Signed into Pixel with Google account, does installing Graphene make sense?

JimH

Hello,

I am new to GrapheneOS, and I have a Pixel 8 that I bought from Google. I already signed into the phone with my Google account. I'm assuming Google already has the info it needs to associate me with the phone's hardware, (IMEI, etc.) Is there any point in installing GrapheneOS on this phone now, since Google already knows I am the owner?

other8026

JimH I don't think it's appropriate for me to tell you what you should do, but I personally logged in to my phone when it had Stock on it using my regular Google account. A few minutes later I flashed GrapheneOS and logged right back into the same account.

I don't think it really matters. The hardware IDs that they can access while running Stock are no longer accessible by them with GrapheneOS. You can use a completely new account and they won't know it's you (unless you give them identifying info, of course). Or don't use Google apps at all if you choose.

Google having hardware IDs is nothing in comparison to the amount of info they can access on a phone running Stock. I would focus less on the hardware identifiers and more on the data they have access to, which can be very limited on GrapheneOS.

I'd suggest reading through the section on hardware identifiers and the following section on non-hardware identifiers on the website.

Phead

JimH

Does it make a difference if Google knows it's your phone? Are you concerned about your identity being disclosed to a third party or do you want to degoogle? If the latter is true, GrapheneOS still has substantial improvements compared to Vanilla Stock OS which will protect your data on a day-to-day basis. Why and how is very well explained on the website, as others here have mentioned already. If you still have questions about specific features feel free to come back here and get some answers.

Carlos-Anso

JimH
If you bought the device from Google they already have your delivery address and payment details connected to that hardware. Logging into your Google account while it was on stock OS likely makes little difference.

As mentioned previously apps on GrapheneOS, including the Google Play apps dont have access to hardware identifiers so they can not use them to link the device to you.

ErnestThornhill

JimH You bought the device from Google. They already have information about you. Flashing GrapheneOS onto your device replaces the existing OS installation and wipes all the existing data.

https://grapheneos.org/install/web#flashing-factory-images

p338k

GrapheneOS provides substantial security improvements over stock OS. That alone should be a reason to use it.

It also provides privacy options by installing Google services as an unprivileged application. Google may have some information about your device, but you can choose what to share with it. Even Google Play must respect the application permissions on GrapheneOS.