'Freedom Phone' far-right leaders are hawking - cheap Chinese Android--and a security nightmare

[packman]

Security experts are raising concerns over the “Freedom Phone,” a new device touted by prominent conservatives as both secure and censorship-resistant.

Unveiled on Wednesday by Erik Finman, the world’s youngest bitcoin millionaire, the $500 Freedom Phone claims to offer a series of robust privacy features as well as an uncensorable app store.
...

Matthew Hickey, co-founder of the cybersecurity firm Hacker House, told the Daily Dot that the Freedom Phone appears to be nothing more than a rebranded Umidigi A9 Pro—a Chinese smartphone that costs as little as $119 on AliExpress.

“This device is a drop-shipped customizable Android-based phone,” Hickey said. “They can be bought and shipped in bulk from Asia with custom logos and branding so as to give the appearance of a phone that has been designed for a unique purpose.”


https://www.dailydot.com/debug/freedom-phone-security-issues/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. but, but, but it says freedom...

[tanyev]

2. And I bet they'll use those phones for many complaints about the 'Wuhan Flu'.

Idjits.

[dalton99a]

3. Approved by the Chinese Communist Party. Capable of user tracking without microchip injection

Great phone

[Budi]

4. Is this one of Ivanka's many patents from China?

Just a thought..

[WA-03 Democrat]

5. The guy is so full of BS.

1) you can build a cell phone in the USA. The phone is just going to cost more than $75 on alibaba and you have to build a real electronic equipment manufacturing. It will take ton of capital money ($100,000,000 was the cost of the Flextronics Motorola factory cited in the article) and skill people. These $$ do not cover OPEX just CAPEX. He simply took by far the easy path to get a product with his name on it.
2) because he does not own the factory where the phone is made means he has zero control over which electronic components are used. The original equipment manufacturer in China makes all of those decisions. They are the designer and manufacturer. He feasibly has an “inspection service” in Shenzhen but it is cursory quality control at best. Think of it as the kind of quality inspection you get for just paying $100 for a one time audit. Not much info and not useful. It’s more smoke for the mirrors.
3) MediaTek is the Yugo (the car) of mobile processors. It’s better than walking but far less safe.
4) the OS (that his “team”) design is again another cheaply made OS in China.

The only thing this frees you from is your privacy.

[East-A-Squared]

6. FreeDUMB phone.