Buyer Beware-the “Freedom” Phone Is Just a Cheap Import
Yes, there is a sucker born every minute. The thing about technology in our lives like our smartphones is how intrusive it is. Browsing habits, convenience apps, and banking/money transfer apps mean our phones are potentially more revelatory about us than any other device we own by far. So I ran across this right-wing grift meets the cheap smartphone with a right-wing app twist I was curious. Then appalled.
So read and weep my friends.
MAGA-Branded ‘Freedom Phone’ Is a Black Box That Should Be Avoided at All Costs
Freedom Phone claims that it can protect users from the data collection that comes with an iOS or Android operating system (it has something called a “Freedom OS”—which, ironically, just appears to be a modified version go Google’s Android OS). The phone is also meant to liberate users from Big Tech’s alleged ideological preferences: it has an “uncensorable app store” (called the “PatriApp,” lol), where it is apparently impossible for apps to get booted no matter how unsafe or horrendous they are.
The device also comes pre-loaded with a host of privacy features (Signal, DuckDuckGo, Brave), as well as a suite of apps that seem tailor-made for Trump voters: Parler, One America News Network, Newsmax, and Rumble are all included.
…Yet while the product is being sold as an escape from Big Tech’s nefarious oversight, in reality, it appears to be a budget phone from Asia that may end up compromising buyers’ autonomy rather than protecting it.
gizmodo.com
Also, at Balloon Juice