@TootSweet
@lemmy.worldI don't think it would be lethal except in the rarest of circumstances.
I'm pretty sure I've heard of at least two deaths from exploding smartphone batteries. Here's a source for one of them. I'm fairly sure I remember hearing of another where the victim had the phone in their breast pocket, but I'm not finding sources for that one now.
And those were just from faulty devices, not from specifically sabotaged/rigged devices.
Just browsing the Wikipedia Page for Brave, it's got built-in:
Yeah, but Brave has cryptocurrency shit built in which makes me less than enthused to use it.
Yeah, I'm highly pissed off about that too. :(
At least there's a "turn it off" option. But that doesn't persist between cookie deletions. So it still pisses me off.
I don't think there's a way to turn off Google's AI-in-search-results BS.
Not really saying otherwise. What I am saying is that for your electronic devices to have "explosives" in them would require that a supplychain attack of a similar sort.
It's almost definitely not the case that any electronics manufacturers are systematically putting explosives in every smartphone or whatever that they manufacture and supplychain attacks are much more likely to be a targeted thing rather than "all Samsung phones" or whatever. If they weren't targeted, it's pretty certain that the presence of explosives in devices would be noticed even just by regular end-users with a bit of a tinkering proclivity within weeks. So if your devices are more than a couple of months old have been in reasonably normal use for most of that time and you haven't been specifically targeted by any particular government or anyone who might have the ability to tamper with the supplychain, you're almost certainly safe specifically from explosive-laced consumer electronics devices.
Also, it seems unlikely that a state police agency (like the "sheriffs" you're talking about) could leverage enough power to compel an electronics company to allow such a thing without the FBI or DHS involved. I'd imagine state police folks would more likely resort to more low-tech approaches like the Tulsa race massacre air firebombing.
Again, I'm not saying it's impossible that your phone contains explosives. And as I said in another comment, it might be possible to remotely get a device to cause its battery to catch fire. Maybe.
Also, I am in the U.S., but what made you think that was the case?
Wow. Jeez. I'm sorry this is so close to you.
can they do that to phones, without the phones being rigged?
I'm not any kind of expert. But as others in this post have said, theoretically... possibly technically yes. If the firmware can be modified remotely to cause the phone to allow, for instance, overcharging the battery, then it's possible the phone could be made to explode without physical access to the phone.
How likely it is that you or your family specifically would be targeted, I couldn't say. It seems unlikely...? And we don't have specific knowledge that Isreal has tried any such attacks that didn't involve direct physical access to the devices which later exploded. (And also no indication they've targeted any Samsung devices.)
Again, I'm no expert, but if you wanted to take precautions, I'm thinking the precautions to take would be to put any mobile devices that contain rechargeable batteries and have wireless connectivity far away from your house and your family and stick to devices with no batteries (and preferably ones you've had for a "long time") for a while.
I'm sorry you're in a situation where you're having to weigh these risks. Again, it seems unlikely that you and your family could be in danger regarding ostensibly-stock Samsung phones that you've had for a while.
Also, no condemnation is strong enough for this indiscriminate attack by Isreal on the people of Lebanon. Netanyahu must really be heartless to have authorized this. I hope this results in real pressure on Isreal to stop its indiscriminate terrorist acts.
Good luck and stay safe.
Edit: Hmm. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted so much. Maybe the downvoters think I'm making it sound more likely than is realistic that there's a threat to Peepo specifically?