The Super-Secure Blackphone Is Here, But It's Not NSA-Proof

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Mike Janke, CEO & Co-Founder of Silent Circle, holds a typical smart phone similar in styling to a new encrypted smartphone called, 'The Blackphone.'

Image: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-02-24 13:00:59 UTC

Blackphone, a new security and privacy-focused smartphone is finally launching, but if you think it's a shield against the NSA or other powerful intelligence agencies snooping on your private communications, you're probably out of luck.

The producers of the new phone, which will be revealed Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, promise that it's the most secure smartphone on the market. But even they admit there are some enemies you just can't protect from.

See also: Is It the Dawn of the Encryption App?

"There is no such device that is NSA-proof," said Mike Janke, co-founder and CEO of Silent Circle, in an interview with Mashable, ahead of the launch. "If you are on the terrorist wanted list or a criminal, intelligence services will get into your device... There's no such thing as 100% secure phone."

Silent Circle, a U.S. company that provides secure communications apps, and Geeksphone, a Spanish smartphone startup, formed SGP Technologies, a joint venture based in Switzerland, to produce Blackphone. They had the goal of giving consumers, as well as businesses, something better than what they have now: a phone with privacy and security as core features.

In order to do that, Janke and other Silent Circle co-founders Phil Zimmermann, the creator of email privacy software PGP, and Jon Callas, a respected cryptographer, knew they couldn't offer that without making their own phone.

"We had always thought that in order to have what we would call a better level of security for both individuals and organizations we had to own the ecosystem," Janke said. "And the only way to do that was to own the OS and own the device."

That's why they turned down offers from "large phone makers" to partner with them in the making of a branded Silent Circle phone and instead looked for partners to make the phone themselves, so they could control the whole process. When they met the folks at Geeksphone, Janke said he knew they were the right partner.

Blackphone's main privacy feature will be its custom version of Android called PrivatOS, which, according to Janke, will allow users to "to control every part of what data their phone is leaking, their calls, their contacts, their web browsing and what any app put on their phone can do."

What that means is that users will be able to control and toggle the permissions for every app they download, according to Janke.

PrivatOS will also include the full suite of Silent Circle encrypted communications apps (with a two-year subscription), 5GB of encrypted cloud storage courtesy of SpiderOak, and anonymous browsing and Virtual Private Network from Disconnect.me.

Janke, as he promised when Blackphone was announced, said they will make PrivatOS open source, but he didn't give a timeframe, only that it will be "as soon as possible."

SGP Technologies also revealed Blakphone's full specs: 2GHz quad-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor, 4.7-inch 720p IPS screen, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a primary 8-megapixel camera with flash, and a 1.3MP front camera. The phone, which will only be sold unlocked, will cost $629.

The first Blackphones, according to SGP Technologies, will ship to customers in June 2014, but the phone is already available for pre-order.

It remains to be seen if any consumers are willing to shell out $629 dollars to protect their privacy,

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Topics: Blackphone, Mobile, Mobile World Congress, mwc2014, privacy, security, Silent Circle, smartphone, Tech, U.S.