I don’t know the reasons of PrivacyGuides, but there has been a research paper last month about data privacy on Android operating systems. It states that LineageOS is not 100% private because of some Google layers. Maybe that’s the reason ? Here is the paper: https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/Android_privacy_report.pdf Very interesting, but long to read.
See my reply to OP, the authors of this report tested LineageOS with Gapps added. LineageOS does not come with Gapps preinstalled, so in my opinion this is not a fair assessment of LineageOS.
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Yeah, I suppose it may be something like that. Would be nice to see a comparison of vanilla Lineage vs Lineage+MircoG vs Lineage+OpenGApps
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.
Note that they are testing LineageOS with Gapps added:
A. Hardware and Software Used Mobile handsets: (i) Samsung Galaxy S9 (model SM- G960F)/Android 10 (build QP1A.190711.020, One UI v2.0), (ii) Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 (model M2003J15SG)/Android 10 (build QP1A.190711.020, MIUI Global 12.0.7 QJOMIXM), (iii) Realme 6 Pro (model RMX2063)/Android 10 (build RMX2063 11 A.38, realme UI v1.0), (iv) Huawei P10 Lite (model MAR-LX1B)/Android 915 (build 9.1.0.372, EMUI 9.1.0), (v) Google Pixel 2/Android 10 (LineageOS build 17.1- 20210316, opengapps 10.0-nano-20210314), (vi) Google Pixel 2/Android 10 (eos build e-0.11-q-20200917). Rooted using Magisk v20.4 and Magisk Manager v7.5.1.
LineageOS does not come with Gapps preinstalled, they had to add them manually. Why they seem to represent OpenGapps as being part of LineageOS is a head scratcher, especially when they also claim the following:
On LineageOS it is necessary to install GApps to use the Google Play store, but this is not necessary with /e/OS (which uses the open-source MicroG re-implementation of Google Play Services and the Google Play app).
This is not strictly true, many people who use LineageOS choose to use Aurora Store instead to access Google Play Store. Aurora Store does not require Gapps or Google Play Services. Additionally, it is just as possible to install microG on LineageOS as it is to install OpenGapps.
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LineageOS is only “googled” if you go out of your way to install google on it.
This FUD around LineageOS is quite bizarre.
I think the problem of Mobile OS is, that most official apps (administrations, banking, etc) are only for Android or for OS with Google layers. Because of this (I can’t use other OS than Android on my very basic phone) I don’t use my phone for more than for basic tasks (calls, messages, some OpenSource games from F-Droid…) without any important data stored (also GPS desactivated). Mobile phones generally are not secure or private, very prone to loss, theft or being intercepted, especially in frequent use in public WiFi LinageOS is a valid alternative like other more private distros, but the real risk is the user himself and how and for what he use the Phone
