The “Blackphone” is the first smartphone that has been explicitly built to effectively protect users' privacy, as it combines specialized software and a series of services designed exclusively to cover their digital data.
The smartphone from SGP Technologies – a joint venture between encryption service Silent Circle and mobile hardware manufacturer Geeksphone – will begin shipping this week to customers who have already ordered it. The phone is expected to be available for sale online shortly after.
The Blackphone will run a modified version of Android called PrivOS. This operating system, while similar to Android 4.4 KitKat, gives the user a higher degree of control over the apps running on the phone, specifying precisely what data and functions they can access and what they can do.
The phone comes with pre-installed apps, beyond the standard Android apps, that focus on keeping conversations, text messages, web searches, and app data secure and private.
Blackphone also has a special function to deal with attacks via Wi-Fi, preventing data collection from devices, as mobile phones are often vulnerable to such attacks when users connect to untrusted networks.
You can see the features of the Blackphone in the table below:
