Blackphone, First 'Privacy Optimized' Smartphone, Ships Monday

In an age when massive hacks and digital snooping regularly make headlines, the makers of the Blackphone are betting that people are willing to pay good money for privacy. It’s being called the “first privacy optimized smartphone” by its makers, Silent Circle and Geeksphone, who unveiled the device six months ago at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Blackphone runs on PrivatOS, a “security-enhanced” version of Android, and promises encrypted voice calls and text messages. It also features increased control over app permissions, anonymous Web browsing, encrypted cloud storage and more. The price for privacy: $629. Aside from its security features, it’s not that different from other Android phones, sporting a 4.7-inch screen, 16 GB of storage and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. The Blackphone ships today for people who pre-ordered it ahead of time, with new orders starting on July 14.

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

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Surprising SCOTUS Ruling Favors Cellphone Privacy

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IN-DEPTH

• Hack-Proof Your Life: A Guide to Internet Privacy in 2014
• Highly Personal Data Is the Future of Tech, But Is It Secure?
• A Review of the Blackphone, the Android for the Paranoid (Ars Technica)

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- Keith Wagstaff