Privacy Phone

I'm planning on buying a cheap and used Xiaomi phone and installing LineageOS on it. The original plan was buying the Pixel 4a and installing grapheneOS on it but since I'm a poor slav that can't afford to spend lots of money on a used Pixel 4a, getting the used Xiaomi seems like the best option. Of course, I'm going to install it without GApps. Also, I'm planning on modding it, removing the microphone and camera's from it, then the only thing that seems left wrong with it is WiFi triangulation that occurs behind the OS knowing it occurs. Two questions: 1.) Is buying a used Xiaomi and installing Lineage on it and then modding it going to be great for privacy and security (don't post that copypasta about my threat model, let's say that it must fulfill OpSec to max) 2.) How do I get rid of CPU backdoors that allow WiFi triangulation? 3.) What can GrapheneOS offer in exchange to LineageOS in terms of privacy and security if I'm gonna modd my phone?

>>16440 Take this with a grain of salt, I'm an idiot. Also, don't know about your last 2 questions, so I'll just rant about the first. Phones will never be great for security by design. Your SIM card has a key, which will be used to authenticate to a cell tower, which in turn keeps logs. I may sound like an asshole, but you wouldn't want to use a phone if you were not willing to sacrifice a part of your privacy. However, it's still better than having a stock OS. I've had LineageOS on my Xiaomi for years now and have been extremely happy with it. I've had the damn brick for more than a decade and it shows no signs of degrading, everything is responsive. Plus, if you use open source apps from the store, those apps are much cleaner than the typical proprietary apps used in stock google. One of my college Professors developed an application that would open other apps in a sandbox and inspect them for any malware behavior. He soon found that apps like Facebook, Youtube, etc had a lot of embedded machine code instead of being 100% written in Java. He also found these apps would generate parts of themselves at runtime (typical malware behavior). Not to suggest they would infect other apps, I have no proof to support such claim. But when applications behave like that, but it will degrade your phone's health quick. My absolute favourite app is NewPipe, a youtube app with no ads and very complete in functionality. What I don't really get is why you would want to remove the microphone, 'tis part of a reason why you would want to use a phone. But, I mean, you do you man. The same with the cameras. LineageOS and the other apps are open source, so I'd place more trust in them, but that's just me though.

You can always buy used, you know. I bought a Pixel 3a XL for 180 USD and put Graphene on it, and I get 5+ day battery life on it with my minimal setup.

>Is buying a used Xiaomi and installing Lineage on it and then modding it going to be great for ... security No, Xiaomi devices don't allow boot loader re-lock by user. It is a security threat if you assume technically-equipped person gets hold of your device (police detention, customs, evil maid, your mom) to install any malicious software. >How do I get rid of CPU backdoors that allow WiFi triangulation? This question does not make any sense. Triangulation is a method that utilizes property of radiowaves: propagating in all directions. You can not undo physics. And why WiFi specifically? You sound like an uninformed nigger. >What can GrapheneOS offer in exchange to LineageOS It is developed for lesser number of devices by one team, that means they can focus closely. LineageOS is more about freetardism and giving any certified Java technician in India ability to release own ROM, not security. Security is often times against any customization or freedom (you can't shott youself in the leg for ex.). Read further in documentation. Comparing these two builds casually, Graphene is AOSP with security patches for Pixel smartphone kernel. Lineage is AOSP that barely manages to make hacked-up manufacturer kernels work because there are so many manufacturers and so many drivers.

just get a used pixel and install graphene. lineage is better than the original OS but not by much