New smartphone puts privacy in users’ hand

A new smartphone called Blackphone puts privacy in the hands of users, to foil intentions to snoop into their private data, even the NSA.

A Switzerland-based joint venture between encrypted communications firm Silent Circle and mobile handset designer Geeksphone, the project enjoys the support of several important figures in the field of computer security, including Phil Zimmermann, creator of data encryption protocol PGP (Pretty Good Privacy).

Blackphone is powered by "security-oriented" Android platform called PrivatOS, which is carrier- and vendor-independent, and allows users to make and receive secure phone calls and video chats, exchange secure texts as also transfer and store files.

Though the exact specifications of the phone have not been revealed, however, according to Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke, it would be a "high-end" smartphone.

According to Zimmerman, the No1 priority of Blackphone was not its specs, however, it was protecting users' privacy.

According to Zimmermann, Blackphone provided users with everything they needed to ensure privacy and control of their communications, along with all the other high-end smartphone features they had come to expect.

The two companies executing the project are US based, Silent Circle, focused on encryption and Geeksphone, a Spanish company behind Firefox OS developer devices.

The wraps would be taken off the Blackphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on 24 February.

Meanwhile, Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke told social media news site Mashable, the project would be "open source all the way," and confirmed that the Android OS build that the phone would run would be open source as well.

The company had been criticised earlier for failing to provide access to its products' source code in a timely fashion. It has, since published some of its source code on GitHub.

He said it might take them a few months to put it all out there but it would be done.

The company has withheld further details on the project until the launch of the phone at MWC.