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Exactly how much more secure is #LineageOS than #Android?
@khird
Hmm.
How much of an advantage is that over what I have now by just uninstalling Google Play Services?
@realcaseyrollins not all the google stuff is at the app level where a user can enable it. So you could disable, say, the google drive app if you wished, but the underlying libraries of code would still exist on the system. If malware compromises your phone, it might be able to execute that code to get into your account and delete everything/encrypt everything and extort you/save illegal content and call the FBI.
@realcaseyrollins
So it has a couple security advantages. It has a feature called PrivacyGuard (Permissions Hub in 17.1) which helps with those apps that request full permissions and the kitchen sink by allowing you to run them without granting everything they want. Sometimes school or work requires you to install something that wants full disk and network access for no good reason, and it's nice to have measures to prevent it from just sending a copy of all your stuff to the app's author.
Second, it doesn't come with all the google stuff baked in, which reduces the attack surface considerably. You install only what you want, which means that the other apps aren't even running on your phone and so they can't be compromised, even if an exploit is discovered.
Incidentally, I don't recommend haring off into more obscure ROMs, especially at the outset. Aside from thoroughly-reviewed, secure code, you'll benefit from a much larger community to go to if you have trouble - you lose all ability to contact the manufacturer for support, and this helps fill that gap.