The GrapheneOS project, which is developing an alternative free Android-based firmware aimed at enhancing security and privacy, faced the threat of persecution from French law enforcement agencies due to the inability to analyze the contents of smartphones of arrested criminals.
A statement published by representatives of GrapheneOS says they have received threats from French law enforcement agencies threatening to seize servers and arrest developers if the project refuses to cooperate and does not add a backdoor. In this regard, decided to leave France, refuse the services of the French provider OVH and move the servers to another country. The servers powering the Mastodon, Discourse and Matrix platforms will be moved to Canada, and the site will be transferred to the German provider Netcup.
The project will no longer have developers working in France or attending conferences in France. At the same time, despite attempts to denigrate the project, the use of the GrapheneOS platform remains legal in France and GrapheneOS services will continue to operate in France.
Law enforcement agencies not were ableto extract information from a smartphone seized during a search of the alleged leader of a criminal group, since his device used firmware based on GrapheneOS with the function of resetting decrypted sections with user data to the original undecrypted state, as well as with the ability to set a destructive PIN code that deletes data.
It is noted that after the GrapheneOS developers refused to add a backdoor to the firmware, in the French press appeared series publications, tryingto create a negative image of the GrapheneOS project as a tool that facilitates the commission of crimes. Representatives of GrapheneOS believe that attributing assistance to criminals to their project is as absurd as considering knife manufacturers to be accomplices in crimes.
It is also not justified to mention that GrapheneOS is engaged in the sale and distribution of systems for criminals on the darknet and in specialized forums. GrapheneOS is not engaged in commercial activities and makes it possible to download the firmware to anyone who cares about their privacy. In addition, judging by the description of the features of the work, the articles under the name GrapheneOS present are not the standard build of GrapheneOS, but third-party firmware created based on the code of the GrapheneOS project.