Watermelon
Thank you for these answers!
Ultimately, no software can protect against malicious hardware.
Which is exactly the reason my question.
In the linked thread, I am reading:
"To this point, there is no evidence from traffic logs and similar that there are any unexpected connections to Google servers whatsoever. So, even if Google had implemented some kind of evil backdoor, they apparently don't make use of it."
which implies traffic log analysis but no details were provided. That however addresses potential spyware only and in a partial way - a potential spyware may not be transmitting data all the time. It may be saving it locally and sending it only e.g. once a month, or on Christmas.
Additionally that says nothing about non-spyware malware, e.g. malware that could destroy data, without necessarily transmitting anything. Or one that can brick the device totally.
I have first-hand information for similar things that electronics manufacturers deliberately do with some modules inside TVs, so they get "damaged" not long after the warranty expires. Then one must use their "certified repair services" or buy a new TV.
I hope that clarifies what I mean.
No software can protect you against physical tampering.
Right. So, how does one replace the battery?
Firstly, Vanadium activates a form of site isolation (sandboxing) that's stricter than the one used in Chromium/Google Chrome even on desktop.
Well, perhaps my specific example was not quite appropriate as it opens the direction to the huge subject of browsers, but since you mention Vanadium:
Is Vanadium based on ungoogled-chromium? Or is it ungoogled in a similar way?
I am concerned that because it is Chrome-based effective usage of uBlock Origin is practically impossible which seems to me a cons in regards to privacy.
Secondly, its very apparent to me as a user how much the GrapheneOS team cares about quick and good patching of security vulnerabilities [...]
I am not questioning that at all. I am rather interested whether Graphene has additional protections, independent of traditional patches.
and some of these tricks could harm the security of your device
From what I have read, SIM toolkit acquires and communicates user data and is a potential door to mischief by MNOs. That's why I have removed it from our Replicant phones and they work fine without it. From your words I understand that is not possible to do on Graphene, right?
Once again, thank you for answering some of my questions!
I hope someone can answer the remaining ones:
3
7
8 (first part)
9-12