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Purism is Crowdfunding an Encrypted Linux Phone

posted by mrpg on Wednesday August 30 2017, @05:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-unity-this-time dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

If you dream of owning a Linux phone that respects your privacy and keeps your data secure you'll want to check out Purism's new crowdfunding campaign.

The security-conscious US-based Linux laptop maker is hoping to raise $1.5 million to manufacture a 5-inch privacy-focused smartphone powered by open-source software.

Starting at $599, the Librem 5 will run the GNU/Linux PureOS distribution instead of Android, and will include a slate of features aimed at helping you protect your 'digital identity' — including end-to-end encryption of calls and texts made to other Librem 5 handsets.

While the phone will use as much free software as possible Purism do concede that the mobile baseband will likely use ROM loaded firmware (but with a FOSS kernel driver).

Wondering what kind of smartphone you get for $599? Us too. As it is, Purism say Librem 5 specs won't be finalized until after the campaign ends. This, they say, is to "ensure the best available components."

[...] If you're thinking of replacing your current smartphone with the Librem 5 you will need to look elsewhere as Purism plan to ship the phone in January 2019.

Source: Purism is Crowdfunding an Encrypted Linux Phone

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by MadTinfoilHatter on Wednesday August 30 2017, @08:40AM (1 child)

    by MadTinfoilHatter (4635) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @08:40AM (#561393)

    It appears that this phone will have that. From their FAQ:

    Will there be hardware kill switches?

    Yes, we need to evaluate the wiring and design limitations to determine the best approach; the intention is to include Camera, Microphone, WiFi/Bluetooth, and Baseband Modem kill switches or some combination. We may utilize a microphone headphone jack plug to kill the microphone at the hardware level as an example of some inventions we are testing and considering. But rest assured we will have hardware kill switches.

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  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 30 2017, @02:37PM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @02:37PM (#561514) Journal

    I'm sold!