I recently asked the /c/Android community what information Google has access to on stock Android, assuming the user is not using any Google apps, and was told Google has full “unstoppable” access to the entire device, including Signal messages, the microphone, duckduckgo search history and anything displayed on the screen at all times.
Does this mean that encrypted messaging is essentially pointless to use on Android? I’m a newb here so go easy on me.
So just to confirm the answer to my question question: Its pointless to use encrypted messaging on an Android device?
People in the field would love to bust Google for this so it’s a safe bet that they are actively looking for Google to log or transmit what you type in the keyboard in every app. The fact that the news hasn’t broken that Google is logging this info is important. It means in the realm of possibility it’s not impossible but it is unlikely.
Still it’s safer to assume all of your communications on stock android are being tracked or spied on.
The same way you assume a weapon is loaded. Better safe than sorry.
It is not pointless.
Of course not. End-to-end encrypted messaging protects against eavesdroppers in transit. It’s an opaque envelope.
(Edit: Keep in mind that Google is not the only potential eavesdropper out there.)
What it cannot do is protect a message from someone reading over your shoulder when you write a message or open an envelope. On mainstream Android, that could be Google, if they choose to abuse their system-level access. On iOS, it could be Apple. And so on.
Those companies might be eavesdropping on sent/received messages already, either at a large scale or in a minority of cases, or regionally, or they might not be doing it at all… yet. But they have the capability. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether that risk is acceptable.
But if the ENDS are both compromised… I wish there were more/better custom ROMS out there. Hopefully Linux Phone gets some love.
If either end is compromised, then there is someone reading over the proverbial shoulder, and the conversation should be considered compromised.
That would be a welcome step in the right direction, as would open hardware.
Do you have an issue with graphene?
Me personally I don’t have a Pixel but I looked into Graphene and I’m told banking apps don’t work and also tap to pay.
Linux works on pretty much every PC ever and every app can be installed. It would be nice to have that for phones!
Wrong, it gets others off WhatsApp.
If you use stock android and proprietary software, YES. Everything you type can be recorded before it’s encrypted.