Russia's New Secure Android Tablet Keeps Data From Google | Hacker News Reader

Russia's New Secure Android Tablet Keeps Data From Google

securityweek.com

32 pointstechinsidr14 comments

The fact that a government would want a Google-free tablet makes complete sense, yet a quick search tells me nothing about any other of this type of initiatives.

Has any other country gone the same way, even without going as far as providing a consumer version ?

I'm guessing that Barak Obama's blackberry hardening is something similar.

But most countries hand this kind of stuff over to their security services (in the UK this will be GCHQ and CESG) and those organisations are secret.

Has any other country gone the same way, even without going as far as providing a consumer version ?

In Germany, there is the "Merkel-Phone", a.k.a Simko 3, which is based on Android: http://www.ikuye.com/?/projects/SiMKo/

According to a tech talk by one of the developers, they are running several VMs to achieve separation: a BSD derivate for the network access, and one or two Android instances for private/office use.

So are they hoping that the Russian customers will be more comfortable with the Russian government handling their data instead of Google?

The Russian customers are most likely the Russian government, military and civilian.

"The operating system has all the functional capabilities of an Android operating system but none of its hidden features that send users' private data to Google headquarters,"

Just to be clear, a completely open source operating system is found to be secretly sending private data to Google servers, and it also takes a lot of effort to change that?

not sure what you're trying to say, but the devices you buy in store are only BASED on android. theyre not AOSP, and they never will be. on top of that all the gapps are not free at all.

I have a custom rom, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if google got access to most of the things I used on the phone, which is why i try not to use all my passwords on the device.

Gapps (Google Apps) are just a bunch of closed-source and non-free applications. They are not a part of the operating system and they are not required for the operating system to work. Just like you can use Ubuntu without Ubuntu One, you can use Android without Google Apps. Unless you absolutely need a Google app like Gmail, it won't be an issue. Even then, you can use the browser (which is open source) to go to gmail.com etc.

As for the manufacturer ROMs, they are not Android. They are Android-based operating systems and they have their own names such as TouchWiz, Sense etc. This article is specifically talking about the Android operating system, which means it is referring to AOSP rather than, say, Touchwiz.

>They are Android-based operating systems and they have their own names such as TouchWiz, Sense etc.

Small correction: They (TouchWiz, Sense) are not Operating systems, rather, (proprietary) User interfaces.

There are no such hidden features, but there are pre-installed Google-connected applications in most (all?) retail phones.

Is Android not open-source? You would think any surreptitious phoning home it does would be well-known by now.

If Android devices really send data to Google -- even after disabling Google Sync, uninstalling Gmail, etc. -- I'd love to what it is.

The article is link bait. The Android Open Source Project ("AOSP", for those who weren't aware of the acronym) doesn't, to my knowledge, have anything that could be considered spyware embedded. The Google Android platform, which they sell to OEMs, included a bunch of non-free applications like Gmail, Maps, Play Store, etc... does indeed collect usage data (it also tells you about it and asks you to opt in).

Things based on AOSP (Kindle Fire, Cyanogenmod-without-gapps, this thing, many budget tablets, etc...) are, essentially, Google-invisible.

Mr. Rogozin is famous for announcing products and initiatives that turn out to be a vaporware. I doubt that anyone would remember this announcement and no product will be ever released.

"It is hack-proof"

You would think people would know not to say things like this anymore.

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