[snvzz]

IP packets should not be sent or received behind our backs, and certainly firmware should not be bypassing the operating system to do this.

Whether it is useful for A-GPS does not matter. It must be done on top of the operating system or not done at all.

[wepple]

> IP packets should not be sent or received behind our backs

I like this idea in principle, but I have bad news for you if you ever want to own literally any modern device - phone, laptop, tablet, car, TV, rice cooker etc

The only solution is some kind of network-level allowlisting which would be impossible to maintain, and stop working the second you’re outside a known network (ie LTE)

[MartijnBraam]

This is not even done by firmware, it's just part of qualcomms android userspace.

[snvzz]

I see no reason why Android shouldn't handle A-GPS itself.

Qualcomm's userspace shouldn't be doing this.

[lxgr]

As far as I understand, the request and response formats are proprietary. Android could define a HAL for that though, and proxy requests and responses.

[snvzz]

or forbid it altogether, and fully handle A-GPS itself.

[charcircuit]

This isn't happening behind your back. A-GPS isn't a secret feature in phones.

[psychphysic]

No! I want every single request my phone might make explained to me in advance!

[nathants]

you jest, but this is actually fine.

do this via mighty-snitch[1] on any postmarketos phone. any network request passing through the linux kernel gets filtered.

still hosed if it’s hardware level nonsense unfortunately.

the only reason i’m not daily driving postmarketos is lack of gpu acceleration for firefox. hopefully soon!

1. https://github.com/nathants/mighty-snitch

[minitech]

This is exactly what I want.