Do you ever wonder about your privacy while using your phone? Our smartphones hold a lot of information about
But Apple and Google phones may no longer be the only options. The people at Purism have developed a Linux smartphone that is not based on Android or iOS. The Librem 5 is built with security and privacy as a primary focus and it said to be “The only modern smartphone you can (truly) own”.
Hardware Kill Switches
The Camera, microphone, WiFi, Bluetooth, and baseband can all be turned off by a physical switch. So it is impossible for someone to remotely turn on these parts of your phone to track you.
PureOS
No Android or iOS here. The Librem 5 runs PureOS. This means p
CPU separate from baseband
The baseband is what the cell phone towers talks to on your phone. Almost all phones have these integrated closely with the CPU. That is a bad thing. In theory the cell phone company could get into the baseband and have access to all the memory on the phone.
In the Librem smartphone they are separated so this kind of exploit is not possible.
No Android or iOS apps
One bad thing may
Replaceable Battery!!!!
Finally! Why did everyone stop doing this? The Librem 5 comes with a non-soldered and easily serviceable battery.
My Thoughts
More Privacy is always a good thing. It is hard enough keeping your privacy protected without your smartphone spying on you. So I would like to try one of these out but there are a few android apps I am attached to. Mainly google maps when I travel for work.
At this point, I am going to have to wait and see as more information comes out. I do wish Purism the best of luck with the Phone. I hope it is a major success and puts some pressure on android and iphones. Having more options is always better and having the option of privacy is a big plus.
