Ask Paul: October 4 (Premium)

Happy Friday! I've gone from Macungie, PA to Dallas to Mexico City since Monday and I'm wiped. So let's kick off the weekend a bit early with another great set of reader questions. And then I may need to crash for a bit.
There's openness and then there's openness
Anlong08 asks:

In one of your recent pieces about a phone you were talking about matrix of choice and mentioned Android and openness. I realized I didn’t actually know anything about the nature of android. How open is Android? Could you really get the code for what is on any old pixel or Samsung phone?

The core of Android, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), is free and open source and, yes, you can view the source code. But the Android that most hardware partners use also includes the proprietary software and services that everyone wants, like Google Play, Chrome, and other Google apps. And none of that is open or free: Google charges hardware makers license fees for that, just as Microsoft does for Windows.

But openness means a lot of things. And to me, and most users, the ways that Android is freer than iOS extend across the user experience and include such things as deep customization that can even include replacing the "shell" of the OS with different launchers, user interfaces, icons, sounds, and more. This is what Samsung does with One UI, but any individual can install an alternative shell like Nova Launcher. Android also supports more default app types--browser, caller ID and spam, digital assistant, home (launcher), phone, SMS, and wallet--whereas iPhones/iPads support only a subset of that, and with further limitations. (Excluding the EU, browsers on Apple platforms are required to use the Safari browser engine.)

Apple is slowly getting better, but its mobile platforms are much more locked down than Android.
It's all in the fine print
oasis21 asks:

I've been really liking Proton and their stance on privacy. So I wanted to ask you how private is OneDrive and Google Drive? I have some things on there, and so it got me thinking. I wouldn't want some MSFT/Google employees looking at my stuff. I wouldn't want to put files (especially sensitive docs) on there knowing someone can look at them or they might miss-use my data (e.g training AI). How do you feel about this? Proton claims E2EE and that they cannot even see the files — which I do like. How do OneDrive & Google Drive fare on this matter. I know OneDrive has a personal vault, but does that just mean that it requires password and isn't E2EE?

All of these services use encryption, but you cite the biggest difference between Proton and Google/Microsoft from a privacy perspective: Proton couldn't access your data even if it wanted to, while the others could be compelled by law to provide governments or law enforcement with access to your private data. Beyond that, it almost comes down to trust. Microsoft and Google both publish privacy policies for their products and services, and both are...