Relevant Business Idea: Hack Free Phone

[Fox]

Create a phone that reduces the amount of spying by outside sources as much as possible:

- All cameras can be covered with a plastic slider or removed 100%.
- Phone contains no microphones or audio capabilities - have to use external plug in headset (like iphone earphones). Only vibrates to alert you of everything.
- Physical mechanism to fully disconnect battery so phone is 100% dead when you don't want to use it.

Of course apps and messages would still be accessible through hacking the network but this would reduce the bigger invasions of your privacy.

It wouldn't be for everyone but I could see this being quite popular at the moment.
Good luck getting government backing lol.

 

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[Choate]

Because its lacking some of the features of a regular phone, while still providing more value to certain subsets of people (say, cheating businessman husbands, or those that truly value their privacy from spying) it would cost less to make, and you could sell for a lot less than other phones while still having substantial margins.

The problem is, the buyers in the smart phone industry are obsessed with the latest and greatest, the iPhone 10s Ultra or the Samsung Galaxy Super 14, whatever.

And then you have a little bit more of savvy buyers, like myself. I have a $150 Samsung smart phone from Walmart that has lasted me 2 years, no phone case/protector (hate those upsells - if you need them, your phone is too expensive), and still has all of the functionality of every single new phone they release. It has a removable battery, I can download a microphone block within a minute (I did check Google Play), and I can easily just put black tape over the camera and download a few more security apps to quell my fears.

One could pull a little bit from each target market, although it'd probably be expensive and timely to target both. I still think cheating spouses would find it best ha, but they would be like, why do you have an extra phone around the house?

Other potential worthy features:

All texts/data self-erase every 12 hours.
Automatic VPN, hidden IP, does not store cookies, does not share location with any website, and is automatically licensed and updated with the latest anti-virus so you don't have to input your name/details to register it

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

Create a phone that reduces the amount of spying by outside sources as much as possible:

- All cameras can be covered with a plastic slider or removed 100%.
- Phone contains no microphones or audio capabilities - have to use external plug in headset (like iphone earphones). Only vibrates to alert you of everything.
- Physical mechanism to fully disconnect battery so phone is 100% dead when you don't want to use it.

Of course apps and messages would still be accessible through hacking the network but this would reduce the bigger invasions of your privacy.

It wouldn't be for everyone but I could see this being quite popular at the moment.
Good luck getting government backing lol.

I'd buy one right away.

So far I found these two options:

• Blackphone 2
• The Light Phone

The problem is, the buyers in the smart phone industry are obsessed with the latest and greatest, the iPhone 10s Ultra or the Samsung Galaxy Super 14, whatever.

At the expense of freedom, privacy and control.

And then you have a little bit more of savvy buyers, like myself. I have a $150 Samsung smart phone from Walmart that has lasted me 2 years, no phone case/protector (hate those upsells - if you need them, your phone is too expensive), and still has all of the functionality of every single new phone they release. It has a removable battery, I can download a microphone block within a minute (I did check Google Play), and I can easily just put black tape over the camera and download a few more security apps to quell my fears.

Sounds familiar - switched to a cheap one myself too, not so long ago.

And it has two SIM slots, which is essential for me at this point.

EDIT: links removed to avoid any misunderstanding.

 

[Waspy]

$10 old school nokia gets close.

But I agree. Any phone marketed as "fully encrypted" or "off the grid" would do very well.

Although you can also "hack proof" just about any smartphone if you have the inclination.

 

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[lowtek]

The cosmetic modifications (as outlined by @Fox ) would probably fly and could be a nice niche product with solid margins. Somebody get to work on it.

Anything related to encryption would eventually get you shut down by the feds. The minute someone with your phone breaks the law and crosses state lines, you're going to be facing a court order to provide backdoor access to our silent business partner.

 

[Waspy]

There are quite a lot of faraday cages/cases for smartphones on the market for those of you who are interested.

As for stopping the government listening in on your calls, use a VPN (preferably one based in a country who don't cooperate with your home government) and make your calls over a VoIP system.

The faraday case stops remote access to your phone, so covering cameras etc becomes unnessisary.

And all-in-one phone solution still has a market I think, but the products mentioned above are a fairly decent stop-gap.