Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

I was interviewed for a DW News article on how @purism is taking on tech giants with the #Librem5 #privacy-focused smartphone.

https://m.dw.com/en/smartphone-startups-take-on-google-apple-and-put-privacy-first/a-52369255

It's been fun to track the steady and rapid progress with #Librem5 development. Each week that goes by moves this phone closer to replacing my other phone entirely. Most recently, a simple one line change to a file dramatically improved cellular modem performance.

If you are looking for a decent stand for your #Librem5 and have access to a #3Dprinter then I've found this design scaled up 1.25x works well and leaves enough room at the bottom for a USB-C cable:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2056389

“It was the intelligence coup of the century,” the CIA report concludes. “Foreign governments were paying good money to the U.S. and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/

Saw this at a used book sale and had to get it. It hearkens back to an era where when something in your house broke, you could fix it instead of throw it away. I see some signs that society is discovering the harm of buying cheap, disposable things you can't fix.

This doesn't bode well for any legislation that would curb #privacy abuses by marketing firms. If Feds bypass 4th amendment using adtech, regulating that industry could trigger "going dark" claims like w/ e2e encryption.

https://gizmodo.com/feds-find-fourth-amendment-workaround-buy-phone-locati-1841516436

I love the smell of nail polish in the morning. It smells like security. #antiinterdiction

Since the #Librem5 runs regular PureOS it means you can often solve problems using the same steps you'd use on a desktop. In this post I use classic command-line techniques to backup and restore my phone:

https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-backup-and-restore/

Update: Avast has shut down the subsidiary company that was capturing and selling customer data due to all the backlash. One down, a few thousand to go. #privacy

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/avast-kills-off-jumpshot-the-subsidiary-that-sold-all-your-web-data/

Wow. Even medical software can't escape #adware corruption. Opiod maker paid a million dollars so software would show pop-ups recommending opiods to doctors.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-30/health-records-company-pushed-opioids-to-doctors-in-secret-deal

Don't dismiss compulsory student tracking via a phone app just because it's limited to athletes. These measures always start with a small powerless group, then use that "success" to justify expanding to others. #privacy

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14274

Every traditional for-profit company is now faced with the (false) choice of selling customer data and risking customer backlash if they get caught, or leaving money on the table and risking shareholder backlash (and lawsuits) if they don't.

Your browsing data is so valuable that even an AV company that's supposed to protect you from software that capture and sells your data, itself captures and sells your data. #privacy
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdkq7/avast-antivirus-sells-user-browsing-data-investigation

Something that has surprised me over the few weeks I've had this #Librem5 phone is the rapid progress. Each week brings at least one big improvement. Case in point, yesterday's kernel update (should hit main repos in a few days) made a noticeable change in the phone's heat and touchscreen performance.