Smartphones shouldn’t feel like pocket surveillance gear.

TechGlimmer

Smartphones shouldn’t feel like pocket surveillance gear.

Jolla’s 2026 phone ships with:
- A physical kill switch that cuts mic/camera/Bluetooth at the circuit level
- Sailfish OS 5 (Linux‑based, open, privacy‑respecting)
- User‑replaceable battery + repair‑friendly design

Full review: https://techglimmer.io/jolla-phone-2026-review-kill-switch-privacy-review/

#Jolla #JollaPhone #SailfishOS #FLOSS #Privacy #RightToRepair #Sustainability

ck0

@techglimmer The subsection title "The Philosophy: Don’t Rent Your Phone" is quite ironical when you know the SFOS 5 licence was at first a monthly rent.

smellsofbikes

@techglimmer maybe of interest to @NilaJones

Martin Vermeer FCD

@techglimmer Beautifully written, appreciated. I will make some footnotes.

Yes, the privacy kill switch is a good thing, but it isn't a total privacy solution. It's still an Internet-connected smartphone with lots of apps that offer a large attack surface. Linux helps, but even Linux can be hacked. And once a hostile actor is inside, it can hear and read what you say, hear, read or write. Even in Signal, which encrypts your data only in transit. Keeping the Internet connection off (what I assume the kill switch does also, both mobile telephony and WiFi) helps, but then, nobody can call you on Signal...

BTW 'You can actually see what the code is doing instead of just taking a company’s word for it.' True in a way, but the dynamic is a bit different. The thing is that _anybody_ who wants to can see and analyse the code, and many will. That helps _you_ even if you're no nerd.

Yes, this phone will draw the curtains on the corporate tech panopticon - and that is good enough for most users - but a motivated state actor? If you're a journalist, activist, or working in defence or intelligence, this phone may be just a good starting point...

Martin 🧀

@techglimmer "Tired of being the product."
I agree, and, on that subject, could you not ask to accept to be tracked by hundreds of partners on your website ?

Doggie BSc :neofox_snug: :therian:

@techglimmer does it have GPS/GNSS and if so can you cut that out as well?

Kees de Kooter 🍉

@techglimmer and yet if you visit their website you are treated with a gazillion tracking cookies

nieuemma

@techglimmer I'll definitely stick to @GrapheneOS

Also fuck all your cookies, techglimmer.

Osma Suominen

@martinvermeer Sadly, Sailfish isn't fully open source. Some bits are open, but other parts are closed source, especially in the UI layer and built-in apps.

I'm a Jolla daily user since the original Jolla 1. On my 4th device now (Xperia 10 iii). I like it a lot, but it's not without its problems. I hope that this 2026 phone will give the Jolla developers resources to make the OS even better to match mainstream expectations.

@techglimmer

chfkch :nixos: :rust:

@osma
I will gladly throw some money at them when they at least make the source available.
Open source would be better, but at least making it auditable would mean alot for a very large group of potential buyers.
@martinvermeer @techglimmer

Roche Limit

@lunareclipse
You can just safely turn that off if you like, I expect. There're no privacy risks of using GPS et al.
@techglimmer

flaep

@mart_e @techglimmer yes, came here to say the same. 1000+ "Partners"?

frank goossens 🇧🇪🇪🇺

RE: https://mastodon.social/@techglimmer/115907183848139293

Would be great if #Fairphone 6's physical switch button could be configured similarly as well (it does support switching to "flight mode" already, but that's different)

Jennifer Moore 😷

@techglimmer

But should _your web site_ feel like "pocket surveillance gear"? Because it does.

•800-odd "partners"
•multiple pre-ticked "Legitimate interest" options
•a "Subscribe" button where the alternative is "Later".

Icky.

#privacy

Doggie BSc :neofox_snug: :therian:

@rochelimit @techglimmer I suppose it depends on the threat model, you're right in that GPS use isn't [easily?] trackable from outside the device, and arguably by the time you care about GPS you'd probably be more concerned about the modem which often has quite privileged access to other hardware

Doggie BSc :neofox_snug: :therian:

@rochelimit @techglimmer assuming the OS doesn't track you and that you don't worry about malware then yeah I guess GPS doesn't matter

Doggie BSc :neofox_snug: :therian:

@rochelimit @techglimmer wait no if you're paranoid enough to have a hardware cutoff for the microphone and camera then you totally want a hardware cutoff tor GPS and possibly the modem, because there's no reason to have such cutoff if you fully trust your software to protect you from any malware or unauthorized access

Roche Limit

@lunareclipse
Helpfully, GPS is a receiver only system - with no transmissions there is no risk to using it. Google services on your phone can supplement location determination using a database wifi signals - you might want to turn that off, or turn wifi scanning off.
@techglimmer

Doggie BSc :neofox_snug: :therian:

@rochelimit @techglimmer receiver only systems aren't necessarily untrackable (see TV detector vans), but it's probably not something you need to care about with GPS.

Wandering Adventure Party

Smartphones shouldn’t feel like pocket surveillance gear.