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The Fairphone (Gen. 6)

(shop.fairphone.com)
155 points DavideNL | 1 comments | 25 Jun 25 09:58 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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raffael_de ◴[25 Jun 25 10:10 UTC] No.44375519[source]▶
If they'd just provide a physical switch (not software-based but actually cutting off the respective chips and antennae from electricity) to go full offline (no GPS, no Wifi, no mobile connection, ...) they'd effortlessly at least double their market potential.
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lynx97 ◴[25 Jun 25 10:32 UTC] No.44375677[source]▶
Genuinely interested, why is that? IOW, why do I want a (mobile) phone without connectivity?
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_Algernon_ ◴[25 Jun 25 10:56 UTC] No.44375804[source]▶
Not a phone without connectivity. A phone with truly optional connectivity.
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lynx97 ◴[25 Jun 25 11:23 UTC] No.44375990{3}[source]▶
OK, but why?
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_Algernon_ ◴[25 Jun 25 11:27 UTC] No.44376019{4}[source]▶
There are legitimate situations where you may want to have a phone easily accessible, but not zapping your location to a base station every millisecond. For example protests.
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lynx97 ◴[25 Jun 25 11:34 UTC] No.44376076{5}[source]▶
If you are worried about getting noticed at a protest, stay at home. If you plan on doing things at that protest which might make it necessary to track you, please stay at home.
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_Algernon_ ◴[25 Jun 25 11:51 UTC] No.44376207{6}[source]▶
Do you think similarly about encrypted communication or locks in bathroom doors?

At least in the US geofencing warrants are a thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geofence_warrant

It is prudent to protect oneself against that.

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jeroenhd ◴[25 Jun 25 12:01 UTC] No.44376277{7}[source]▶
While there are plenty of valid reasons not to tell the government where you are 24/7 (including reasons like "I don't feel like it"), I agree that protests shouldn't be a reason. Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests, and the governments that do won't be fooled by just not bringing your phone with you in the age of surveillance planes regularly sweeping areas to track movements, facial recognition, and simply finding you because they've arrested other protestors you know already.

For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out. You may as well keep your (Android) phone in your pocket (but turned off, though that won't help with iOS' Find My network).

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1. spankibalt ◴[25 Jun 25 12:14 UTC] No.44376388{8}[source]▶
> "Functioning democracies don't arrest people for peaceful protests [...]"

That might be true on planet Ogo, but not on planet Earth.

> "For protests, the physical switch is an attempt to find a technical solution to a societal problem, which rarely works out."

Another utterly absurd statement. Killswitches are, amongst other places and situations, useful on the battlefield (and therefore urban "battlefield", e. g. protests). And turning a practical solution to tactical and operational problems into a discussion about the inapplicability of such solutions to cure the "ills of society" at large is just... bizarre.