I might have misunderstood this but is Android really trying to push this as tracking as a privacy upgrade, simply because it let’s us choose which of our interests we want advertisers to have access to?

      • delirious_owl@discuss.online
        3·
        10 months ago

        Obviously by “google” were talking about proprietary blobs.

        For example TOTP is great. There’s no issue with the fact that it was developed by Google. Same with AOSP.

        Any ROM doesn’t have Google Play Services by default and therefore its google free in all the ways that matter

        • Pantherina@feddit.de
          21·
          10 months ago

          No some OS preinstall microG. Because only if the core is finished you can hash and sign it, if the user flashes some apps afterwards that doesnt work.

          Btw ROM is read only memory, a tiny part of the firmware

          • Fisch@lemmy.ml
            2·
            10 months ago

            MicroG is open source tho and only talks to Google if you explicitely activate it

            • Pantherina@feddit.de
              11·
              10 months ago

              No its not. They download Google Binaries which run as system apps and have privileged access.

              They practice badness enumeration in some form, while their permission model (only activating what is needed) is a better approach but incomplete.

              Any app that relies on Play has those libraries implemented, so they could show ads etc. on their own. But with microG they have a component with privileged system access, in contrast to sandboxed play where no component is privileged.

        • Pantherina@feddit.de
          12·
          10 months ago

          Which is even less degoogles as it preinstalls microG which is official Google binaries, running as a system app with permission to critical system infos and basically all your stuff.

          See my other comments.