Okay, everyone here knows I am kinda into technology and online privacy. I don’t use Windows, (or a Mac), I use a VPN service that I pay for, I use TOR when appropriate, and I do as much as possible to share what I know about the ongoing struggle to maintain some level of privacy in our lives. So, I penned this and posted it to Gab, and thought I’d also share it here.
UNPLUGGED SMARTPHONE. Okay, so a lot to unpack in this article. First, it was published by MIT Technology Review, ostensibly a top-tier publication at a top-tier institution. However, digging into the article, you see paragraphs like this:
In fact, the phone was originally called the “RedPill Phone,” a name based on a meme adored by the American far right. Prince is a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, and he debuted the phone on “War Room,” a podcast hosted by former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon and his fans got a discount code from the show.
So, more than a little scorn and bias from MIT TR. Surprised? Nope, me either.
However, there are also some fair points, including that the source code has not been released. Maybe it will be, maybe it won’t. Nevertheless, I would not spend the kind of money they are asking for a product that they claim is impenetrable yet won’t share the source code. Not only that, I cannot even find out how much their “PRIVACY APP SUITE” costs without signing up for a free trial. Not disclosing the price suggests that it will piss me off.
I have an android phone which I’ve done my very best to disable everything possible that tracks and spies, and have NEVER logged into a google account with it, but have absolutely no illusions that I am experiencing anything resembling privacy. My privacy begins when I turn it off, stuff it in my Mission Darkness pouch, and leave it in my truck.
Having said this, I will wait until the Unplugged Phone can be reviewed, audited, the source code examined, and the MSM to scream about national security issues with this unit before I even consider it.
Hell, I’m shutting down my smart-phone cell service as soon as my prepaid account runs out, and will keep a burner for emergencies only. Then I’ll have nothing more than a sophisticated bluetooth music player and podcast player. Don’t need any of that spying shit anymore. I know how to read a map, and I can even fold it back up correctly when I’m done.
Tor was shown to be p0wned by CIA by Snowden. You don’t think they have backdoors in all this ‘secure’ stuff you’re fooling yourself.
It was Edward Snowden who advocated using TOR WITH a good VPN, which is what I referenced above. Perfect? Probably not, but pretty damn close. It would take thousands of hours of supercomputer time to crack that combination. He also specifically says NOT to use ExpressVPN.
Not if that super computer is a quantum computer.
The best thing is to use someone else’s device.
Your ISP is not fooled by your VPN, nor by Tor.
All cover is temporary, there is no privacy, I leave my phone in the garage, and only use it as a phone nothing else. I also do not use it to connect to the internet. They can track you on every smart device you have, I also do not have any of those either. That does not make me any more secure, than anyone else.
No one thinks about the traffic/security cameras, the license plate readers on the cop cars, someone else’s smart devices and such. I even wonder about the cameras and sensors on other vehicles.
There is only one answers to all of this. But that question is never addressed by the “prepping community”.
When this show is over, cell towers will be a prime target rich environment.
Yep Thomas, they have been designing our demise for decades.
“I know how to read a map, and I can even fold it back up correctly when I’m done.”
Can you show my wife how to do that?
The last cell phone I carried was android, and I personally compiled *all* the software from source, including the kernel. It was way too much work, and didn’t mean shit because the baseband processor was beyond my control, ran closed source code, and had direct access to all of memory. These are hardware issues.
That was many years ago. I leaned over, and it fell out of my pocked off a roof 30′ down. Haven’t had one since. Don’t miss it.
If I may suggest-
Rather than the “tube”, try: invidio.us
Also, I’d suggest an extensive review of videos by Mr. Rob Braxman.
Also, I would suggest researching the consolidation within the VPN community and who owns runs them.
Lastly, I am compelled to encourage everyone to accept
Jesus the Christ as their personal Lord & Savior
While there is still time.
I got rid of my cell phone, tv and satellite services in my car about 8 years ago. I ask for directions if I am lost, make phone calls from an outdated land line only rarely, and am perplexed if someone comes up my obstacle course of a driveway. I use a PO Box and not a mailbox on the road. I carry a Faraday bag with a Faraday wallet. Still, I can look out my window and see two 5-G towers that went up on mountains or cow pastures. I bought a SAT phone I never used and cancelled. Why did I do this? Because I was involved in a huge, controversial lawsuit in the late 1990s and 2000s. It became clear to me that the government will use everything against everyone as they see fit. They will track you, tap your phones, faxes, Sopena emails and personal diaries as a matter of course, lie to your first-grade teacher to get a false lead, and track you with retired FBI agents.
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_american_kleptocracy_a_government_of_liars_thieves_and_lawbreakers
For instance, the FBI has been secretly carrying out an entrapment scheme in which it used a front company, ANOM, to sell purportedly hack-proof phones to organized crime syndicates and then used those phones to spy on them as they planned illegal drug shipments, plotted robberies and put out contracts for killings using those boobytrapped phones.
All told, the FBI intercepted 27 million messages over the course of 18 months.
What this means is that the FBI was also illegally spying on individuals using those encrypted phones who may not have been involved in any criminal activity whatsoever.