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BlackPhone, In Wake of Gemalto Fallout, Receives $50 Million In Funding

Posted by timothy on from the small-steps dept.

An anonymous reader writes The BlackPhone, a $600-plus encrypted Android handset designed to keep the prying eyes of criminals and the government out of mobile communications, is now fully owned by Silent Circle thanks to the company raking in investment cash. Terms of the buyout deal with Spanish smartphone maker Geeksphone, the phone's hardware manufacturer, were not disclosed. Silent Circle said Thursday that it has raised $50 million and plans on showing off an encrypted 'enterprise privacy ecosystem' at World Mobile Congress next week. A BlackPhone tablet is on the way, too.

5 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. NSA involvement ? by Alain+Williams · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have to ask: is there secret NSA involvement in this ? An inside man who will put a couple of back-doors in the 'phone.

    I have absolutely no knowledge that this is the case, but the NSA certainly has the resources & motivation to do so. It seems to have done this sort of thing in the past.

  2. I bought the fully encrypted phone by invictusvoyd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and then installed this funny app which makes fart sounds . It asked for pemissions to my storage ,camera , mic , browser and girlfriend .

  3. Re: Great, fully owned by Silent Circle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A company whose headquarters are in Geneva and complying with any secret order would violate Swiss constitution and make executives personally liable with guaranteed jail time.

  4. What *is* their market? by msobkow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Given that iOS and Android can and do encrypt user data now, and that web device communications encryption is largely a question of whether a site uses SSL/HTTPS, what is the distinguishing feature of these phones that would make them marketable?

    To me it looks like pure marketing hype, not a real benefit compared to other devices now that they've started using encryption.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  5. Re:Who's chips do they use? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Given that the SIM is supplied by the carrier, and we don't know where our carrier gets his SIMs, - they probably all get them from the same place, we are all fucked.

    If you have a secret, I do not recommed using a mobile phone to discuss it.

    Or indeed, telling anyone about it at all.

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII