this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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Password manager by Amazon (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago by kokesh@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] kadup@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Neither did my laptop, desktop, or phone. I use Linux and GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS is a significantly more complicated and less accessible option for most users compared to a simple paper notebook, which is the context of this post.

But if you want to go this deep, then yes, maybe your phone using your custom OS never introduced Gemini or Copilot without your will. It is however running a Qualcomm modem firmware you can't control and is phoning home, regardless of your GrapheneOS settings, with your GPS coordinates and other data you can't read, at any time. Don't worry, with tech we can always find a malicious feature that works against the user, regardless of how deep you want to dive.

[–] NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 2 points 13 hours ago

It is however running a Qualcomm modem firmware you can't control and is phoning home, regardless of your GrapheneOS settings, with your GPS coordinates and other data you can't read, at any time.

Can you expand upon this?

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 hours ago

Sure, there are always things you can't control in a mobile phone because modem manufacturers don't like to give up that control (and I'm sure there are regulatory concerns as well).

My point is that if you don't want Gemini, Copilot or whatever, you can make choices to avoid them. Each choice has consequences, and some just reveal issues you had ignored up to that point (e.g. your modem issue).

But why not a paper notebook? For me:

  • easy to lose/forget to pack on trips; can't lose a cloud service
  • paper doesn't have a good backup mechanism
  • can't copy/paste into my devices from a paper notebook
  • I'm much less likely to use good, random passwords with a notebook

I use Bitwarden, which gives me a lot of convenience, allows me to self-host and iwny data, and encourages me to use really strong passwords.