You need to be very careful with smartphones on the streets of Spain, given the frequent cases of theft out of hand, but the risk of getting into trouble will increase many times over if you are a lucky owner of a Google Pixel.
It turns out that the police in Spain, particularly in the autonomous region of Catalonia, are very vigilant to the owners of these devices because, as strange as it may sound, Google smartphones are too popular among drug traffickers.
«Every time we see a Google Pixel, we suspect it might belong to a drug trafficker,» a police officer told Spanish media (via Android Authority).
What’s the reason for this popularity? It has little to do with how Google manufactures its phones, but rather with the very openness of the Android system, which allows for the use of alternative operating systems. Spanish criminals, for example, are active users of GrapheneOS, a privacy and security-oriented operating system that does not require Google Apps and provides an encrypted communication system that is used by criminal groups.
In addition, as the publication notes Xatak Android, these smartphones are configured to completely reset if the PIN is entered incorrectly multiple times. The police also found that drug traffickers were turning to local specialty stores to remove components such as the microphone, GPS, and camera.
GrapheneOS officially supports most modern Pixel models, and in FAQ section it is noted that this particular series of devices is «recommended» due to security and a long warranty period for updates. In particular, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 are mentioned here with their innovative hardware tagged memory protection feature that came with the transition to ARM V9 processors.
In response, police install spyware on suspects’ smartphones to gain full access to apps, media, documents, and other information. The tactic, which has long been questioned by lawyers, is quite common in Europe — for example, in 2020, as part of the «Encrochat» case, French law enforcement officers made more than 6,500 arrests and seized tons of drugs.
Following the publication of the materials in the media, GrapheneOS developers provided own comment:
«European authoritarian rulers and their media minions are distorting that GrapheneOS and even Pixel phones are for criminals. GrapheneOS stands against the police and state mass surveillance that these people want to impose on everyone».
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