'Uncensorable' Freedom Phone raises a host of security questions

CNET ^ | July 16, 2021 | Carrie Mihalcik

[tkocur]

An absence of specs has caught the attention of skeptics.

A new "free speech and privacy first" phone unveiled this week is raising red flags, with one report suggesting it's just a rebranding of a budget Chinese phone.

The $500 Freedom Phone was launched Wednesday by Erik Finman, a self-proclaimed "bitcoin millionaire," as an alternative to popular devices from Google, Apple and other Big Tech companies. The website for the Freedom Phone is void of the usual technical specs but says the gadget works with all major US carriers and is supported by an "uncensored" app store.

The phone apparently runs FreedomOS, an operating system that Finman said in a tweet was "our own blend of AOSP, LineageOS, GrapheneOS, and our personal development as well." The three operating systems are based on Google's Android OS, which powers almost nine out of 10 smartphones in the world.

Though people might understandably be drawn to a phone that prioritizes privacy and free speech, multiple reports have raised security concerns and questioned whether the Freedom Phone is being upfront with customers.

The Freedom Phone appears to be a rebranding of the Umidigi A9 Pro, a roughly $120 phone made by Chinese tech company Umidigi, according to a report Thursday from The Daily Beast. Finman reportedly confirmed to The Daily Beast that the Freedom Phone is manufactured by Umidigi but didn't say what model it was based on.

Finman didn't explain to The Daily Beast how the Freedom Phone justified its apparent markup, but reportedly suggested it features customized hardware and improved memory.

[jimjohn]

I heard about this. And seeing all the hit pieces on it tells me its worth looking into.

[ConservativeMind]

I would be concerned about any phone created and manufactured by China.

All such phones currently keep tabs on its citizens. How do we know the spyware is not there?

[Oshkalaboomboom]

If the freedom phone works with any carrier and the carriers are tracking you how does the freedom phone stop it?

[BipolarBob]

No worries! You can be assured it’s built in.

[ClearCase_guy]

I think it’s really about the apps — Rumble and Parler, etc. Google phones and Apple phones and other companies can elect not to allow such apps and thus force you to use Twitter or Youtube(for example) or nothing. The Freedom Phone seems intended to keep your options open.

That being said, I’d like to be able to have a phone not made in China.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The $500 Freedom Phone

I can buy an inexpensive Android phone and load it with Signal, ProtonMail and other apps with end-to-end encryption. Those inexpensive Android phones are made by China, but so is this $500 phone.

If I have concerns about whether the phone OS is snooping on me - well, does this Freedom Phone use an open-source Android fork that I can take a look at? Why should I take their word that they aren't bad actors, or that they are competent?

[Perseverando]

Is the Freedom phone the latest and greatest version of this: The FBI’s honeypot Pixel 4a gets detailed in new report ?

Asking for a friend. /sarc

[Darksheare]

I’m reminded of the “armed protests planned in every capitol” op by the feebers earlier this year.

[phoneman08]

It’s too bad they didn’t use the Imidigi F1. Great phone that I just typed this on.

[fireman15]

In this day and age expecting any form of electronic communication to be truly secure is folly. It is all a question of degree. It it like the windows on your car, they make you feel safe but if someone drives into a situation where they are surrounded by ANTIFA and they give the wanna-be terrorists a funny look... the windows provide no safety at all.

[glorgau]

> I think it’s really about the apps

Could be the hardware also. Does anyone really know what all is embedded in the micro code of an ethernet controller for instance?

[PIF]

Imidigi, like Huawei and Xiaomi, are all likely reporting user data to the CCP and the PLA. Chairman Xi loves you!

[glennaro]

May as well go all-out Coast-to-Coast. Perhaps this "freedom phone" syncs with the nanochip contained in the experimental injection accessible through secure servers located in Bill Gates's basement and in George Soros, et al.'s attics.

No, perhaps not ... although I have reached the point where I think just about anything is possible (from both the perspective of rapidly advancing technology as much as from the accelerating pace of the devolution of social behavior and citizen-to-citizen interaction and respect) -- that just about anything anyone (particularly those in positions of power, authority and/or trust) comes as a surprise ... an increaslingly frequent unpleasant surprise -- I am not quite to the tin-foil hat stage ... but I'm slowly getting there. (Good thing I'm in my 70s which will provide a good excuse when I eventually get there! ... I could someday even be President!) Now, back to work on these engineering reports due to the client next week; proof that I'm not yet completely gone!) Cheers!

[mac_truck]

Website says they’re ‘out of stock’ and to leave an email so they can contact you when they have phones available.

[Chode]

LOL!!!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I would be concerned about any phone created and manufactured by China.

Are there any phones that aren't manufactured in China and don't use chips manufactured in China?

[ConservativeMind]

There are phones not designed in China, which, if encrypted fully within in proper fashion (like the iPhone), should have extremely limited opportunities for inappropriate implants.

[sauropod]

Precisely.

[phoneman08]

Imidigi, like Huawei and Xiaomi, are all likely reporting user data to the CCP and the PLA. Chairman Xi loves you!Yeah, I'll have to look for a phone made in the USA next time.