

Russia's New Secure Android Tablet Keeps Data From Google   - techinsidr
http://www.securityweek.com/russia-unveils-secure-android-tablet-keeps-data-away-google

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Wilya
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 ?

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DanBC
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.

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pav3l
So are they hoping that the Russian customers will be more comfortable with
the Russian government handling their data instead of Google?

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

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esolyt
"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?

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rjzzleep
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.

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esolyt
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.

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neya
>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.

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poblano
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.

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ajross
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.

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aseidlitz
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.

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concernedctzn
"It is hack-proof"

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

