'UnaPhone' promises Android privacy by binning Google Play A custom Android phone is being pitched to security and privacy pundits promising to deliver by goring Google services, preventing app installation, and deploying end-to-end encryption. The US$540(£374, A$745) UnaPhone sports a custom Android Marshmallow operating system that has been stripped of "invasive" Google services to …
UnaPhone? Seriously? With all the connotations that prefix carries?
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I'm probably wrong and I certainly don't know what I'm talking about, but if the carrier cannot identify the phone, then how does it know to route your calls to it ?
I applaud anything that will stick it to Scott McNealy, and Google deserves anything that will bring its arrogance down a notch, but mobile tech is what it is and if you're using it, your phone does have to be identifiable to the carrier. I don't see why the carrier should distribute that information without a warrant, but the carrier has to know where your phone is.
Pretty sure that in the UK, it's an offence to modify the IMEI of a phone. This is mainly to stop backstreet hackers from changing the identity of a stolen phone, cos the remote brickage is based around the IMEI.
Even rinsing out the stuff at an OS level would be a big difference, the MIB's would then get no more information than if you were using a Nokia 1101.
At a guess, the identity in the SIM card is passed through, and the network can then route calls to the SIM. If you switch off the phone, move to a different cell, put in a different SIM and switch back on, then the phone may be able to hide that one phone uses multiple SIMs, and you may be able to hide that you are Batman as well as being Bruce Wayne.
In real life, if only dozen's of Unaphones get sold, then they know who you are. Just like enabling javascript means sites can near enough identify a computer from the list of installed fonts, but if you disable javascript, then you can be identified as one of the few (techies|weirdos) who disables javascript.
I think what they should be doing is hiding the phone's identity and calling information from Android/Google. Should be like FF in Privacy mode. Do not track, etc. No cookies, etc.
I do not care about Verizon. They need to know me, I am their customer.
It is the third party apps and Google (and NSA by extension) that bother me.
One time I got bothered by unremovable Verizon bloatware and I rooted a Droid. Installed the bare bones Android flavor of the month. I installed google apks. Boom, phone was stuffed with Google's bloatware. The Verizon stuff was minimal compared to all of the services Google requires.
Battery life is a lot longer, when Google Sync is disabled and location services disabled.
...and then dashed them with the inability to (i) install apps from e.g. f-droid (ii) flash a custom ROM.
The latter wouldn't matter so much if regular updates came for as long as one should reasonably expect the hardware to last. But the former is a deal breaker. Phone manufacturers, what's so hard to understand? I want a phone over which I have control. Basically what I want is to be able to buy modern flagship specced hardware running Cyanogen OS or equivalent without the Google services. I'll then add f-droid and whatever goodies I find useful that are available there.
Read the rest of the post. As long as updates came as often as necessary I wouldn't. The ability to flash a custom ROM is required for when the updates stop coming but the hardware is still OK and a custom ROM for that hardware is still actively supported.
I am an Android developer, and every day I encounter problems that many have no idea about. The deep spying that Google empowers into their OS is not only shameful, but dangerous too. There is no secure Android with Google on-board, and I salute the Unaos idea to cut off human idiocy. Give a person a phone, give them root (and some even without), and they will ruin every bit of privacy they may have, not to mention security. Cyanogen is good, but if we talk privacy, not so good! Now in the hands of Microsoft, and let's not mention Truecaller embedded, is one of the worse OS you may have. They aren't only screening your calls, they get as much data as they can. So, yes, not allowing app installation may be an extreme vision, but I'm sure many will love it, especially for companies that need some security.
You're right. I'd forgotten about Truecaller. I'm on a Samsung Galaxy S3 with CM11 which has none of that nonsense. But it was hard work getting it to its current state and the real point of my comment is that I should be able to buy something like that on a current hardware generation without having to hack it, void warranty, etc.
You wish, but the phone manufacturers demand control (some at the behest of other parties--like banks). So in essence, phone manufacturers can't trust the users without ticking off people writing checks. So what you can do? Unless you're willing to cobble together your own phone from scratch (realizing that each and every component could potentially hold hidden secrets you'd be unable to discover).
At some point, you have to just realize Big Brother has ways of watching you no matter what you do and decide: bend over or check out.
Or maybe some people just remember that Psalm about knowing the difference between the things you can't change and the things you can change. Sometimes, you need to stare someone in the face and say, "Sir, you're demanding unicorns." But other times, the guy demanding unicorns ALSO has a gun to your head and an itchy finger on the trigger. In which case, you better start looking...
Yes, CM11 was quite good, but they ruined the whole concept with newer versions. Point is there is no secure OS on the market. Yes, some attempts, but nothing really good. I switched to Nexus, AOSP on board, cleaned as much as possible, and still, issues are coming out. See, you say it "it was hard work getting it to its current state" and I am more then sure those guys worked truly hard to achieve those results. I think they have done something that, for the average "Joe" isn't good, because they cut the human factor, but companies will appreciate it. And yes, I agree with you, it's a shame there is no more manufacturers that offer something like this.
"You can't change anything yourself."
You can't be trusted. Period.
"There are no third-party apps for it."
Third-party devs can't be trusted. Period.
"It's makers handle all the updates, over which you have no control."
SOMEONE'S got to hold the fort, and given neither you nor a third party can be trusted, who would you recommend?
"There are no games for it."
As the article notes, there's a time for work and a time for play. If you can't separate the two, you likely have bigger problems.
Actually, those would make sense. A two-seat SUV means more cargo space. As for the waterproof sponge, less wringing...
As for installing apps, does that include the malware disguised as a game that steals your credentials and then runs rampant all across the corporate network? It's either that or not install stuff at all. Your choice.
I was travelling back through Spain from England the evening after the train system was targeted and the police and military response was huge, I have never been stopped and had to produce my documents so many times in my life.
Also seeing AK47's, assault rifles of all kinds and RPG's in the back of police vehicles was actually reassuring, nobody was getting passed this lot.
But to the point mobile phones were used to detonate these bombs and because of this soon after all mobile phones in Spain had to be registered to the owner.
You were given a little time to do this but if you did not, your phone would no longer be connected to any carrier network and your SIM useless.
So it was a trip with passport in hand to any mobile retailer, which was made as easy as possible for people to do and so no good reason not to.
You don't need to be an electronics expert to use the output voltage of a mobiles speaker connection to forward bias a transistor or trigger an NE555 timer or similar!
So I must admit I totally agreed with the policy and so this phone represents to me at least a huge security problem or It’ll get used mainly by the crims/drug dealers ETC!!!!!!
So my thoughts on encryption is that the best way, which we did at school BTW a long time ago.
If you can get the recipient of the secret message to by the same novel as you have chosen, you can find the word you want on page 11 line 15 and word number 3, so the code for that particular word is 11 15 3.
You can also find the same word on page 22 line 4 and word number 16, so same word different code and if you really wanted you could alternate to swapping word number line number and page number on even words.
Can that code be beaten if you don't know what book someone is using?
Ian.
So basically you're saying you are willing to give up a whole bunch of privacy, because it is possible to use a mobile phone as a trigger? Mobile phones are hardly the only thing you can use to trigger an explosive device, they have been convenient to use lately because they're what terrorists had on hand.
If Spain managed to successfully force everyone to register their phones, and acted quickly to "deregister" them the moment they were lost or stolen (and people actually bothered to report some old crappy phone was lost or stolen) then terrorists couldn't use mobiles as a trigger. Exactly what amount of terrorism will that prevent, beyond the 0% that I think? I guess when I read about the IRA bombings back in the day they must have been using those old bag phones to trigger them, since you can't possibly use oh I know don't a walkie talkie or a wind up alarm clock for that?
Nevermind that if you are going to blow up a bunch of innocent people, you probably aren't too concerned with violating forgery laws and using a fake ID to register a phone if you really feel you have to use a cell phone to trigger your bomb. Or for that matter use your real name, if you plan on being out of the country when you detonate it, or will suicide yourself as another part of the overall plot.
Sheesh, attitudes like yours are why all your freedoms will eventually be gone. You are happy to hand over any rights you have if you makes you feel more secure, even if that feeling is a false sense of security. You make me sick.
"Sheesh, attitudes like yours are why all your freedoms will eventually be gone. You are happy to hand over any rights you have if you makes you feel more secure, even if that feeling is a false sense of security. You make me sick."
Well, either we lose our freedoms to the police state or we lose our lives to anarchy. Anything in between will simply gravitate towards one or the other with most of society caught in the middle and more or less helpless to change things (and yes, it's happening right now all over the world; it's just that some out there are deluded enough to think there's a third option).
I'm not sure why you think the only choices are a police state or anarchy. If you have a Constitution that is actually followed, you should be able to hold the line against a police state.
However, given those choices I'd rather take my chances with anarchy. At least from anarchy there's a path to a functioning government where people are free. The only way out of a police state is a revolution, and if you live in a country where they've already taken away your guns, a revolution is not possible so you will be stuck in the police state until some other country invades yours (whether they do it to "free" you or to conquer you isn't important, as it likely can't be worse than an unarmed populace living in a police state)
Hi again DougS.
Wish I'd kept my mouth shut now!LOL
To all FYI except 'cowards' yes I use Tor, dropboxes, IRC chat and encryption but only for fun really and do value every persons privacy I signed the appeal to congress about SOPA and others.
It's just got going to get any better for the foreseeable future so discussing it is a good thing and let me ask you personally, would you use one of these phones and why?
My main fear is if you were chatting about a terrorist news item to a friend, you could be flagged by using certain words from the article in your innocent conversation and that’s wrong because you weren't doing anything wrong.
I guess it's down to the analytic way whatever software is being used to monitor the call, ambiguous at best divisive at worst.
What if you had a foreign friend and you each had a pet name for each other but a possibly racist one you could be arrested for using the term and meaning no offence, but the word got flagged you see.
I agree it's become a very slippery slope!
BTW my all time favourite film Is V for vendetta and everything the Python gang did, I don't celebrate Bonfire night either. Great how there's lots of Monty Python references in the language itself.
Regards, Ian.
Hi, DougS.
Sorry if I offended you but some freedoms will have to be revised or they stop the blanket no questions asked support of Israel for one.
We've already lost them bud SOPA and all that NSA spying, metadata collection etc.......
Was that unfortunate password reset a while back to Gmail,Yahoo,Hotmail accounts an accident or the spy software the NSA installed on those servers gone a bit pear shaped?
As to the phone then yes a good idea for the Home Office having them, with regards to the El Reg article on lost/stolen mobiles recently.
My emails go to and through a Norwegian server and I don't use any of the above as my email providers I'll bet you do and if you do then It's on an American server and fair game.
Off topic but part of the reason we have such security and terrorist problems today.
If only Palestine would just give up, wave a white flag and it's government do what is right for the people.
I don't think there's any shame in surrendering to a far superior force and in doing so save your people and give them a better existence, win against the Americans, Canada, Australia, England and the rest of Europe not a chance in the end which is why we have such a terrorism problem, they can't win and to add insult to injury the bloody yanks have now decided OH! He's not so bad that A SSAD man now he's against IS so yeh send him support and we'll ignore that he's a despot.
At the end of the day until we find a better way of resolving the issues between our two different cultures apart from force then this will be with us for a long time and I don't want to get blown up.
Parked next to one of the IRA bin bombs in Warrington a day before the attack and my niece was in the play centre at the Arndale in Manchester a day or two before that cowardly attack so yep I'm willing to give up some freedoms but I don't like having to do so because of the ramifications to my privacy now but also in the future, power and control are never given back as easily as were taken.
I'm not a crim so I don't mind to a degree in giving the anti terror organisations a bit of help.
If for example the call to a device came from a certain cell tower in that area and the info on the calls logged from the cell tower, it could save valuable resources and time if you were in that area at that time making a call and then you could be quickly ruled out compared to someone using an unregistered phone.
Terrorists sometimes revel in watching the mayhem they cause so possibly in sight of the explosion at the time and so it may help with CCTV recognition of the purp as well, knowing they were in that area at the time of the attack.
So just by having one of these phones you could stand out from the rest of us and in doing so invite the very surveillance of your activities you protest against so no I wouldn't want one, the same premise as using the Tor network for everyday online activities.
If the banks etc employed this system to your online banking activities thus giving you greater security when you use your mobile on their services then maybe I suppose. I'm not worried about a phone call to a friend being logged but I care about the fraud threat more.
I know you won't agree with me but get used to it you’ve got absolutely no say in the matter whatsoever, if it can't be done legally here it’ll be done in another country or covertly and you'll never know.
If anyone would like to start a thread in the bootnotes section of the forum on why we have this have this security/surveillance nightmare today, then I'll happily contribute.
Kind regards, Ian.
"Can that code be beaten if you don't know what book someone is using?"
But to use the code, you have to have the book on hand unless you have an unbelievable memory able to recall any word of a book in your head down to the page and line. It's just a variant on the old code book, but if the enemy knows or deduces you're using a book, they'll just look for the book (which they know you'll have). This is one counter even the famed One-Time Pad can't shut out (the enemy can always locate the pad).
Ian, you are just showing how shallow you are, or, you're one of the guys that want to peak inside everybody's else life or someone is paying you to write such stupid comments! Get more power using the "fear factor", right!?! Either way you're full of it! And if it's true what you said (IF because I believe is not), I'm sorry for you, but this doesn't change what you said! Yesterday I took the time to examine their work, and on their website is nicely stated: "UnaPhone Zenith will not be available for purchase in the following territories: Afghanistan, Chad, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria"! Why do you think they are doing it? You really believe those guys, together with Tutanota (a multi million users email provider) are going to serve someone like you said? If you're saying so, why you didn't mention that terrorists and criminals mostly uses Facebook and Twitter (fully available in the mentioned countries) to plan their wrongdoings? Even so, Facebook has now encrypted their comms, and this is great, right!? You should say then "Facebook is totally committed to help terrorists and drug dealers"! Try to inform yourself a bit more, before defying someone! I am defending those guys, because they are developers like me, and I know how much work you have to put in such a big project. And someone like you, is trying to show them in the worse possible light, and just because you don't like the idea, you are calling them "criminal helpers"! Instead of supporting those guys that has surely worked their asses off to make something good, you're probably supporting those that get all your private data for free, and sell them to others for profit, right!? I am not even interested to know who you are, but I can tell, you don't like democracy, instead a police state is much much better, right!? I'm done, and even if you reply, I don't care, and won't reply back, because I said everything I meant to say, and don't bother defending your "democratic" vision.
Ta for the reply Copen.
I never mentioned Facebook or Twitter at all not once!
If anything terrorists would use a dropbox for email and IRC chat for instant messaging not social media.
Blackberries are still the favourite mobile for drug dealers and crims because Blackberry refused any access to their mobile in every way to snooping on it's users.
I want encryption to work for me not them but how many examples do we have of a piece of technology improving vastly when in a state of war.
The tech always gets passed down along the way to our benefit mostly.
Telling someone in one breath not to be defiant and the holding a defiant stance them self! Well it's a free country.
Hats off to the guys BTW I think It's a cracking idea but just wish we didn't need it.
I have and will always reply to someone willing to bother using there handle but from now on anonymous cowards are well COWARDS so not bothering with you lot!
Glad it won't be rolled out in those countries too but won't stop someone getting hold of one and taking it there and unless the mobile can discriminate between providers and refuse to work on prohibited one game over and wouldn't it be distinctly recognisable to that provider?
Regards, Ian
"Glad it won't be rolled out in those countries too but won't stop someone getting hold of one and taking it there and unless the mobile can discriminate between providers and refuse to work on prohibited one game over and wouldn't it be distinctly recognisable to that provider?"
They HAVE to. That's why your network call sign appears on your phone when you use it: because networks have signatures based on the SIMs and so on.
As for preferring anarchy to the police state, I don't agree. I think more likely is someone gets enough muscle to push everyone else away and create an autocracy (which tends toward police states if we go by Machiavelli).
Ian,
I think you're very wrong about the social media use and, the way they communicate and how they spread their "advertising". As for Blackberry, I hope you're joking, since Blackberry is not secure at all, and is working with the police all the time, and they can monitor every conversation you made to an from a Blackberry device. You may not believe me, but this is reality.
"Hats off to the guys BTW I think It's a cracking idea but just wish we didn't need it."
Yes, hats off, but, more importantly, everyone should try to think with conscience about today's threats. Are those threats foreign or domestic? Am I really secure that giving all my liberties to my government and police will stop any other threat? So far this was proven wrong. With the government coming out with new excuses only to justify the increasing surveillance they put on us.
The conclusion is that giving our freedoms to a police state is not a good idea, because no action is taken to grant major security! We need governments where politicians will work for the people, not to make the people work for them!
We should support more "civil rights" and "civil liberties" movements, and people that are taking real action, putting their lives at stake to defend our collective freedoms!
Hi Copen.
Yep since 2010 the RCMP have had the global encryption key for blackberry and I don't know how many others but the crims are quite often dims as well and still think It's secure.
In November, Blackberry was ordered to leave Pakistan after denying government access to its servers.
If a terrorist used social media it would almost certainly be a ruse to make him look normal and blend in surely, when you hear someone who knew a terrorist say " But he was just a lovely guy, normal".
I may be wrong but over here it takes the authorities a while to get a warrant to track a known criminals mobile and if he changes it or the SIM they have to start over.
Unfortunately computing power is such as it now that this type of monitoring is even possible in the first place.
Can an algorithm be written to distinguish between an innocent conversation and a plan to attack something using certain flagged words?
The article in El Reg "Letters prove GCHQ bends laws to spy at will. So what's the point of privacy safeguards?" Is a good example of what I was saying in part at least and that they will do it any way on the premiss of combating terrorism.
So no I don't want an encrypted mobile because I really don't need it, I don't see the point in standing out and that's what this does.
If you can't be antonymous be boring is my motto and don't ever use Slap 1.2.2.0 when you've had a few to many.
The author Security software's description.
If your like me you run firewall software that tells you when someone tries to access your system. Sometimes I respond with a few packets of my own just to let them know that I am paying attention. I wrote Slap to make responding to these access attempts easier and more entertaining. Just enter the IP address of the person you wish to slap and click on the Slap button. The program will attempt to access all the ports in the list and send them a packet with a personal message. (The default message is 'Leave Me Alone!') Slap integrates with Black Ice and Zone Alarm and can use information received from these software firewalls to Auto Slap intruders and add their attacks to your list of responses.
Editors Note: This is sort of a toy program more then anything else. In most cases, your better off ignoring any firewall warnings since responding could get you in more trouble.
Believe me you don't want your feed being re directed ever especially on an already low bandwidth provider, it can really slow things down and you get quite a surprise when you find out where It's going, the person I was corresponding with was definitely flagged as a POI I'm pretty sure.
Changed everything, different IP address and no longer have any contact with any online activity from before this happened. Shame really I was learning quite a lot and possibly 'mad as a box of frogs' too!
When I was outspoken and active in my opposition to this Police state we seem to be heading for I have signed a lot of petitions against it and not just in this country, they have the upper hand as usual and I don't see any way of stopping it and every government is striving for this type of power so when the terrorism threat abates if the system is in place they will continue to use it.
Maybe our Government just wants us to only fear them, the recent peaceful demonstrations in I think Washington DC where people are arrested for no good reason is a cracking example.
If you can't protest against your governments actions because your blocking the side walk or something is pretty lame. I think one US city actually ran out of cells on one occasion, Of course not aired here on the news.
The illegal war that started back in 2001 and pissing off all the Muslims wasn't such a good idea really was it?
Waiting for the Chilcot report to come out, it won't change our foreign policy and I doubt anyone will be brought to book over it.
All this social media monitoring and spying on us hasn't stopped one University massacre though has it, not popped up red flags that an individual is crazy and going to kill.
Regards, Ian.
"Can an algorithm be written to distinguish between an innocent conversation and a plan to attack something using certain flagged words?"
Let's see ANYTHING be able to understand the real meaning of this:
"My gran is laid up right now in (insert location here). I'll be visiting there (insert date & time here). See me then."
There's NO WAY to tell without outside context whether this is real or a code phrase for an attack. Couching attack plans in completely-innocent-and-plausible speech has been an art form for generation. NO language is immune from this kind of code: not even Newspeak.
"The conclusion is that giving our freedoms to a police state is not a good idea, because no action is taken to grant major security! We need governments where politicians will work for the people, not to make the people work for them!"
And that will never happen. Power corrupts, humans are "selfish" at their core, and this is just too tempting a target. We're doomed by our own instincts. No one's been able to get rid of corruption in any society because corruption is the norm, not the exception. To have a better government, you need a better HUMAN first, but as they say "Nice guys finish last..."
The company describes mobile games as "folly"
Bond struggled against the restraints, and Dr. Nofun laughed derisively.
"Games and leisure haff made you weak and sssoft," he hissed. "Zere is work, zere is more work, and zere is death, Mr. Bond. Ve who understand zis will RULE THE WORLD!!! BWAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"
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