Maybe the question should be who does the least spying and I’m curious about if anyone has any insight they can share.
Is any brand better or worse in this aspect? Samsung, OnePlus, HTC, Nexus/Pixel phones, Apple?
I know some features can be turned off and customized like app permissions but I will still need to download apps and use GPS (sometimes) so it’s not about going off the grid obviously but I wouldn’t want information about my whereabouts stored or used for advertisement and so forth.
If you want to know more about what kind of company they are, watch this video with the then CEO, co-founder and now chairman of Silent Circle.
If privacy is your concern, install a custom rom. Google services phone home all the time. There are encrypted sms clients like Silence and Signal as well. Running a VPN isn't hard either.
Phone calls are logged by phone companies. So, if you need privacy use an encrypted VOIP app.
I would say go with a nexus because they are normally easiest to flash other roms on. Android at it's core is ooen source (AOSP). Use a rom based on AOSP and you will be ok.
My experience with roms has been that it becomes rather high maintenance with updates, maybe that's seen some improvement or works better on certain devices. @Adobe_Flash_Player do you have any ROM in mind? I used to be on Cyanogen for some time but now they're out until Lineage gets going.
What about the mainstream phones? All the same?
@Zumps do you have the Blackphone 2? It doesn't sound like a bad option but released late in 2015 it seems a bit outdated and they don's seem to have broken through so I would expect a new release or worry about the their future.
Paranoid is isn't bad and well supported. Security patches as of 6 are totally OTA. So updates are purely for features.
Cataclysm is decent as well.
Google's phones are normally quite easy to flash same goes for OPO and Nextbit. LG and HTC are pretty good about it as long as you buy unlocked or have a carrier that isn't an asshole.
I do not unfortunately. I just think they look rather interesting. Regarding the specs and release date, I guess it depends on your needs. I would not call it outdated yet, but of course it has the potential to become outdated a bit sooner than a brand new flagship. Regarding whether they have broken through, do you mean become mainstream? I don't think mainstream is their audience. In the interview I linked (from 2013), the CEO mentions government officials, military, journalists and corporations as their primary market, and it seems they have broken through there. It seems like a solid company, but I do understand your concern of not wanting to buy something that becomes unsupported in the lifespan of the device. Also, have a look at the price. It is a bit on the heavy side. Something to consider too.
Your best choice is to buy a phone which has a big community around it, like oneplus one or something. They got a ton of custom roms that are maintained. You should use them with as little google services as possible and use permission managers with them. This will also save you a ton of battery. :)
I meant in their intended markets to the extent that they can stay afloat and deliver a good product/updates. Because things aren't stellar from what I read so it wouldn't be great buying it today and see them close later this year.
Performance would probably be alright given the use case but still worth noting I though.
Ah, thanks for hte article. I didn't know about the lawsuit. However, the article confirms that they are focusing on the corporate business market, which I think is a smart move. Mainstream never gave a turd about privacy.
I'm inclined to agree, the prosumer and privacy aware users and experts don't really make up the bulk of the market. Features and specs are put in first place.
But they're not alone when it comes to regulated industries like banking and healthcare. Samsung does a lot with the Knox features and I believe some bigger players can have their own app stores for Apple devices.
There no getting around the spying. It sucks, but besides running a VPN, I don't do much else anymore
I use a VPN but mainly when dealing with people I don't trust.
You cant stop the spying. If you are using Android you will get spying period. If you use google services/have the framework on your android (gapps/playstore) (99% of US people do) you will have even more spying. You can how ever on legacy phones (some nexus and some oneplus phones) flash a ubuntu rom and control privacy through cli and therfore you dont have the selinux spying shit that comes on ALL android/most linux. I used to do this by duel booting a custom andorid rom and a ubuntu rom but It is very rare now. Good luck but I think your out of luck unless you want to use a 4-5 year old legacy phone.
Despite SELinux being developed by the NSA it's open source and has been scrutinized and audited by independents. It's function is to restrict the access of programs in case it's compromised or malicious so if anything it does improve security.
Doesn't matter what phone you buy, if it is connected to the internet and certain organizations want to enter/use it, it WILL be hacked one way or another.
My solution was to ditch my smartphone (M8 running a CM-based ROM) and go back to a '00 Nokia 3310. Good luck turning the mic on remotely or taking a picture with the front-facing cam. ;-)
Sure, there's no apps that encrypt communications on that phone, but I've always preferred to do the serious talks in person anyway.
I did give PA a go but the latest release 6.0.3 is from August and they don't seam to have released any new version since then. Android security patch level is from August 5, 2016. Rock solid but I get the feeling that they've stalled.
I'm leaning towards nightly builds of Lineage OS because of that.
Lineage should be fine.