Privacy
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
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What exactly does the Hardware killswitch do? I have yet to find an actual explanation.
– A hardware kill switch; disconnected completely the microphone and cameras at the circuit level, leaving nothing open for intrusion.
– A software-based switch, to easily turn off all your radio signals, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.
I feel like it should be reversed? Id be less concerned about camera/microphone if i knew with 100% certainty no data was leaking from the phone (hardware switch for antennae).
It seems like it'd be relatively simple for a bad actor to record something and just... wait until you had a data connection though wouldn't it? Seems like it'd be more secure to just keep there from being any data to send rather than relying on a bad actor not being able to send it. Am I missing something here?
I'd want a hw kill switch for the modem/receivers so that I can take it with me to protests.
The pinephone has this, but unfortunately the phone itself is more of a tinker toy than a daily driver
what prevents it from being a daily driver; i use the browser instead of apps for everything except google maps.
Software, OS support and hardware specs.
Overall it was a fun project which introduced me to the company Pine64, which also makes the Pinetime Watch which I wear every day for the last 3-4 years.
Phone just isn't there for daily usage. Horrible battery life, back then the OS worked but were wonky at best. Maybe things are better now but I wouldn't hold my breath
I tried using the pinebook as a daily driver and broke it by updating the os; worst $250 paperweight ever. Lol
That is a point, could someone even do that on something classed as a phone though? Don't most places have some kind of law about these devices always being able to reach emergency services like 911?
It's mandated that the service be available without charge (no SIM needed), but I don't think there's any regulations on the user disabling cell access themselves.
Maybe, wouldn't something like a Faraday bag work though? Then you don't even run the risk of someone trying to twist the meaning of whatever regulation might exist to try to charge you with something.
From the product page:
A hardware kill switch; disconnected completely the microphone and cameras at the circuit level, leaving nothing open for intrusion.
Niche product, niche price, nice intentions, sure. But if they were going to go for a niche market, they really should have leaned into it.
Things like a headphone jack, removable battery, and not-gigantic display aren't unrealistic beauty standards. They were perfected over a decade ago and still relevant among sub-300 phones from small-time manufacturers.
Also, the modem is the big unauditable black-box component that should have been the subject of the hardware kill switch.
Why won't they just start selling it on local e-shops like MediaMarkt in DACH or Alza in the Slovak and Czech republic?
It'd attract them more customers that (if they'll like the phone) they can sell future phones/products to.
If they want to have reach, they have to be aggressive both with pricing and with availability. I don't care if it is available at a carrier (they are prohibited to carrier lock devices in the EU anyway) or on Amazon, it has to be everywhere to let the public know that they exist.
And then the snowball effect starts to show as more outlets and influencers start to say positive things about the phone.
Simply put, every privacy/Linux phone company sacrifices user's shopping comfort with greediness.
Probably won't work if it also plans using a custom rom
when they adding phone fry button so i can hit a switch and it explodes
Will this work in the USA?
What makes you think it won't? Shipping wise?
US networks might use different antennas/communication hardware.
Frequencies.