this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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Privacy

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Whenever people ask about ways to make their smartphones more private or which is the most privacy-respecting phone to get, there's always a few people confidently asserting "all smartphones are spy tools, get a dumbphone with no apps if you want to be private". Which is ridiculous advice for a few reasons

  • Dumbphones usually run either proprietary operating systems or outdated forks of Android. They're almost never encrypted. They rarely get security updates. They're a lot more vulnerable than even a regular Android phone

  • With dumbphones, you're usually limited to regular phone calls or SMS/MMS messaging. These are ancient communication standards with zero built-in privacy. Your ISP can read any text message you send and view metadata logs of any phone calls you make. In lots of places (like Australia where I live) ISPs are actually required to keep logs of your messages and phone calls

With even a regular Android phone you at least have access to encrypted messaging apps like Signal or Session so your conversations aren't fair game for anyone who wants to read them. Of course there are better options. iOS (not perfect but better than most bloatware-filled Android devices) and a pixel with GrapheneOS (probably the best imo) are much better options; but virtually anything out there is going to be better for privacy than a dumbphone

Edit: Thanks everyone for giving your thoughts. Some really good points I hadn't thought much about

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[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 13 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I always thought people used the term "dumbphone" to refer to old-fashioned devices that are just a phone and don't run any OS.

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 15 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

even all old Nokias and flipphones and the like have an OS they're just in house developed proprietary embedded software/firmware not open sourceish like android

its how almost any sufficiently complicated device that uses PCBs works even modern washing machines and such run atleast what it basically a firmware os

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Landlines, you mean? I sometimes forget they still exist.

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Even a wireless handset landline or a deskphone with functions such as an address book and call history would have a basic firmware OS, but something like rotary phone wouldn't

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

A world where communication devices are limited to rotaries phones, CLI only terminals that only allow data transfer as SMTP, FTP and BBS traffic over dial-up using acoustic couplers connected to the rotaries handsets, would be a better world

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Evil commies want to force you to touch grass, beware!
First they came for the gamers

[–] tlmcleod@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I dunno about better, but it would certainly be a hell of a lot slower. A lot of websites would revert to text only, so perhaps it would be better lol

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago

What web? Gopher and FTP.

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Unacceptable. I want to be able to telnet.

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Ok but the only server you can connect to is that one that plays that ASCII version of star wars in the term

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl for anyone who hasn't experienced this masterpiece

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

No MUDs? That's what I used telnet for.

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago

I can live with that.

[–] FutileRecipe@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Even a lot of offices have moved to VoIP.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

How do you think they worked? All cells always had an OS.