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TLDR: Drug dealers in Catalonia have started to adopt GrapheneOS en masse leading to Catalan police suspecting anyone with a Google Pixel is a drug dealer

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[-] Part4@infosec.pub 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Police are not the brightest in any society.

So I guess somebody needs to tell them that they need to focus their efforts a little better if their current plan is 'anyone with a Google Pixel is a drug dealer'.

Can I suggest they start with the people with drugs, rather than the people with the -- not uncommon - google phones in their search for drug dealers?

[-] kadup@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Police are not the brightest in any society.

It's a literal job requirement. If you're smart, you're not going to blindly follow orders. Police cognitive testing literally discards candidates that perform well in intellectual tasks. This is not a conspiracy or a joke, it's how police works.

[-] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 points 1 week ago

Well I do use a Pixel (for lineage OS) and I do make my living selling drugs... wait wait this is a bad example.

[-] dangercake@feddit.uk 2 points 1 week ago

Well in that case two marijuanas please

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[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Reminds me of getting a notice in Middle School, decades ago, about how a pager was considered "drug paraphernalia"

There was also a big Bloomberg-Era push by the NYPD to arrest any woman carrying condoms on her person, on the grounds that a woman carrying a condom must be a sex worker.

[-] icegladiator@lemy.lol 3 points 1 week ago

Everything I hear about Bloomberg make me question how he ran as a democrat, and then I remember he fits the democratic party better than anyone else...

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

NYC's greatest act was tricking everyone into thinking it's a progressive city. I am interested in Mamdani at least.

[-] Aitolda@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

This is a weird advertisement, but I kind of want grapheneOS now.

[-] Zetta@mander.xyz 3 points 1 week ago

Been on it for ~2 years and never going back, fuck Google, fuck the government.

[-] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

I've also been using it for like 2 years but I really want the hardware of something like the Fairphone. A fairphone or something similar with Graphene would be amazing

[-] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

You can technically put GrapheneOS on a Fairphone, but it's not officially supported.

Long term, the GOS team is looking to branch off from their reliance on Pixels.

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[-] ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago

Been on it for about 19 months now, it's what Android should be.

[-] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Shameless plug for SwapMyOS

[-] nroth@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Hey, the security is nice, but I really like the detailed control over notifications, GMS prompts, and network access. When I used PixelOS, my phone did things I didn't want it to, and it was hard or impossible to make it stop. On GrapheneOS, the defaults are a pretty good experience. I even recommend it to non-techies since they can use it with the Google apps and its still a more respectful experience, even if they don't need or want the level of control that I like.

[-] nroth@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

TL; DR-- There are many good reasons for regular people to prefer GrapheneOS

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[-] Flockwit@lemmy.nz 3 points 1 week ago

Reminds me of when the US tried to fight "terror" by kidnapping people and shoving them in Gitmo because they were wearing Casio watches, which is apparently a brand favoured by terrorists.

[-] SonOfAntenora@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

There was a guide to craft a timed bomb with the f-91w and other common materials. Uploaded by the terrorists. It worked

[-] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

"Feds"

checks Wikipedia page for Spain

Government: "Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy"

๐Ÿง

(Sorry for nitpicking lol ๐Ÿ˜…)


But serious tho:

I kinda hate these weird associations. Its like arresting people who wear glasses because intellectual rebels wear glasses? (Pol Pot?)

Like can't someone just use a phone in peace? Most Pixel users don't even use Graphene OS.

Hey you know what, drug dealers drink water. Lets arrest people who drink water!

[-] MangoCats@feddit.it 1 points 1 week ago

If she floats, she's a witch and we'll burn her at the stake.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

Basically, if you don't have a phone the cops can easily backdoor, you must be a criminal.

"What do you have to hide?" taken to it's logical conclusion.

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[-] racemaniac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

Isn't it likely the police is kind of right?

I mean, how many people in that community used grapheneos phones before the drug dealers figured out how good they were for their purposes? So in that community, it's indeed very likely that a grapheneos user is in a drug gang.

Does that mean that grapheneos is an issue, or bad? Not at all. But i see a lot of digs at the police here at how dumb they are. But if literally most grapheneos users there are drug dealers, is it dumb? It's just a plain observation that's pretty correct.

And it's kind of logical that proper open source tools that are not full of spyware are better for also such purposes. Doesn't make these tools a problem. If a politician would now start a crusade against such operating systems, that i would agree is dumb.

But i don't see an issue with police somewhere realizing that drugdealers use a specific tool, and focusing on that. Of course sucks for the couple of regular users there that just do it to have control over their device....

That really depends on what they do with that information. If people get arrested for having a pixel, that's a huge issue. If someone merely gets a closer investigation if they're suspected of another crime, that's fine.

The article is light on details.

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

Pixel has a market share of 1.5%, so they kind of stand out. Also, there is no such thing as "federales" in Spain. Spain is not a federation. If they are talking about National Police or Guardia civil, they go through a pretty hard entrance exam, and then have a minimum of one year instruction. Executive ranks must have a university degree. Generally reasonably competent. Mossos (regional) and local police are another story. They are quite a bit less competent.

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[-] AlexLost@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Can confirm. Own pixel, deal drugs.

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago

I've used Samsungs for years, but they have gotten too expensive for what I need, so I went for a Pixel this time around. I got issues with it, but mostly because I'm so used to the Samsung universe. Still way better than an Apple.

I guess I'm a Spanish drug dealer now.

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[-] Amberskin@europe.pub 1 points 1 week ago

Feds???? WTF!

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this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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