Privacy

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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.

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

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

362 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.

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[–] Lucidlethargy 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Interesting. It's not available in the US.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 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?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

Since when are they allowed to lock you out of your purchased property without a court order?

That's an oxymoron. Creditors have the ability to lock you out of a device you haven't paid for yet. Standard terms and conditions in B2C and B2B; you don't own it until you've paid for it in full.

Also locking you out of a device you don't own yet is cheaper than taking you to court.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for sharing this OP. I turned on the notifications for my browser, and when I went on FB (thru firefox, not app) one of the connection notifications was to a website I went on once a few weeks or even a month ago. I knew it was creepy but damn.

I do have ublock origin but obviously that's not enough. I wish i could get rid of FB but there's 2 things i haven't been able to replicate elsewhere.

I'm just flabbergasted but wanted to say thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 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.

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