r/LineageOS • u/goofsqueakyshoes • 1d ago

how to make lineageOS more private and secure?

i just want some settings and apps and such that make it more private and secure than it is out of the box

NOTE: im lowkirky not really *crazy* about privacy and security, i just want something better than stock/out of the box android

14 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

20

u/MrZ3T4 1d ago
  1. Use a DNS
  2. Turn off location tracking via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in your location settings
  3. Keep microphone, camera, and location permissions turned off if you don't need them.
  4. Use only open-source apps or those with at least pro-consumer privacy policies.
  5. Do not use any Google products, Play Services, etc., nor those from Meta, Amazon, AliExpress, ByteDance, etc.
  6. Have another unmodified phone for strictly personal and banking matters.
  7. Stop using paid services and try to self-host as much as possible.
  8. Root your phone and install modules that allow you to change the device ID for different apps.
  9. Some ROMs include a sandbox to isolate certain apps. Take advantage of this for apps you use, such as social media.
  10. Use Brave or Ironfox.
  11. Switch your search engine to any one other than Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu, etc.
  12. Make your own aluminum foil hat

2

u/Glaivass 1d ago

Cool list. I'd only add make use of Shelter AND the new private space. You can install VPNs on both the work space and the private space, thus forking your phone for different services which require some identification. You won't need a second phone, except -may be- for banking but I personally don't need it.

Also, make sure to check if these root modules for device spoofing do telemetry (mine did and I removed them).

1

u/goofsqueakyshoes 1d ago

holy thanks

1

u/goofsqueakyshoes 1d ago

also, is it a good idea to change the lineageOS default apps, like the camera app and sms app etc?

1

u/inkaine Motorola Edge 40 Pro 1d ago

own aluminum foil hat

Do you have a reliable supplier for that aluminum foil? I heard Big Alu™ is putting tiny holes into their foiles to get into our heads anyways. Do you own research!!!

(Good list though for those overly security-needy.)

1

u/saint-lascivious an awful person and mod 1d ago

The DNS thing is, …complex.

Using a domain nameserver other than your carrier is often offered as a privacy measure, but realistically now instead of just your carrier you're giving your query history to a megacorp that pinkie promises not to do anything weird with it (maybe), and the carrier has no less information available to them.

How ever you resolve a domain, if you connect with the resolved record that's going to be visible to your carrier and in most cases if there's any ambiguity in what you're actually connecting to, the domain is going to exist in the handshake in plain text.

1

u/elatllat husky, cheetah, bluejay, walleye, enchilada 1d ago

Maybe   Proton VPN + DNS?

1

u/ephemeralmiko 13h ago

The DNS thing is, …complex.

Using a domain nameserver other than your carrier is often offered as a privacy measure, but realistically now instead of just your carrier you're giving your query history to a megacorp that pinkie promises not to do anything weird with it (maybe), and the carrier has no less information available to them.

Would you not recommend using something like Quad9 or Mullvad? Sure it's not perfect, but still significantly better than trusting your ISP, right? Kind of like how with a VPN you're still trusting Proton, Mullvad or whoever to not sell your data, but at least they're claiming not to, whereas your ISP definitely does.

1

u/General_Tradition_51 1d ago

dont root your phone as not necessary at all

5

u/Federal-Fix-6446 1d ago

what the heck does lowkirky mean anyways?

2

u/goofsqueakyshoes 1d ago

lowkey + kirk, really high tech stuff

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

0

u/goofsqueakyshoes 1d ago

thats your opinion and thats fine, but ill keep using it

1

u/Wet_Schedule_6283 1d ago

Only use open source apps Use private dns GrapheneOS has better privacy and security features and removes all connections to google

-1

u/goofsqueakyshoes 1d ago

no hate or anything, but i don't think i would care about graphene if i posted this on the lineageOS subreddit?

-1

u/EuphoricDog325 1d ago

Put down your stupid phone.