Use a 2nd Profile to Stop Your Apps Communicating!

Did you know that apps on your phone can see which other apps you have installed? And that apps can talk to each other and share information, without you realizing?

In this video we show you how to stop apps communicating with each other, and look at the scoped storage and sandboxing of apps in GrapheneOS, and what it does and doesn't protect against.

00:00 Apps Can Talk to Each Other
02:18 Sandboxing and Using Scored Storage on GrapheneOS
04:58 Secondary Profiles
10:24 Google Play Services: How To Stop Their Tentacles
12:10 Setting Up 2nd Profile Tutorial
13:40 Conclusion

Secondary profiles are a great privacy tool to add to your toolbox. It's super opaque what the apps on our phones are doing, and using something like GrapheneOS really helps you reclaim your privacy by default.

Brought to you by NBTV team members: Lee Rennie, Cube Boy, Sam Ettaro, Will Sandoval and Naomi Brockwell

Watch all of the tutorials in our Phone Privacy Playlist HERE:

(tax-deductible in the US)

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Beware of scammers, I will never give you a phone number or reach out to you with investment advice. I do not give investment advice.

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Here are a bunch of products I like and use. Using these links helps support the channel and future videos!

Recommended Books:

Beginner's Introduction To Privacy - Naomi Brockwell

Permanent Record - Edward Snowden

What has the government done to our money - Rothbard

Extreme Privacy - Michael Bazzel (The best privacy book I've ever read)

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State - Glenn Greenwald

Naomi's Privacy Bag: some of my favorite products to help protect your privacy!

USB-C to ethernet adapter:

Faraday bag (signal stopping, to protect your fob, credit card, computer, and phone)

Data Blocker (if you're charging your phone in an unknown port, use this so that no data is transferred)

Computer privacy screen (use your computer in public? Keep your information safe! Choose the size right for your computer)

Phone privacy screen (don't let people in public see your private data, choose the size for your phone)

Camera cover (for computers and phones, so no one can access your camera without you knowing)

Privacy Tip: Turn off your wifi and bluetooth when you're not using them!!!

[vulcan]

Teaching my daughter how to set up her new GrapheneOS phone recently was very satisfying. Her proudly declaring her secondary profile was successfully set up and using security & privacy features was awesome. Having control over apps and privacy is far more empowering than bragging and showing off the number of apps you've got. Again, great video!

[HopefulEmpath]

Thank you! I had no idea my apps “know” about each other. Time to make some changes.

[LeoAngora]

I realized the blatant app communication when Spotify and YouTube started showing me ads based on my Twitch history.

[AndreuPinel]

I love the different characters from your videos, they are super-funny (even when they are based on very scary concepts).
Hopefully GrapheneOS will become compatible with more and more devices.

[_of_]

Naomi is the type of woman that takes your phone addiction away

[FlyingGreenTea]

I love the way you share your wisdom of information to all of us for free and it just makes me love you more for what you do for the community! Thank you very much, Naomi! You are the real MVP!

[jozsefizsak]

Very enlightening. Thank you once again! 😊

[Insightfill]

I decided to loan my phone to a nephew on a road trip for playing games but didn't want him to mess with anything else. The extra profile was awesome for this.

[IsmaelLa]

Amazing and eye-opening video! Thanks so much for the simple yet detailed explanation and examples. This is a feature I see on my Android tablet but now I understand it better and have a real use for it.

[alessandromauri]

This vodeos are amazing
I'm thinking to give up smartphones, but those solution could help in many cases

[michaelm]

Thank you so much for what you're doing!

[heyspookyboogie]

It’s important to specify which OS’s you’re talking about when you say “phones” act a certain way.

You show an iPhone, but iOS apps don’t inherently have access to other apps or knowledge about what other apps are installed. The OS does. An individual app can use an API call to show the user the “Share Sheet” for example, and the OS will list other apps based on content categories, but the app that triggered the share sheet can’t see what apps get listed.

I can’t speak to how android handles things, but on iOS, both 1st and 3rd party apps have to specifically request permission from the user, at the time of the action, to get information from another app. And even then it’s very limited. (It’s used for things like copy/paste, sometimes extensions, and some other niche situations).

Not trying to say iOS is on the level of grapheneOS, just that a lot of blanket statements don’t universally apply between iOS and android.

[Guishan_Lingyou]

All of your videos about GraphenOS make me want to use it, enough that when I needed a new phone I bought a Pixel. But as someone without a lot of extra time or energy to fool with something, I'm still a little nervous about changing the OS on my phone and having to figure new things out. I use Linux on my computers, and these days that is very close to as simple as using a Mac, but when I first started using Linux quite a while ago, I would sometimes run into problems trying to do something that I didn't have time to deal with and it was a hassle. Anyway, one day when I am feeling like I have a little extra time and patience, I will finally try GraphenOS (or possibly a different open source version of Android). (Also, I do have a tiny worry in the back of my mind because of Louis Rossman's interaction with the developer of GraphenOS, but probably that's not really something to worry about.)

[jwillisbarrie]

Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf

[Curiefeld]

While backing up old files I stumbled on an intriguing PDF by a trend forecasting company, talking about online privacy in 2013, from an aesthetic fashion inspiration perspective.

Very strange read now. I'd be happy to share it.

[jamrson]

Hey Naomi, it would be great to hear you talk about Samsung security and privacy. We understand its a Google Hybrid but is Samsung safe to side load (F droid and Aurora store insted of using Play store). Unfortunately Samsung s23 have the best size and form factor for portability. Pixel phones are so heavy and bulky these days.

[alexr.]

Is unplugged phone a great ok goo phone, what are u thoughts on the unplugged phone?

[xAnnan]

What are the alternatives to Google Translate? is DeepL good in terms of functionality and privacy?

[redacted]

Question for Naomi: Although Grapheneos does a good job is granular control, has anyone checked the hardware that it sits on? Case in point, intel management engine and granular software control.

[Heightren]

Do you have a full tutorial or breakdown for more privacy focused OS?