We find that even when
minimally configured and the handset is idle these vendor-
customized Android variants transmit substantial amounts of
information to the OS developer and also to third-parties (Google,
Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook etc) that have pre-installed system
apps.
We assume a privacy-conscious but busy/non-technical user,
who when asked does not select options that share data but
otherwise leaves handset settings at their default value.
LineageOS sends similar volumes of data to Google as these proprietary Android
variants, but we do not observe the LineageOS developers
themselves collecting data nor pre-installed system apps other
than those of Google. Lineage is the 2nd best option they studied, e/OS is the best.
Tldr;
We find that even when minimally configured and the handset is idle these vendor- customized Android variants transmit substantial amounts of information to the OS developer and also to third-parties (Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook etc) that have pre-installed system apps.
We assume a privacy-conscious but busy/non-technical user, who when asked does not select options that share data but otherwise leaves handset settings at their default value.
LineageOS sends similar volumes of data to Google as these proprietary Android variants, but we do not observe the LineageOS developers themselves collecting data nor pre-installed system apps other than those of Google. Lineage is the 2nd best option they studied, e/OS is the best.