Can one fully disable logging on GOS?

AlanZ

Can logging be disabled and logs deleted on GOS?

[deleted]

AlanZ Logging can not be disabled on official builds of GOS. But as another user said, they are not presistent.

Xtreix

AlanZ You don't explain why you want to completely disable logging in GOS, it is not an invasion of privacy and all logs are deleted on the next reboot.

ryrona

Logs aren't saved to storage, only kept in RAM memory, so all logs gets deleted securely at each phone reboot. If you worry there may be traces in the logs of activity you have done in a now logged out or deleted profile or similar, just rebooting the phone should be enough.

But I agree it would be nice if logs could be disabled entirely, especially since logs doesn't appear to be per user profile but system wide. It would avoid having to reboot the device. If one has an issue one need help with or report as a bug, one can always enable the logs again.

AlanZ

ryrona
Thanks!
However, the silence of the development team is notable.

GrapheneOS

AlanZ Your post is 8 hours old and it's not clear why you think the development team is capable of responding to every question.

gravity-reprint

AlanZ You've got quite the snobby attitude.

[deleted]

GrapheneOS While this is true, you could have answered the question if you already took the time to write a response.

flighty_sloth

[deleted] The question was already answered by another user and it's been discussed extensively on this forum before.

AlanZ

gravity-reprint
You can always hug your ESA. It will comfort you. ; )

AlanZ

Xtreix it is not an invasion of privacy and all logs are deleted on the next reboot.

It is not, but it is undesirable behavior (from my point of view) that surely I don't have to justify wanting to have control over. It seems eerily incremental - first logging, than perhaps logging and sending "essential diagnostic data". The point is, one should be able to turn it off, arguably it should not even be turned on by default.

ryrona

Xtreix You don't explain why you want to completely disable logging in GOS, it is not an invasion of privacy and all logs are deleted on the next reboot.

It could be a privacy issue, since logs collected in owner profile contain log entries from all user profiles, which could be a problem if your phone is taken from you while owner profile is unlocked. There could be log entries about accessed file names, user account IDs and contacts for chat apps, and many other things from user profiles that are locked.

AlanZ It seems eerily incremental - first logging, than perhaps logging and sending "essential diagnostic data".

I am fairly confident GrapheneOS developers would never implement any kind of automatic sending of logs. That would be a big no for a privacy focused operating system such as GrapheneOS, and certainly not tolerated by the user base.

Xtreix

ryrona It could be a privacy issue, since logs collected in owner profile contain log entries from all user profiles, which could be a problem if your phone is taken from you while owner profile is unlocked. There could be log entries about accessed file names, user account IDs and contacts for chat apps, and many other things from user profiles that are locked.

in the probability of a snatch-and-grab where your owner profile is still unlocked (the thief must not accidentally press the power button), the attacker doesn't need access to the logs, he can simply see and use all your applications, view your contact list and even see who you've contacted if the history that hasn't been erased.

graphenemuffin

Where can I see the logs, and again, is it possible to just disable them?

I ask because making sure there are no traces that profile X had existed after it's been deleted it's quite important to me.

ryrona

graphenemuffin Where can I see the logs, and again, is it possible to just disable them?

Settings -> System -> View logs.

graphenemuffin I ask because making sure there are no traces that profile X had existed after it's been deleted it's quite important to me.

Logs are never written to disk, only kept in RAM. RAM is securely wiped during reboot, so rebooting your phone is enough to make all logs disappear, including from any deleted or previously running profile.

But, there are still traces of the old profile left by other means, that advanced forensics can recover. Metadata about files that lived in the deleted profile is not securely deleted. That is, number of files, their latest modified time, and their exact file sizes, and the exact folder structure (but without filenames) will still be left. There may also be old revisions of configuration files mentioning the deleted profile and which apps were installed in it left. The only safe way to make sure no data about a profile can ever be recovered is to factory reset the device. This will wipe the device encryption key, making it impossible to ever access any user data (past or present, content data or metadata).