looking for guidance on finding and correcting any issues with my device I.e. troubleshooting tools and tips (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Stapling9851@lemm.ee to c/privacyguides@lemmy.one

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi all, I'm working each device and overall network at a time, trying to learn and make my systems right. Make them all secure, private, properly configged, running good, and have freedom! Little restrictions ala using fdroid and Foss apps.

So far I have messed around with hypatia, and it always says its running but I don't exactly know of it is or what it should do. I just thought live malware protection sounded good.

I messed with tracker scanners and permissions tools such as warden, exodus, permissions pilot, and app manager and sure they show you all these issues, but I have no idea how to find these weird trackers, yet alone remove them. The permissions that are always deemed not say are always these weird ones in a weird format and I can never just go through the apps permissions and find them. So its all useless info for me. I can't seem to figure out how to use them.

Just hoping you all could recommend me good apps that worked for you encompassing all aspects of your phone, like mentioned. Proper configs, finding junk or spyware or apps that shouldn't be on my phone, protective measures, security measures, privacy measures, everything involved with keeping my phone happy and proper lol thanks for reading, hope you all could help. thanks

Edit: my lord I never specified which device lmao. I'm talking my galaxy s21 ultra android phone lol sorry

top 4 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] bbbhltz@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Hypatia is interesting, but you might not need to have it running permanently.

If your Samsung is fresh off the shelf, there is likely some bloatware on it. Apps that canot be deleted.

If you are very serious about being a little more private and a little more secure, you could do some of the following.

factory reset your device and then use adb (or the Universal Android Debloater https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater) to remove the recommended Google and OEM apps.
- factory reset optional
you won't be able to remove trackers, and some of them are just there for bug reporting. Being aware of them is good. There are several apps that can prevent the trackers from reporting (Tracker Controller, host blockers like InviZible Pro, etc.)
practice good habits: 2FA (Aegis) and password management (Bitwarden), avoid using biometric data when you can, E2EE, etc.
change email providers (maybe)

Take it slow though. There is a reason why they call this a rabbit hole and it can be daunting to figure it all out.

[-] Stapling9851@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Awesome! That link is great BTW lol so true. I'm just concerned about what's running on my phone or what's improperly configured on my phone to improve security and privacy. If I check out the system apps section In the settings, there are sooo many apps that I have no clue what they are, what they do, or if they should even be on my system! Lol and as far as permissions, the permissions that apps like warden or permissions pilot deem unsafe, I am unable to find those permissions to change the settings! Its so confusing. Its like Thanks warden for bringing these to my attention, but how do I fix them?! Lol

[-] bbbhltz@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Sometimes you cannot, because that's jus how the app is made.

All those system things you might as well ignore unless you root your phone or learn some adb-fu (it isn't hard but the first time doing causes sweaty palms).

[-] Stapling9851@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Ahh I gotcha. Honestly I'm pretty much just buying time until I can afford to buy a pixel and try a third party os

this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023

7 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy Guides

16263 readers

3 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.

You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...

Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!

This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.

Moderation Rules:

We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

jonah@lemmy.jonaharagon.net