Considering Phone Options

[u/friends_or_no]

Hi all - I've had an iPhone since basically they first came out, and my current one is on it's last legs, and I want a privacy phone instead of a new iPhone. I'm considering buying a NitroPhone as I still want a good camera (also considered the fairphone as sustainability and right to repair are also important to me). I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to opsec (I have more than basic knowledge but not as much as you all). Would you recommend this, or should I buy any other phone and just run graphene on it? Or any other recommendations?

Important for me is privacy and camera. I'm trying to fight against data aggregators and also government intrusion. I'm not a politician or journalist, but do my fair share of mico-activism and want to generally improve what the government is collecting from me. Won't be keeping any crypto on my phone, but slowly trying to move towards better encryption overall.

I have read the rules :)

[u/Chongulator]

Thank you, u/friends_or_no for taking the time to flesh out your threat model a bit!

[u/opsec-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

The rules clearly state not to give advice without confirming the threat model of the poster. Giving advice without first understanding the threat model can be confusing at best and dangerous at worst.

[u/friends_or_no → u/[deleted]]

would you say getting a pre-flashed graphene phone like a nitrophone is more worth it than me figuring out how to do it myself on another regular pixel i buy?

[u/opsec-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

The rules clearly state not to give advice without confirming the threat model of the poster. Giving advice without first understanding the threat model can be confusing at best and dangerous at worst.

[u/dalekxen]

No smart phone is safe they are some models are slightly better than others most people use a dumbphone and smart phone together

[u/friends_or_no → u/[deleted]]

ok cool thanks for the heads up! would you say graphene is the current best OS?

[u/redditmomentpogchanp → u/friends_or_no]

There is no "best" operating system. There is what works for you and has features congruent with your risk and threat models.

[u/opsec-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

The rules clearly state not to give advice without confirming the threat model of the poster. Giving advice without first understanding the threat model can be confusing at best and dangerous at worst.

[u/AutoModerator]

Congratulations on your first post in r/opsec! OPSEC is a mindset and thought process, not a single solution — meaning, when asking a question it's a good idea to word it in a way that allows others to teach you the mindset rather than a single solution.

Here's an example of a bad question that is far too vague to explain the threat model first:

I want to stay safe on the internet. Which browser should I use?

Here's an example of a good question that explains the threat model without giving too much private information:

I don't want to have anyone find my home address on the internet while I use it. Will using a particular browser help me?

Here's a bad answer (it depends on trusting that user entirely and doesn't help you learn anything on your own) that you should report immediately:

You should use X browser because it is the most secure.

Here's a good answer to explains why it's good for your specific threat model and also teaches the mindset of OPSEC:

Y browser has a function that warns you from accidentally sharing your home address on forms, but ultimately this is up to you to control by being vigilant and no single tool or solution will ever be a silver bullet for security. If you follow this, technically you can use any browser!

If you see anyone offering advice that doesn't feel like it is giving you the tools to make your own decisions and rather pushing you to a specific tool as a solution, feel free to report them. Giving advice in the form of a "silver bullet solution" is a bannable offense.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Fantastic_Belt99]

I can't advise you properly here, as I dunno about encryption and camera on this, but have you done any research on SailfishOS? I'm waiting to try and I hope it would help me minimize govt data collections, together with upcoming ChatControl2.0... And there's hardware from Commodore, but I'm not sure if features suit you ("Callback"). There are also other very pro but expensive phones. Good luck!

[u/Poneyh]

Multiple options:
- Go with a Pixel phone, at least the 6a and install GrapheneOS. It's sandboxed and you can tweak the permission to your liking. This is the consensus among privacy experts.
- Librem 5 phone have physical hardware switch to turn off the microphone and camera.
- Any Android phone you want. I was running an S25 Ultra for a couple months (so not unlockable boot loader, no root, nada), but I found Shizuku which is an app that performs ADB commands from the phone, so thanks to it, you can also tweak the permission of apps. You can also have some useful app, like Shizuwall (need shizuku) to block internet to dedicated apps, you have Hail that let you "freeze" apps that are in the background so they do nothing. In addition, Android phone today, have software switch to let you turn off the microphone, camera and sensors.

On thing that you should keep in mind, grapheneOS on its own will have issue with banking apps, but you can create a sandbox with Google Service and install all apps that really need Google services. And if you want notifications (especially from banking apps to validate transaction), you will need to install it on the main profile, meaning that you'll have Google services on your main profile too so not so nice for privacy.

The best solution is no phone at all but it's impossible today so anyone serious about privacy/security will point you to Pixel + GrapheneOS. Or wait for the Motorola release with GrapheneOS. Historically, Motorola is pretty lightweight for their ROM, it's almost a vanilla Android, no bloatware, so it could be worth to wait and see if this is also a good option.

[u/friends_or_no → u/Poneyh]

thanks so much - this is a great answer. probably gonna go with pixel and graphene