> If it's done on the baseband processor, no.

The baseband firmware is not obfuscated and people can/do analyze the cellular protocol and how it functions. Which devices receive more privacy/security research than Pixels do? Which devices avoid trusting multiple companies making the hardware? Nothing. Similar things could be said about any hardware we supported, but all the other available options supporting using another OS would be far less secure and unable to provide what GrapheneOS offers. Core features would be missing elsewhere.

We're working with an OEM to have their future devices meet our requirements and provide official GrapheneOS support, but how would that change anything? It's another big tech company making devices. What do you think is special about Google and what reason is there to think they would be putting a backdoor but other companies wouldn't?

> I believe grapheneos has some sort of band band processor isolation, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

Isolation for the radios is a standard security practice on most modern smartphones. GrapheneOS improves the security of the isolation through hardening the drivers and services against exploitation after exploiting the radio firmware.

> But yes - your phone has a separate SOC, with its own operating system you can't access, which communicates with cellular networks. We don't know what, exactly, it's used for or what, exactly, is being transmitted. We do know it's used for location tracking because this is utilized by law enforcement somewhat regularly. But cellular triangulation isn't too accurate, not like precise location services.

The CPU, GPU and many other components in laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones are closed source hardware with closed source firmware. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are implemented with a separate processor and operating system. There's nothing about that specific to cellular and it's a misconception that it's different from other components in this regard. Modern computers have a bunch of processors and little operating systems across a bunch of components. Many people have the wrong idea that it's somehow specific to a few things like AMD PSP, Intel ME or cellular radios when in reality that's just how things are at a hardware level across many components. Cellular radios are normally an isolated component.

Cellular can be used to detect location, but so can Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Wi-Fi is the main way network-based location works. Most Wi-Fi networks are from ISP routers and some even have an official way for other subscribers to use it.

Cellular doesn't need to be left enabled all the time. There's airplane mode. Using cellular is an option. GrapheneOS runs on portable computers with support for Wi-Fi, USB ethernet, etc. too not onlyg cellular.