Could it be that the processor sends data from the camera/microphone to the Qualcomm/Mediatek servers, bypassing the system? Is it possible to find out about this by checking the traffic leaving the device? Are there any studies that have done this? If this happens, then even GrapheneOS becomes largely meaningless.
Agree. It’s much simpler. But there are still many people who use custom roms, which means that tracking at the hardware level may appear over time.