Blackphone: A smartphone for consumers who want privacy

If there’s a symbol for the idea that privacy is on people’s minds, it’s the Blackphone. The Blackphone, which went on sale last year is billed as the first smartphone built solely with privacy and security in mind. It is definitely more secure than an average phone, but comes with trade-offs that most consumers might not need or enjoy. 

The phone is a collaboration between the Spanish phone maker GeeksPhone and Silent Circle, a communications security company. It offers a pleasingly subtle industrial design, is extremely lightweight and has impressive if not outstanding specs. It sits between an iPhone 5S and a Samsung Galaxy S5 in size, but in comparison the Blackphone offers a very different experience. The phone runs on a modified version of Android, Google’s mobile operating system and it definitely trades some conveniences for security.

When consumers log into a Google or Apple iCloud account on a new phone, for example, they are accustomed to having information like contacts and apps downloaded automatically from the cloud. The Blackphone, by contrast, will feel like a blank and slightly confusing slate. The phone does not include any Google services, because Google doesn’t endorse PrivatOS, the operating system on the Blackphone. So there’s no Google Play store, no maps or navigation or the other Google niceties people are accustomed to using. However, the lack of Google services could be a selling point for people who think Google knows far too much about our lives. 

To get some of the services that make a smartphone so useful, users will need to try the Amazon App Store to find common apps like Twitter, Instagram or Netflix. However, when installing apps, you’ll immediately notice security benefits. PrivatOS lets users select specific permissions for each app, a feature that existed briefly in the latest version of Android, called KitKat, but which Google later removed.

After Facebook is installed, a screen called App Permission Details appears where users choose whether to allow access to the camera, audio, contacts, location, calendar, texting, call logs and more. Best of all, the entirety of that access is turned off by default when the app is installed. In contrast, when installing Facebook from the Google Play store on other smartphones, the installation screen says that Facebook would have access to all those elements of the phone. It then turns them all on by default with no way to turn them off except removing the app.

The Blackphone also includes deeper levels of security. Users can encrypt all of the data on the phone, so that even if someone finds it and breaks through the PIN or password, the information is still unreadable. Some features are available on other phones, but they are front and center on Blackphone, like the ability to remotely remove data from the phone if it is lost or stolen. The phone also comes loaded with secure communications tools offered by Silent Circle. The tools include Silent Circle’s private calling and messaging services, Silent Phone and Silent Text, as well as Silent Contacts. It also includes a two-year subscription to the Silent Circle service.

The phone also includes Disconnect Secure Wireless for private searching, anonymous browsing and for setting up a virtual private network to use the web more securely. And there’s secure cloud storage and file transfer services from SpiderOak as well. Unfortunately, Silent Circle’s suite doesn’t include an email app, so while you can download Android email encryption apps like Virtru or Cipher, your email isn’t secure out of the box.

Another thing worth noting is that right now, the phone is available only as an unlocked device, meaning that it doesn’t come tied to a specific carrier. It will work only on cellular networks that use GSM technology.

For more information on the Blackphone in Sri Lanka please contact 0777 797900.