Greetings everyone, I've been lurking the forums for a bit and after some deliberation decided that my next phone was going to be a pixel 8 on which i would install GrapheneOS. And so here i am now, slowly migrating from my previous phone, the iPhone X (10). I also bought 2 Yubikeys to secure important accounts.
Anyways i have a low threat model and was wondering how a user like me should best go about transitioning to a more secure and private online life while still maintaining a good amount of convenience. starting with the phone.
What I've already done with my GrapheneOS phone:
Installed Software:
├── Google Play
├── The entire Proton suite
└── Aegis (2FA App)
Settings:
│
├── Network & Internet
│ │
│ ├── Internet
│ │ │
│ │ └── Network preferences
│ │ ├── Notify for public networks (Off)
│ │ └── Turn OFF Wi-Fi automatically (ON 1 min)
│ │
│ └── VPN
│ └── Proton VPN (Always on & Block connections without VPN)
│
├── Connected devices
│ │
│ └── Connection Preferences
│ │
│ ├── Bluetooth
│ │ └── Turn OFF Bluetooth automatically (ON 1 min)
│ │
│ ├── NFC
│ │ └── Require device unlock for NFC (ON)
│ │
│ └── Printing
│ └── Default Print Service (OFF)
│
└── Apps
│
└── All Apps
│
└── App Permissions
│
└── Google
│
├── Play services
│ └── Network + Sensors + Allow background battery usage
│
├── Play Store
│ └── (Same as Play Services) + Notifications
│
└── Services Framework
└── (Same as Play Services)
Security
├── Screen-lock (PIN)
├── Fingerprint Unlock (none)
├── USB-C port (Charging-only when locked)
└── Scramble PIN input layout (ON)
As far as I'm aware, this is all I've changed. Anything not in this list is set as the default option.
Things I'm thinking of and would like thoughts or advice on:
1) Putting the SIM card currently in my iPhone into my GrapheneOS phone. (How much privacy and security do I lose by using my current sim or a sim in general?)
2) Should I use a second profile for non-FOSS apps, or is it fine to have them on the owner profile? Non-FOSS apps would be WhatsApp, Discord, Spotify, Banking, etc. (Do I even gain much privacy or security from using a second profile since the apps are already sandboxed anyway?)
3) I'm slowly migrating all my accounts from Google to Proton. Is it worth investing in a Proton unlimited plan? I would be using all the features (More then 1 Email, VPN on all my devices, backing up photos and temporary files, Password manager with simple-login, calendar for planning and also probably upcoming notes)
3.1) Does changing account emails to email aliases improve privacy? For instance changing my Spotify or Discord email from example@gmail.com or example@proton.me to an email alias.
Any advice, information or opinions on these thoughts and settings is appreciated.
Also if this post isn't structured correctly or i should separate the questions into different discussions please let me know for the future.