CalyxOS

CalyxOS: Your phone should be private

In the internet and globalisation era, where everyone is connected via smartphones, one’s private information is no longer private. There is an urgent need for more privacy based smartphones.

As per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 12, the Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Human Right. With changing times, the control of people over their private lives has been dwindling.

CalyxOS motto/Source: calyxOS.org

What makes our smartphone smart?

Smartphones have become a part of our daily lives. The Operating System (OS) they are using enables them to perform operations that ease our lives, making them smarter devices. They can do various tasks, from setting the alarm through voice commands to streaming a movie. Android OS and iOS are the major smartphone operating systems in 2022, and android OS enjoys a 71.43% worldwide market share as of May 2022.

Android is a Linux-based OS for handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is an open-source project, which means the source code is available to anyone for free, and it enables the developers to modify the code as per their requirements in the development of new apps. It is owned by Google and is supplemented by Google Play Services on all Android devices.

Is our information private?

Though open-source, Google has modified and developed certain native apps in Android such as Calendar, browser etc., replacing them with its proprietary software such as Google Calendar, Google Chrome, Google Maps, and G-mail. These apps and any other app that uses Google services share user data with Google frequently, even when the user is not operating the device.

In his paper “Google Data Collection”, Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, a computer science professor at Vanderbilt University, states that the Chrome browser shares the user location details with Google an average of 340 times in 24 hours, even when the phone is idle. This data collection is just the tip of the iceberg. We often don’t know the kind of data and amount of data our smartphones share with Google.

“The data collected is shared with advertising firms for behaviour analytics. It is used in developing ‘Predictive Models’ to choose potential customers,” says K Naveen Kumar Yadav, a senior data scientist at Evoke Technologies, Hyderabad.

“The data collected is shared with advertising firms for behaviour analytics. It is used in developing ‘Predictive Models’ to choose potential customers”

Like any other major social media platform, Google relies predominantly on advertising for income generation. There are many instances where these companies shared user information with advertising firms with or without our consent.

Since we don’t have complete control over the information being shared while using Android, several developers have built custom OS based on Android, such as LineageOS, GrapheneOS, etc. They aim to provide the user with maximum control over their smartphones’ privacy and security. CalyxOS is one such Operating System that addresses security and privacy concerns.

Representational image/Source: calyxos.org

CalyxOS

It is an Android-based mobile OS that puts user privacy and security in their own hands. It emphasises on ‘de-googled’ Android smartphone approach that does not put user data on cloud servers of Google or constantly report users’ locating to Google. Driven by the motto “Private by Design,” it prioritises encrypted communication throughout the system, making it more secure for the user to send information. It allows users to tweak deeper into privacy settings that are inaccessible otherwise on Android. The user can turn on or off those features that risk their privacy.

Here are the features that make CalyxOS one of the best security and privacy-focused Operating Systems available.

It uses microG, which replaces some functions of Google services by generating unique and anonymous identifiers. They facilitate users to access Google services without signing in with their Google IDs
Google Play Store is replaced by free and open-source F-Droid and Aurora Store. Aurora Store lets you install apps from Google Play Store anonymously and provides details of the trackers for each app
It comes with an inbuilt privacy firewall, Datura. It gives the user in-depth control over the network access for all the apps on the phone.
There is a permanently active free VPN, making it safe for the user from agencies tracking their IP and location
It provides the user with total control over app permissions. It comes with a panic button that lets the user uninstall apps or reset the phone entirely
It provides robust device security with monthly security updates
It replaces the default dialer with a Private Dialer that makes direct encrypted calls using the privacy-focused app Signal^TM. There are sensitive numbers for helplines such as domestic abuse, child abuse, and suicide hotlines that are not registered in call logs
Text messages are encrypted. There is an option to set a timer so that they disappear after the timer runs out
It replaces Google Chrome with Tor Browser for a more anonymous internet browsing experience
Google search engine is replaced with DuckDuckGo that blocks ads and trackers

CalyxOS features/Source: calyxos.org

Although CalyxOS appears as the alternative to the default Android OS, it has its drawbacks. For instance, to use proprietary Google apps such as Google Maps, users must sign in with their Google credentials. It does not provide complete privacy but tries to put our privacy and security in our hands to the maximum extent possible.

As it is a startup project, there are very few developers to work on compatibility issues and troubleshooting. The number of devices compatible with CalyxOS is also limited to Google Pixel devices. Other than Pixel devices, the team successfully developed CalyxOS compatible with Xiaomi Mi A2. If Other Equipment Manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo etc., use CalyxOS as their primary OS, it would be a new ray of hope in the direction of more privacy-oriented smartphones.

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