Blackphone - are you buying one?

[Lauda]

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that anyone who spends 630 dollars one of these phones is a sucker.

Some issues i have here:

looks like an 50 dollar att go phone generic android. logic says, i can just pirate a copy of their "privatOS" and rip it to my smartphone. same level of protection offered by their product.

you use it with your normal gsm provider. of course you're still being monitored. duh! the only advantage is the software doesn't have the the hidden recording and monitoring functions that log everything you do to a reserved section of your devices storage.


TLDR;they appear to be charging you 500 dollars for their custom operating system, plus the cost of the hardware. seems like a rip off.

Since when is the design important on a phone made for privacy?
So if I have a million $ and spend 630 on this, I'm a sucker?
Sure thing.

[keithers]

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that anyone who spends 630 dollars one of these phones is a sucker.

Some issues i have here:

looks like an 50 dollar att go phone generic android. logic says, i can just pirate a copy of their "privatOS" and rip it to my smartphone. same level of protection offered by their product.

you use it with your normal gsm provider. of course you're still being monitored. duh! the only advantage is the software doesn't have the the hidden recording and monitoring functions that log everything you do to a reserved section of your devices storage.


TLDR;they appear to be charging you 500 dollars for their custom operating system, plus the cost of the hardware. seems like a rip off.

Since when is the design important on a phone made for privacy?
So if I have a million $ and spend 630 on this, I'm a sucker?
Sure thing.

You wouldn't be a sucker at all.   I would say that 80%+ people only buy phones when they can get an upgrades or a new contract so that they get a discount.   If you don't like being in contract and you are used to paying retail price for phones, nearly every decent phone on the market is $600+

[hgerson]

How do these phones deal with cell tower triangulation tracking and wifi triangulation tracking?

What other alternatives exist for tower triangulation tracking and wifi tracking?

Satellite phones?  Which ones are better for privacy? Thuraya, iridium or inmarsat?

Some voip-cell configuration?


I thought of one app that may already exist but I haven't found it yet that would work like this:

Phone A dial a number a number of phone B you want to call in the app.

The app initiates a conference call between A and B from an unknown offshore location.

Nobody including the network could see that A called B. If both A and B support call encryption even better.


I thought of another feature that might help:

This has to be made with dual-sim or multi-sim phone.

The phone should switch from sim to sim (of different networks) from time to time and even in the middle of conversations. Changing sim would force it to change tower. Maintain the conversation while changing towers would be the challenge here.

Besides that the phone should be able to switch from the strongest signal tower to the second strongest.

If this exist in a consumer ready product I buy 

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this

[Mirdude]

The product seems a little costly.

[Lauda]

Well before asking questions you should do your own research on the topic. This caught my eye in my watchlist and I remembered something that I've read.
Here it is: http://blog.gsmarena.com/security-heavy-blackphone-gets-rooted-five-minutes/
The phone got rooted in 5 minutes, so much about it being secure. Even though it probably got already patched, this makes me doubt such a phone. Seems like blackberry is still the king of security?

[sionsandman]

Seems like blackberry is still the king of security?

Why?

I've read that more than once but never seen an explanation.

What features/apps make bb more secure than android/ios phones?

[Lauda]

Seems like blackberry is still the king of security?

Why?

I've read that more than once but never seen an explanation.

What features/apps make bb more secure than android/ios phones?

I've done some research and found stuff like this:

RIM has focused on security since they started making the Blackberry. They have encryption built-in, and a bunch of features that help IT guys to manage a corporation's phones. They can be remotely wiped if you lose it in a cab, and since RIM focuses on corporate-features (like a Blackberry server that ties into Microsoft Exchange), it's just a better-managed platform than Android (which is like the wild west) or the iPhone (which is like the evil Empire).

You could also read something about it here http://us.blackberry.com/business/enterprise-mobility/mobile-security.html
and http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/safe-smartphone-319581

[Scoremaster]

seems legit

[FuckSociety]

I'll keep my cheapo ass smartphone for now

[b!z]

Oneplus One seems better

[hgerson]

Seems like blackberry is still the king of security?

Why?

I've read that more than once but never seen an explanation.

What features/apps make bb more secure than android/ios phones?

I've done some research and found stuff like this:

RIM has focused on security since they started making the Blackberry. They have encryption built-in, and a bunch of features that help IT guys to manage a corporation's phones. They can be remotely wiped if you lose it in a cab, and since RIM focuses on corporate-features (like a Blackberry server that ties into Microsoft Exchange), it's just a better-managed platform than Android (which is like the wild west) or the iPhone (which is like the evil Empire).

You could also read something about it here http://us.blackberry.com/business/enterprise-mobility/mobile-security.html
and http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/safe-smartphone-319581

Thanks for the links.

I understand why they say it's safer.

But then the question is: safer from whom?

I'm sure BB sleeps in the same bed of NSA and others so that doesn't make it safe for me.

I'm not afraid of hackers. I'm afraid of the government!

 

[b!z]

Seems like blackberry is still the king of security?

Why?

I've read that more than once but never seen an explanation.

What features/apps make bb more secure than android/ios phones?

I've done some research and found stuff like this:

RIM has focused on security since they started making the Blackberry. They have encryption built-in, and a bunch of features that help IT guys to manage a corporation's phones. They can be remotely wiped if you lose it in a cab, and since RIM focuses on corporate-features (like a Blackberry server that ties into Microsoft Exchange), it's just a better-managed platform than Android (which is like the wild west) or the iPhone (which is like the evil Empire).

You could also read something about it here http://us.blackberry.com/business/enterprise-mobility/mobile-security.html
and http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/safe-smartphone-319581

Thanks for the links.

I understand why they say it's safer.

But then the question is: safer from whom?

I'm sure BB sleeps in the same bed of NSA and others so that doesn't make it safe for me.

I'm not afraid of hackers. I'm afraid of the government!

 

what if they are one and the same?

[hgerson]

what if they are one and the same?

Who? Hackers and government?

I should have meant that I'm more afraid of governments than hackers but I want privacy from them all.

[sionsandman]

How do these phones deal with cell tower triangulation tracking and wifi triangulation tracking?

What other alternatives exist for tower triangulation tracking and wifi tracking?

Satellite phones?  Which ones are better for privacy? Thuraya, iridium or inmarsat?

Some voip-cell configuration?


I thought of one app that may already exist but I haven't found it yet that would work like this:

Phone A dial a number a number of phone B you want to call in the app.

The app initiates a conference call between A and B from an unknown offshore location.

Nobody including the network could see that A called B. If both A and B support call encryption even better.


I thought of another feature that might help:

This has to be made with dual-sim or multi-sim phone.

The phone should switch from sim to sim (of different networks) from time to time and even in the middle of conversations. Changing sim would force it to change tower. Maintain the conversation while changing towers would be the challenge here.

Besides that the phone should be able to switch from the strongest signal tower to the second strongest.

If this exist in a consumer ready product I buy 

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this

I'd buy this!