[guardian-dev] Hello, and question about Android and gapps

[Rick Valenzuela]

Hi all --

I should probably start with a brief introduction; I've been reading the
threads, and I suppose I'm one of the least technical people subscribing.

I had emailed with Nathan about joining the project/lists because I'm
interested in its goals as a journalist. I know NGO and generally
politically active people -- all much less technically inclined than I
am -- who are concerned about privacy and security, but more or less out
of their depths to do anything about it as an end user. So I'm hoping I
could contribute feedback to help get these Android tools to a point
where they would be easily adopted. I hope at some point to also help
promote them.

But I'm also posting to ask a question. I've recently flashed a few new
roms on my phone, and currently am trying out a 4.0.3 version from AOKP
(now build 28). In my last update, I accidentally rebooted before
flashing gapps. Of course, I didn't get the standard menus to add and
sync my Google account. Because of the new privacy policy as well as
never having agreed to Play's TOS during its rollout, I wanted to run
with this. I had Titanium Backup, so I was able re-install anything from
the Market I already had purchased/downloaded. It's been about a week
without my backup gmail address associated with the phone, not
Market/Play, not synced contacts or the GMail app.

Would it be safe to assume, then, that I've made evaded tying my phone
into the Google's privacy/data policy? Is this a false understanding? It
would be nice if it is, as I do have all the tools I need on this phone
now.

Best,
Rick
--
Rick Valenzuela
photojournalist :: videojournalist
rick at rickv.com :: www.rickv.com