Privacy

32130 readers

598 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

1139

Google Allows Creditors to Brick Your Phone (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by MisterFrog@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

368 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I installed NetGuard about a month ago and blocked all internet to apps, unless they're on a whitelist. No notifications from this particular system app (that can't be disabled) until recently when it started making internet connection requests to google servers. Does anyone know when this became a thing?

Edit 2: I bought my Pixel 6 phone outright, directly from Google's Australian store. I have no creditors.

Were the courts not enough control for creditors? Since when are they allowed to lock you out of your purchased property without a court order?

I don't even live in the US, so what the actual fuck?

Edit 1: You can check it's installed (~~stock~~ Pixel 6 android 14) Settings > Apps > All Apps > three dot menu, Show system > search "DeviceLockController".

I highly recommend getting NetGuard, you can enable pro features via their website if you have the APK for as low as 0.10€, but donate more, because it's amazing. You can also purchase via Google Play store.

(page 4) 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Interesting. It's not available in the US.

[–] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

It's not "available" in the Australian Playstore either, whether it's installed so far seems to be how old your phone is (rough feeling based on comments). Not yet clear what the pattern is.

[–] scratchandgame@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 months ago

the phone world is fucked. Use a landline phone :)

[–] liliumstar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I checked and this is not present on my device. It is an unlocked Google Pixel 6a purchased via contract with the mobile provider. That said, I factory reset the device when I got it, so it may have been removed at that time.

[–] hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz 4 points 8 months ago

I have it on my contract free pixel 6 bought from Google store.

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] Eggyhead@kbin.run 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Are we certain it does what we think it does? Could it be something to do with the ability to lock your phone remotely if stolen, or just something to do with Lock Screen functionality?

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Bitflip@lemmy.ml 4 points 8 months ago

This is pre-installed on my 6a, also purchased outright, unlocked, directly from Google in the US.

[–] root@aussie.zone 4 points 8 months ago

Asus Zenfone 8 purchased outright in Australia. App does not exist on my phone.

[–] eugenia@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 months ago (7 children)

My Pixel5a from google store has it, but my other phone where I installed Murena e/OS (which is based on LineageOS) does not have it.

load more comments (7 replies)

load more comments