to Google obsolete. Additionally while it does not negatively impact the day to day experience of using the phone there it no denying that there are aspects of the user experience that are “unpolished” as compared to mainstream OS’s. Though this has improved substantially in the 2 years I have been using Graphene.
You don’t need to be technically proficient at command line programming (though you can do that is desired as well) to install Graphene. Their website:
https://grapheneos.org/ contains a web based installer with clear directions that doesn’t require any sort of coding knowledge. And if you run into issues or have questions there is a chat group you can join to get assistance from other users including developers, which I have personally found to be helpful. One potential pitfall I have seen referenced in videos and articles is finding that the bootloader is not unlocked on a phone that was purchased used. For that reason I recommend either purchasing a factory unlocked phone or having the seller provide a picture of the developer options menu if purchasing a used device to make sure the menu option isn’t locked.
A final note on implementation. Installing Graphene and then placing your entire digital life right alongside Google applications in the same user profile, and then deciding that VPN is too expensive and TOR is too slow really means that you are not using Graphene the way it was designed to be used and would only get a fraction of the benefits. The key to data privacy is compartmentalization and what follows is a template to illustrate the concept.
White profile: This is your {PII profile. Anything that requires you to identify yourself such as online banking, interacting with government websites, ANYTHING that requires a payment or credit card. I don’t use a VPN or TOR on this profile as the concept of hiding your IP address and then giving out your name, address, and credit card number is silly.
Red profile: This is your standard “surfing the web” profile. You NEVER id yourself, and always use VPN/TOR. So read American Partisan, Zero Hedge, watch videos, whatever… Just don’t log into anything unless it’s with an anonymous account. (burner email, no credit card, etc)
Black profile: Want to check on local Commie groups in your area? Want to run Wire and Briar with Wi-Fi only and the network turned off to communicate with your spicy guys? This is the profile for that. The key is single use, so have as many black profiles as you like. VPN/TOR required and delete / replace them every so often. Just remember that if the network is active then service providers will still be recording your location!
Social media profile: Just can’t go without seeing what other people ate for breakfast? Gotta get those “likes” wearing all your operator AF gear and Hawaiian shirt? Are you a 13 YO girl? Well then you can sandbox your social media into a user profile and at least retain some of your privacy, though your dignity will not remain unscathed.
OK, so now that I've got you convinced, what’s next? The ideal path forward is to purchase a new factory unlocked Pixel 6, then follow Graphene's instructions to download. Its literally 7 steps on a windows machine. Even if you are not a tech type this is just not an insurmountable barrier.
If you just have to buy a phone with Graphene already installed, do your homework first. I personally would not trust anyone other than Combat Studies Group given the history of shady regime backed front groups selling phones to patriots. You can find their store here:
https://combatstudiesgroup.blogspot.com/p/store.html?m=1
Bottom line: the default is living under the full weight of the surveillance state, and you must make a choice. Do you choose the default? Or do you choose to take action?
Choose wisely…