Buy your FREEDOM PHONE for only $500!

[thewayne]

Or buy it from AliExpress for $120.

The maker claims it has a "special secure operating system" that won't report back your personal info to 'the mothership'. Except the phone runs Parlour, Signal, Facebook: all the standard Android apps, making it extremely unlikely it's a custom OS.

Meaning it's a cheap CHINESE phone that people are paying a 3x+ markup for.

But it's FREEDUMB!

The guy who released it is a 22 y/o self-proclaimed Bitcoin millionaire who says the app store is "uncensorable", which means it will be rife with malware and apps guaranteed to steal your personal information. The Wild West! YEEHAW! FREEDUMB! And for only $500!

https://uk.pcmag.com/mobile-phones/134539/freedom-phone-meant-for-trump-supporters-is-also-made-by-chinese-vendor


The description in this Slashdot post header by various articles from The Daily Beast and Gizmodo just highlight the scam aspect.

https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/21/07/17/011226/right-wing-activists-500-freedom-phone-actually-cheap-rebranded-android-model-made-in-china

Comments

[silveradept]

If wear the dude wanted was to have a phone with specific apps installed by default, he could do that. I don't know what he was thinking about having his own app store, though, unless he wanted control over what went in and what could be put on someone's phone. I can think of a few ways that a phone could be made more privacy centric, and in such a way that the developer mashes it easier for the user to achieve this, but this isn't it. This, as is noted, is a grift to fleece certain segments out of their money.

[thewayne]

Apparently a group of right-wingers are pushing the phone with promo codes and getting $50 for every phone sold with the code, so I guess there's plenty of margin to spread the gift of graft.  I can't wait for the first major data leak and the utter bafflement of the people responsible.

[silveradept]

Spread it around like a proper MLM, I guess.

And yeah, the data breach or the situation where the authorities are just waiting for the conspirators to show up is going to provoke a lot of rage.

[devilc]

I have been giggle snorting away since I heard about the FreeDUMB phone. These people are going fuck themselves and use Frank's Red Hot for lube.

[thewayne]

There are advantages and disadvantages to iPhones and Androids.  With this one, there's nothing but disadvantages.  Especially when it comes to price and security, or lack thereof.