Government Surveillance on Chinese vs US made phones (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by tapdattl@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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Question that I've been mulling over recently: My threat model dictates that I'm more likely to be surveilled by the US government than by the Chinese government. We can also assume that the Chinese government is not going to cooperate with the US government in any investigations of potential activist activity.

Would it not be best, then, to use a Chinese-made phone that, even though we know that information is going to China, we can also assume that any backdoors in the system are unknown to the US Gov?

I'm interested in everyone's take on this.

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[-] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 29 points 3 days ago

I know a Pixel isn't available everywhere, some folks can't afford them, and giving Google money just feels wrong but a Pixel with GrapheneOS will cut off both the USA and Chinese governments.

[-] techwooded@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 days ago

My advice here then would be to buy a used Pixel from not Google (either through a carrier or a site like Newegg or Backmarket or similar). Google won't get any additional cash, supports keeping waste out of the landfill, and you can use Graphene. For longevity, you can get used Pixel 9s and 9as for not too much so it's still a decently new phone

[-] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago

It's a good plan. OP needs to make sure the phone isn't carrier locked.

[-] pineapple@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

Way ahead of me

[-] pineapple@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

Buy a second hand pixel, I'm sure they're available also they are cheaper and better for the environment.

this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026

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