"If you use an Android phone and are (rightfully!) worried about digital privacy, you’ve probably taken care of the basics already. You’ve deleted the snoopiest of the snoopy apps, opted out of tracking whenever possible, and taken all of the other precautions the popular how-to privacy guides have told you to. The bad news—and you might want to sit down for this—is that none of those steps are enough to be fully free of trackers."

https://gizmodo.com/researchers-find...n-w-1847849141

So does there exist a pure android phone that has no other software?

LineageOS is based on AOSP and includes no google proprietary stuff, replaces some of the old crap AOSP apps with their own versions. So any device they support would be a good start:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/

But in NA/EU, almost all manufacturers ship Google's GMS, so if you don't want that, gotta change yer OS yourself. Kinda like PC coming with Microsoft's Windows whether you intend to use it or not.

Android Phones for other places, for example PRC domestic market, usually run something closer to pure AOSP, no Google Services/Apps... but I'd imagine they have other security implications

Have fun with gps and using your phone as a router around a campfire for your linux laptop. Something I do a lot of on my Samsung s10E Verizon umbilical cord that my wife maintains for my errant self.

Android still tracks you when you tell it not to?

*pikachu face*

You mean your firewall allows that?

What? You don't have a firewall on your Android device?

https://netguard.me/

NetGuard is an application bases firewall that uses IPv4 and IPv6 logging you can use to make rules as to what traffic you do and do not want to allow a certain application to initiate or respond to.

In the free version it handles traffic as it sees fit and you do not get logging. I paid a one-time fee of $7.50US and it makes all the difference.

It has its own local VPN and will not run if you have another VPN active.

Allow me to illustrate what's going on behind the scenes that you might not be aware of.

Now why does a File Manager, what they call a File Viewer, need to be talking to doubleclick.net?


And why does Android need to be talking to Hangzhou Alibaba Advertising Co. Ltd?
That's not in that shot. I'm looking at it right now in real-time.

I did get a screenshot of it but can't post it without switching devices.
Take my word for it.

I hope google has to pay out the $5 billion. Looks like we'll have to wait a while to find out. Here's current trial schedule.