Right-wing Activist's $500 'Freedom Phone' Actually Cheap Rebranded Android Model Made in China (gizmodo.com) 226
"This week, a 22-year-old self-described Bitcoin millionaire introduced the Freedom Phone, a $499 device meant to be completely free from 'Big Tech's' censorship and influence," reports PC Magazine.
"But it turns out the same smartphone is actually from China, and probably just a cheap knock-off." The Freedom Phone comes from Erik Finman, who unveiled the device earlier this week. He claims the product has everything Trump supporters could dream of, including an "uncensorable" app store, preinstalled conservative-friendly apps including Parler and Rumble, and even its own anti-surveillance operating system called FreedomOS... However, The Daily Beast noticed the Freedom Phone looks strikingly similar to a budget smartphone device from a Chinese vendor called Umidigi. The device is called the Umidigi A9 pro, and you can actually buy it over on the Chinese e-commerce site AliExpress starting at $119. Finman later told The Daily Beast that the Freedom Phone was indeed sourced from Umidigi, a company that's based in Shenzhen, China...
An uncensorable app store opens the door for hackers and shady developers to circulate malware and data-collecting programs to users. We're also doubtful Freedom Phone has its own operating system if it can run apps such as Parler and Rumble, in addition to Signal, Telegram and Brave
The Daily Beast adds this anecdote: The Freedom Phone's "Freedom OS" operating system is based on Google's Android operating system, according to Finman. But during a livestream video promoting the phone, right-wing activist Anna Khait was confused by her fans' basic questions about the phone. "Is it an Android?" Khait said. "I'm not really sure. No, it's a Freedom Phone."
Gizmodo calls the phone's web site "radically vague on the details." There is no information about the phone's operating system, storage, camera, CPU, or RAM capabilities. It has a list of features, but there are no actual details about them. Instead, under each feature, there's merely a "Buy it now" button which redirects you to the site's shopping cart. The phone's hefty price, combined with the company's total lack of transparency, is ridiculous — essentially asking the buyer to cough up half a grand in exchange for, uh, something...!
But Gizmodo also shares a philosophical thought: Before we get into the specifics of why this device probably sucks, let me just say that the desire to have a phone that is dedicated to protecting your autonomy and privacy is a reasonable one — and should be encouraged. That said, I don't think the Freedom Phone provides that. Actually, aside from its overt partisan bent, it's impossible to tell what kind of device this is because Finman and his acolytes haven't provided any information about it...
The funny thing is, if Trump voters are looking for a way to get off the "Big Tech" grid, there's no need for them to buy this sketchy shit. There are actually entire subcultures within the phone industry dedicated to escaping the Android/iOS paradigm. You can wade into the de-Googled phone sector, for instance — where Android phones are sold that have ostensibly been refurbished to rid the devices of code that will "send your personal data" back to the tech giant. There's also the Linux-based Pinephone, which sells at a fraction of the Freedom Phone's cost (between $150 and $200), and is a favorite of those in the privacy community. All of these come with caveats, obviously, but the point is that there are much more transparent and affordable options than the Freedom Phone...
It'd be nice if Americans could actually come together around the issue of privacy since it's an area where — regardless of political party — we're all collectively getting screwed.
"But it turns out the same smartphone is actually from China, and probably just a cheap knock-off." The Freedom Phone comes from Erik Finman, who unveiled the device earlier this week. He claims the product has everything Trump supporters could dream of, including an "uncensorable" app store, preinstalled conservative-friendly apps including Parler and Rumble, and even its own anti-surveillance operating system called FreedomOS... However, The Daily Beast noticed the Freedom Phone looks strikingly similar to a budget smartphone device from a Chinese vendor called Umidigi. The device is called the Umidigi A9 pro, and you can actually buy it over on the Chinese e-commerce site AliExpress starting at $119. Finman later told The Daily Beast that the Freedom Phone was indeed sourced from Umidigi, a company that's based in Shenzhen, China...
An uncensorable app store opens the door for hackers and shady developers to circulate malware and data-collecting programs to users. We're also doubtful Freedom Phone has its own operating system if it can run apps such as Parler and Rumble, in addition to Signal, Telegram and Brave
The Daily Beast adds this anecdote: The Freedom Phone's "Freedom OS" operating system is based on Google's Android operating system, according to Finman. But during a livestream video promoting the phone, right-wing activist Anna Khait was confused by her fans' basic questions about the phone. "Is it an Android?" Khait said. "I'm not really sure. No, it's a Freedom Phone."
Gizmodo calls the phone's web site "radically vague on the details." There is no information about the phone's operating system, storage, camera, CPU, or RAM capabilities. It has a list of features, but there are no actual details about them. Instead, under each feature, there's merely a "Buy it now" button which redirects you to the site's shopping cart. The phone's hefty price, combined with the company's total lack of transparency, is ridiculous — essentially asking the buyer to cough up half a grand in exchange for, uh, something...!
But Gizmodo also shares a philosophical thought: Before we get into the specifics of why this device probably sucks, let me just say that the desire to have a phone that is dedicated to protecting your autonomy and privacy is a reasonable one — and should be encouraged. That said, I don't think the Freedom Phone provides that. Actually, aside from its overt partisan bent, it's impossible to tell what kind of device this is because Finman and his acolytes haven't provided any information about it...
The funny thing is, if Trump voters are looking for a way to get off the "Big Tech" grid, there's no need for them to buy this sketchy shit. There are actually entire subcultures within the phone industry dedicated to escaping the Android/iOS paradigm. You can wade into the de-Googled phone sector, for instance — where Android phones are sold that have ostensibly been refurbished to rid the devices of code that will "send your personal data" back to the tech giant. There's also the Linux-based Pinephone, which sells at a fraction of the Freedom Phone's cost (between $150 and $200), and is a favorite of those in the privacy community. All of these come with caveats, obviously, but the point is that there are much more transparent and affordable options than the Freedom Phone...
It'd be nice if Americans could actually come together around the issue of privacy since it's an area where — regardless of political party — we're all collectively getting screwed.
A sucker born every minute (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder how many of these things aimed at rightists are just pump-and-dumps with the intention of fleecing their money.
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder how many have backdoors installed to keep tabs on them in case they decide to start an insurrection again.
None (Score:4, Interesting)
And if they do that we'll have another coup attempt in 10 years, and this time just like in Germany it'll succeed.
It's time to decide who's side your on, Democracy or the Republican party. And ask yourself this, will you always agree with everything The Party does? Because the window to decide is closing.
Re:None (Score:4, Interesting)
No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
An actual change of government probably wouldn't have happened, but the day was incredibly close to being way worse than it already was.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
Still laughing at the congressman who said it was nothing more than a typical tour group, even though he went into hiding that day for safety. The disinformation is amazing.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not really laughing about that. This is the narrative that so many Republicans either believe or are just promoting despite knowing it's a lie. And if it's the latter, to what end? That and the adamant opposition by Republicans for any type of investigation should worry us all.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the real problem. The crazies have actual supporters in the Senate.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Interesting)
You don't understand the big picture, or are deliberately spreading misinformation. The people who invaded the capital were mere tools. They were just the useful fools in a bigger scheme.
Had the insurrectionists got into the Senate chamber and started killing people, Trump would have invoked the Insurrection Act and attempted to impose a form of martial law.
The real threat was always what Trump would do and how the Capitol Insurrection would give him an excuse to do it.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Interesting)
Had the insurrectionists got into the Senate chamber and started killing people, Trump would have invoked the Insurrection Act and attempted to impose a form of martial law. The real threat was always what Trump would do and how the Capitol Insurrection would give him an excuse to do it.
No doubt. As an outsider looking in I also have serious concerns about whether your Congress would have been completely co-opted had Democrats not still had a majority in the House. If Republicans had controlled both houses it is disturbing to think they might indeed have just decided to ignore the election and install Trump instead. That is how sketchy the GOP has become.
I am heartened to see the Joint Chiefs of Staff were concerned about a coup as well and rightly wanted no part of that. And props to SCOTUS as well. Trump probably thought his appointments would be his lapdogs. Just further proof he is not terribly bright.
Ultimately things went as they were supposed to because many folks from both parties and at both the state and federal level took their oath to the Constitution seriously. There is a very good reason people take thier oath to the constitution and not to whoever happens to hold power at a given time.
It is not over, however. There unfortunately remains a ongoing push by people in some positions of power to install other people whose fealty is to Trump rather than the Constitution anywhere they can. It is probably the biggest threat to your republic since it was founded. As someone living right next door I hope you continue to overcome the malevolent forces looking to make your country a dictatorship.
Re:No chance of succeeding (Score:5, Insightful)
But all that's a moot point. Google the Beer Hall Putsch. This was a dry run to get you and me used to political violence. If you do some research you'll find the right wing has done this several times on state level, seizing control of state legislatures to stop legislation from passing that they disagree with. It's not so much a slippery slope as it is jumping off a cliff. And you're helping them and democracy by dismissing them with the classic it can't happen here line of reasoning. Are you doing that on purpose because you opposed democracy or are you just a useful idiot?
I don't mean to insult you but that phrase has a specific meaning and you need to think about what it means and what's happening in America
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Personally, I am more concerned about the coup that was advocated by Senators and Congressmen trying to subvert the election results and the various state governors and legislators trying to close the holes that allowed the people to express their will at the ballot box, even going so far as to turn on a few in the GOP that had the integrity to favor democracy, the law, reality, and the will of the people over partisan politics.
Not to mention the problem that we have legislators that actually still believe
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I was going to say, the uncensorable app store is the biggest worry. No way to take down malware.
AllWinner parts are reasonably good security wise. The only major issue they had was a firmware image with debug code left in, but it was only a demo.
Re: (Score:2)
Are you under the impression that expensive US made phones do not have backdoors? It's reasonable to assume that they all do, though perhaps not as obvious as those of a cheap knockoff that is designed for criminal use.
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder how many have backdoors installed to keep tabs on them in case they decide to start an insurrection again.
I've wondered a bit about that myself. Those phones usually have an "ET phone home" feature.
But even if not, let's face it - a lot of the Trumpists are pretty stupid, and are soon parted with their money. So branding a crappy cheap phone with "Muh Freedum!" will get a lot of them to buy them as a show of support for their dear leader.
Re: (Score:3)
If law enforcement invited them in then why where they hitting them and spraying then with chemical weapons? How come so many of them have been prosecuted?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:5, Informative)
I wonder how many of these things aimed at rightists are just pump-and-dumps with the intention of fleecing their money.
Go listen to right-wing radio for an hour, and you'll need a strong drink at least 90 proof. About 30 minutes is devoted to commercials for myPillow, vitamin supplements, gold/silver investments, IRS tax help, and insurance. The other 30 minutes can be evenly divided between fact-free skewering Democrats and the traditional media, praising Trump, and taking calls from clueless listeners. It's basically the Opra show for right wingers. The real intent is to make money peddling products of questionable value to gullible listeners and groom them to stop thinking and vote GOP.
Not exactly (Score:2)
Normally these kind of scammy businesses wouldn't be enough to keep major programs going. It's not that they wouldn't be profitable, it's that they wouldn't be profitable *enough*. They'd be replaced by more legit programs
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I've noticed lately that most of the music stations are now all owned by the same corporation. This worries me.
Welcome to 1996.
In 1994 Republicans took control of congress for the first time in 40 years. In 1996 they created The Telecommunications Act of 1996. Like all federal laws it is big and complicated, but it really only has 2 important points:
Allow more government censorship of radio and television by greatly increasing the fines that the FCC can issue for broadcasting "indecent" content.
Eliminate competition by removing all ownership restrictions. As a result, today, three big companies own nearly all the
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
...The billionaires step in, buy up the stations and keep them on the air...
I'm an avid amateur radio operator and would actually love to own an AM radio station. But I'd play historical public-domain music, replay FDR's fireside chats, maybe old radio serial dramas. It wouldn't make any money, but would give me something actually nice to listen to on my old vintage tube radios. Maybe a few others would also tune in to hear early jazz or swing late at night.
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Sad to have to turn the radio off rather than listen to half-truths, outright lies, and anti-science. The ads aren't quite as bad as your list but they sometimes are close.
I completely gave up on my last two bastions of OTA radio listening. NPR went misandrc after Trump was elected, and ESPN sports and Dan LeBatard parted ways - now it's just different people talking but saying the same thing. Now I do Sirius XM - mostly the comedy and Hockey channels.
Note before I'm skewerd. Women have a really good reason to have been freaked out and pissed after Trump was elected. Unfortunately, NPR went with the sad tactic of the various canards "All old white men are sexist and racis
Re: (Score:3)
Lmao from one white dude to another, you not understanding the concept of how or why white men dominate the sciences and translating that to "hates men" is why people think white men are a problem. Please stop talking.
Yeah, except that even women are starting to figure out that their present day tactics have gone overboard - from a feminist outlet https://www.eviemagazine.com/p... [eviemagazine.com]
https://thenotsoquietone.wordp... [wordpress.com]
The problem today is that women who claim to speak for all women are becoming more shrill about their victimhood, while at the same time being better educated, and replacing a lot of positions that men have held - and unless you use a monnovariant analysis are paid pretty much as well as men.
It is indeed
Re: (Score:3)
> commercials for myPillow, vitamin supplements, gold/silver investments, IRS tax help, and insurance
And colon cleansers. For some reason, after I see anything conservative, a strange bearded man shows up to tellme how I have up to 20 pounds of toxic poop in my body. It's true that after seeing some online politics, the irony is not lost on me.
About half (Score:2, Troll)
I'm reminded of an old bit from Married with Children:
Peggy: Well, you remember when you used to yell at me because there wasn't any juice in the house? Well, I took some of that money and bought you juice... and a fur coat for me. And then when you demanded dinner? Well, I took more money and bought you a bucket of fried chicken..
Re: (Score:2)
*chuckles* you just described most low income people regardless of political stance. Being terrible with money has nothing to do with politics. Keep up the good fight though. I'm sure you will influence plenty of centralist of how great your side is by doing all you can to attack your strawman of the other side.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
*chuckles* you just described most low income people regardless of political stance. Being terrible with money has nothing to do with politics. Keep up the good fight though. I'm sure you will influence plenty of centralist of how great your side is by doing all you can to attack your strawman of the other side.
Been my experience that being really bad with money knows no particular income demographic. I know more than a few people who made more money than me, yet are looking forward to retiring on only Social security. Meanwhile, I took my SS as walking around money.
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder how many of these things aimed at rightists are just pump-and-dumps with the intention of fleecing their money.
As the stable genius con artist once said, "I love the poorly educated."
Re: (Score:2)
As the stable genius con artist once said
Person, woman, man, camera, TV.
Re: (Score:2)
As the stable genius con artist once said
Person, woman, man, camera, TV.
Dude absolutely Aced his cognitive tests! The Doctors had never seen anything like that before evah!
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder how many of these things aimed at rightists are just pump-and-dumps with the intention of fleecing their money.
You've even got conservative "influencers" trying to get a piece of the pie [thedailybeast.com].
"While Freedom Phone’s founder has failed to include basic details about its device, he did line up a massive ad campaign among conservative influencers. Along with Owens, Stone, D’Souza, and Alexander, the Freedom Phone has also been backed by a number of other figures popular on the right, including Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, journalist John Solomon, and Students for Trump cofounder Ryan Fournier.
Many of the Freedom Phone’s prominent endorsers urged their followers to use a promo code to buy the phone, suggesting that the influencers will receive a cut when their fans buy the phone. Each referred sale results in a $50 payment to the influencer who endorsed the phone, according to a website explaining Freedom Phone's "promoters" program."
I'm betting there is a significant overlap (Score:2)
in this Venn diagram between gullible far-right wingers and religious nuts. They are equally credulous and willing to spend on empty ideas as a form of group identity.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The target audience for things like this isn't notably intelligent or much capable of critical thinking, they're more knee-jerk and lemmings about things.
I can concur. When you get into the low populated country areas where you still see the "Trump - Pence 2020 "No More Bullshit!" flags, as the cheap flags fade away to oblivion, all you have to do is look at the properties the flags and various merch are sitting on. These are not the best and brightest people. And many have bought new Trump stuff.
I always wondered why people who are one step away from having their property condemned think a guy who lived here has any of their interests at heart, much less
Re: (Score:2)
Rent free.
Re: A sucker born every minute (Score:3, Informative)
You mean ReaganPhones, that's when that program started during the Reagan era.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-ch... [snopes.com]
Fucking dumbass.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: A sucker born every minute (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Idiot Tax.
Re: (Score:2)
And it works. My mom is on a lot of far right wing mailing lists and she gets a lot of scams that seem to start there. Just put the word "patriot" in a product and it gets their interest. Oh, and sell your gold coins for a markup after you convince them all that the economy will collapse and they'll need gold to survive. And don't forget, send in your money to Trump the multi-billionaire's legal defense and re-election fund! Meanwhile keep selling the story that anything mainstream is all a part of a l
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting FP and I don't begrudge you the Insightful moderation, but... These days the suckers are being manufactured faster than they are being born. Natural stupidity has become a scarce and precious resource.
No way you are going to convince me that it's just natural veins of "sincere stupidity" and "proud ignorance". Some of them are paid to fake it and I'm pert' shure they get bonus payments for each fresh sucker made. (These days they have the resources to track each sucker, too, so they can figure o
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Quotes are hard to get right, even harder if one is stupid
Missing the point as usual (Score:3)
Of course, going the Pinephone route won't help them, since Allwinner that designs the ARM SOC they use is a Chinese company, and apparently not all that secure either.
Re:Missing the point as usual (Score:4, Interesting)
Allwinner have been one of the best ARM SoC manufacturers when it comes to open source support. They are much less secretive about their SoCs and because they use uBoot with published source code they are popular with Linux ARM hackers. They are about as close as you can get.
Also the idea that the Chinese government collecting tax is a problem is a problem. I strongly disagree with the things other governments do too, including various US ones over the years. Does that mean I should be boycotting any company that pays US tax?
Re: (Score:2)
Also the idea that the Chinese government collecting tax is a problem is a problem.
What's wrong with holding Trumpsters to their professed beliefs of Chinese and the CCP being evil and must not be supported?
Re: (Score:2)
Ah well when you put it like that then yeah, okay.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Considering Russia actually is a problem whereas China really isn't
This statement brought to you by the makers of CCP. Try our new Ignorant Bliss flavor.
Re: (Score:3)
No, they're both problems, but of a different sort.
Uncensorable app store? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
just buy a Fairphone 3+ and choose (Score:5, Informative)
already exists in Europe:
https://esolutions.shop/shop/e-os-fairphone-3-plus-fr/ [esolutions.shop]
https://shop.fairphone.com/en/ [fairphone.com]
Perfect (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Perfect (Score:4, Funny)
A phone with a lie as its fundamental premise? It sounds like the perfect phone for right wingers.
They had a vote for their favorite phone ... the results are still being "audited." :-)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not sure why this is modded funny rather than insightful.
Not. surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
The number of cell phones being manufactured in the US, without any ties to China these days amount to zero.
Obviously it is using a variant of Android, but it could be any one of many custom roms with all of the telemetry stripped out.
I want to see a detailed tear-down of the OS so the claims that this is a spyware-free phone can be verified.
Not true. (Score:5, Informative)
This smartphone is manufactured in the USA, chips and all: Librem 5 USA [puri.sm]
Incidentally, this phone runs a distro of Linux (not Android), so it is an actual "freedom phone."
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, when they said freedom wasn't free, they were right.
Re: (Score:3)
HAH yeah, it is pricey. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the most expensive phone on the market. This is because American factory labor costs a lot more than foreign sweatshop labor.
We might dislike how China treats its people, but we sure love the prices it gives us!
A con man (Score:3)
A con man peddling Made in China garbage.
Geez, I wonder from whom he learned to do that from?
This should anger conservatives (Score:4, Insightful)
It seems like such an obvious scam to make money for prominent right wing figures to cash out on fears and beliefs on their audience that these high level endorsers (Candance Owens, Roger Stone, Dinesh D'Souza) that they should lose a large chunk of their credibility.
Let's also see how many of those prominent backers also actually use the device. I imagine a lot of tweets promoting this will be done from an iPhone.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
You are correct already; Candace Owens hyped up the freedom phone with a tweet from... "Twitter for iPhone".
https://twitter.com/RealCandac... [twitter.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah a so called billionaire needs political donations.
Target market checks out (Score:5, Funny)
Erik Finman: Hey Trump supporters, here's a scam.
Trump supporters: Shuddup and take my money.
Re: (Score:3)
The irony of not understanding the difference between a socialist program and an actual scam while calling other people stupid I'm sure completely lost on you.
A trumptard and their money are parted. (Score:2, Insightful)
Did he get a Pardon, too ? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's unethical .. (Score:2)
.. to make money from obvious incompetent people.
I love that there's a "privacy community" (Score:3)
People who are so narcissistic and paranoid that they gather together to talk about the technical tools needed to prevent an advertiser from knowing if they like Colgate more than Trident. How lucky to be the kind of person where this is your greatest concern!
Re: (Score:3)
And I have ... (Score:2)
just put GrapheneOS on a samsung (Score:2)
If their target market (Score:2)
is the crowd that buys into qanon, the election "audit" in Arizona and the nonsequiters that have been coming out of Trump's mouth the last few years, than his product will make him a mint.
So in their haste to escape the NSA (Score:2)
They ran right into the arms of the CCP. I bet most would still think that represents a win. These are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
Ideologocially Perfect (Score:2)
Does anyone actually look at this crap? (Score:2)
The Freedom Phone site shows a picture of a phone, front and back that has a very different camera arrangement. It might be a UMIDIGI, but it doesn't look much like that particular one.
It looks more like a Moto G from 2019. Which isn't all that surprising, NOS gets around. Still flaky. My wife got all up for this, but she's an iPhone user and has no idea what she's getting into with an Android phone. Me?
- SMS won't be secure, even the cool version is through your carrier(s). No real privacy there, so move
It should not have been exposed. (Score:2)
The buyers deserve to be exploited and ripped off because of what they made the adult choice to be, quite like the criminals who bought Anom phones.
I find it greatly amusing and it should never have been exposed. Had I known of it I'd have kept silent and laughed in private.
Re:The part is.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: The part is.. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
"This makes it different from other major phones ... how?"
The amount of fraud being perpetrated.
Re:Um (Score:5, Informative)
I mean if Apple can charge a $500 surcharge for, er, Apple-ness ...
I.e., top notch build quality, top notch camera, excellent battery life, compact form factor, good radio performance, well thought-out data security.
I've been carrying smartphones since the Hitachi SH-G1000 (circa 2003); including every generation of Android phone since the first Motorola Droid (2009). I have never had a phone that is as satisfactory as my wife's 1st gen iPhone SE, which still has excellent battery life and usable performance after four years and is showing no signs of needing replacement. On top of that she can make calls in places where my Android phone drops them. And smaller size is a plus for me at least.
On paper, iPhones are overpriced. In practice, they're actually a good value.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
"But leave it to the media to inject politics into the headline of most every story."
Spoken like a true Trumpist. Blame the media.
Let's also be clear that conservatives don't care about your privacy, that isn't a "right wing" value of any sort. What we have here is Trumpists, not conservatives, who don't care about privacy, they care about attacking Silicon Valley companies because they are viewed as part of the "Democrat party". It's simply more fraud to fuel outrage and partisan division, and hopeful s
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting technical review , it appears to be designed to have security circumvented:
“Historically Mediatek devices have shipped with a wide number of insecure configurations and are prone to trivial vulnerabilities that allows anyone with physical possession of such a device to read/write the data on the phone through its early bootloader,” Hickey said. “They make phones specifically to permit high customisation and as such many of the vendors own software [that] can be used to manipula
Re: (Score:2)
Liberalism definitely rots your brain...as shown by the comments in this article (and article itself).
Your brain definitely seems to have been rotted by something.
All phones are made in China, even the Apple Iphone. The interesting part of the phone isn't the hardware, it's the security software that's pre-installed...and worth the money for many people that are security-minded, but might not be as tech savvy.
Fair enough about the software being an important factor, but let's face it, this is just a money grab. They're charging $400 to install apps like Parler and then an app store that opens the floodgates to all sorts of ne'er do wells.
The Democrats just announced that they are working hand-in-hand with sites like Facebook to squash opposing opinions deemed "misinformation" akin to the Great firewall of China. Instead of the tech community complaining about this, they complain about something that actually improve privacy or a non-tech person. The coordinated hit-pieces I've seen on this very phone since it was announced is also suspect.
I've lost all respect for the hacker community. The same people that claimed they were freedom fighters were merely authoritarians with no power. Now that their side is in power, they use and promote authoritarian crackdown of our most basic freedoms.
Where to even begin with such a dense (pun intended) wall of wrong.
Since you already made it political... Conservatives are the ones out there making a bunch of verifiability wrong statements. Like the covid vaccines m