GrapheneOS provides users with the ability to set a duress PIN/Password that will irreversibly wipe the device (along with any installed eSIMs) once entered anywhere where the device credentials are requested (on the lockscreen, along with any such prompt in the OS).

The wipe does not require a reboot and cannot be interrupted. It can be set up at Settings > Security > Duress Password in the owner profile. Both a duress PIN and password will need to be set to account for different profiles that may have different unlock methods.

Note that if the duress PIN/Password is the same as the actual unlock method, the actual unlock method always takes precedence, and therefore no wipe will occur.

Source: https://grapheneos.org/features#duress

  • macniel@feddit.de
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    4 months ago

    Mhm i can imagine that GrapheneOS will be marked as an illegal OS once Interpol and others get wind of this kill switch.

  • smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de
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    4 months ago

    Wonder if this say a big “WIPING…” and shows a blank profile then.

    Because it would be much more useful if this would erase real profile and then quickly switch to some fake profile looking real.

    • Jolteon@lemmy.zip
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      4 months ago

      Alternately, it could unlock the phone while also erasing specific parts of it, like message history and call logs, potentially replacing them with something you’d set up previously.

      Edit: and obviously it would disable the duress pin and set the unlocking pin to it.

    • DetectiveSanity@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Depends on what you did! Say for example they’re using Graphene to harass/paedophilia then they already have a copious amount of evidence on hand since they are there.

      For organising peaceful protests that seems less of an issue and the other end of the chats is the weak link.

      • Everett@reddthat.com
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        4 months ago

        You’re not wrong, but like the duress pin, it would be a nice feature to have. Not everyone would have to set a duress fingerprint, just the people who find value in it.

        • Kayel@aussie.zone
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          4 months ago

          You would not believe how much I have lost from being obsessed with high-threat modeling for my low-threat life. $10k and family videos for a start.

          Sometimes it’s a good idea to protect the community from itself lol.

            • Kayel@aussie.zone
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              4 months ago

              Writing down a crypto wallet key in a self hosted password manager on a highly encrypted self hosted drive which degraded. Pretty much the same with the photos, if I didn’t encrypt my backups I would have been able to recover more files.

              • laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
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                4 months ago

                Oh yikes.

                I got out of crypto stuff long ago. But I was so paranoid with losing wallet keys that I’d put them everywhere in chunks, like a medieval quartered body spread all over Scotland.