Rabat_ Social Media Exchange (SMEX)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human rights in digital spaces across MENA [Middle East and North Africa] — is warning that Israeli-linked software secretly embedded in Samsung phones across the Middle East and North Africa region poses a serious surveillance threat.
According to SMEX, Samsung’s A and M series devices either come preloaded with the app “Aura” or install it automatically through system updates, without the user’s consent. The application reportedly collects a wide range of personal and device-specific data, including IP addresses, device fingerprints, hardware details, and network information.
Pixel only?
yes, and you have to get one that is from google and isn’t from a carrier so you can unlock the bootloader. Carrier versions have locked bootloaders.
Rogers in Canada has pixels that allow unlocking the bootloader (just got a pixel 9, and once I have some time I’m going to try putting a custom build on it).
I just bought a Pixel 10 from Spectrum with the repeated assurance that the phone would be fully unlocked after it was paid off and had several months of service. I intended to load Graphene OS, but apparently I was fucking lied to yet again by another business that will say anything to make a sale.
I can’t do anything about that now, but I can move to another carrier and make damn sure they don’t ever make another dime off my mobile account.
In most markets, kind of. There are some others but most aren’t sold in NA other than the Pixel.
Ah okay, thanks