Google slides DNS privacy into 'Droid developer stream

Android users might get better protection for their browsing records, if a Google experiment takes off. XDA-developers.com spotted the entry in the Android Open Source Project, which adds DNS over TLS, along with an option to turn it off. The idea of sending DNS queries over TLS is simple: it's in line with the IETF's (and …

[Anonymous Coward]

Weird

Google adds privacy feature to protect users, not a single comment. When apple add this (in iOS 20.7.2a no doubt), it will be with huge fanfare.

Weird that whenever android is mentioned, the same old plebs are out trying to convince the world that everything you do on your phone is sent to Google, (laughably untrue of course). Where are these plebs now???

[Adam 1]

Re: Weird

I agree in principle with your broad point, but if your DNS is 8.8.8.8 then it is perhaps too early to be congratulating the chocolate factory for improving your privacy.

[P. Lee]

Re: Weird

TLS?

It appears they've noticed that I redirect 8.8.8.8 to the openDNS servers at my firewall.

I suppose they don't want other ISP's to cash in on your browsing habits.

[teknopaul]

Re: Weird

furthermore I have Android version that will not let me change 8.8.8.8 for longer that one restart if wifi and ignore dhcp settings so the local network is broken on these devices. and google gets dns requests about my localnet that were never meant to reach the chocolate factory.

[teknopaul]

Re: Weird

top trick

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Weird

There were also some pretty significant android security backports that never got any mention whatsoever as the internet was too busy with fakenews android malware storms in teacups.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/08/hardening-kernel-in-android-oreo.html

[Anonymous Coward]

I look forward to getting this on my Phone around the 12th of Never.

[Anonymous Coward]

Android 8.1 drveleoper preview downloading now onto mine, so should have it soon.

Sounds like if you want all the latest stuff, you made a poor decision on phone.

I bought a nexus, not because it was the best phone money could buy, but because it had 1st party support, you bought 2nd or even 3rd party phone, and clearly it's unreasonable to expect getting features or updates regardless of how entitled you think you are because of its purchase price.....

Your beef isn't with Google or Android, it's with your phone manufacturer and/or phone network. If you can't see that they you need to get your head looking at.

[Anonymous Coward]

Or the issue is with the crap update mechanism that Google created.

WinPhone (RIP) was vendor agnostic.

I believe Google is finally getting there with V8.

[Anonymous Coward]

you made a poor decision on phone

Not really, it's an S4 and it has served me well and I've been sim only for ages. If I had stayed with operator updates which is what I am referencing then I would not have had an update for years.

Why should I have to buy a phone every two years?

Personally I'm on Android 6 (CM 13) and as soon as lineage goes stable I'll review and maybe install that but then I'm different to the average user. If lineage isn't any good I'll start rolling my own based on CM 13 with the updates applied.

Once you have a phone that does everything you want it to do then there really isn't any point in upgrading. I just buy a new battery every couple of years.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: you made a poor decision on phone

Why should you buy a phone every 2 years? As that is pretty much it's usable lifespan. By the time 2 years is up, you have run out of support credits. Now hundreds of thousands of people were prepared to pay an extra couple of hundred quid for the same phone, then there might be enough credits in the support kitty to provide longer support.

Its basic economics, you get what you pay for. The Samsung S4 is an ancient phone and clearly not capable of security backports without massive development and test resources.

If you wonder why Lineage is better as stable as real Android it's because it cheapskates on both Dev be testing and rely on crowdsource

[Anonymous Coward]

Safer already

Whoa, so now no one can see your DNS queries to pornhub.com.... except Google.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not in Public DNS yet :-(

I'd use it if 8.8.8.8 were accepting RFC7858-Connections.

DNS-over-TLS (if run on port 443) is a stupid yet practical way to get around braindead DNS service in hotels. The more expensive the hotel room, the crappier is their network service.

[John H Woods]

Re: Not in Public DNS yet :-(

The only thing I do on a hotel network that is not over my VPN is to connect to my VPN. so I'm presuming that means my DNS queries go to the server chosen by my VPN provider?