Phones
Your phone is the most personal device you own, and the one that leaks the most: location, contacts, habits, and sensors, often shared by default before you install a single app. The handset itself matters, but what really decides your privacy is the software it runs and the accounts it's tied to. These guides help you choose a phone that respects you and understand the trade-offs between convenience, security, and control.
Tools compared
How much does the device, and its maker, collect and control?
- Samsung Galaxy (One UI)
Strong hardware, but Android plus Samsung's own layer means two sets of telemetry and preinstalled apps sending data by default.
- Budget / generic Android phones
Ship locked to Google services with manufacturer add-ons and, often, extra bundled data-sharing. Convenient and heavily instrumented.
- iPhoneVisitapple.com
Apple's business isn't ad profiling, and it offers real protections (App Tracking Transparency, Advanced Data Protection, Secure Enclave). But it's closed, tied to your Apple ID, and you can't inspect it.
- Google Pixel (stock Android)Visitstore.google.com
Excellent security hardware (Titan M2, fast updates) and the reference device for GrapheneOS, though stock Android still reports to Google.
- Pixel + GrapheneOS
A Pixel running GrapheneOS is the current gold standard: flagship hardware, de-Googled and hardened. See the Phone OS section for the software side.
- Fairphone + /e/OS (Murena)Visitmurena.com
Repairable, EU-made hardware sold with de-Googled /e/OS and EU-hosted cloud; the most polished mainstream-feeling private phone.
- Unplugged UP PhoneVisitunplugged.com
Privacy-first phone with a hardware battery kill-switch, always-on VPN and no Google services. Honest caveats: mid-range hardware at a premium price, a closed app store, a paid subscription, and mixed support reports, so weigh it against a Pixel + GrapheneOS.
- Purism Librem 5Visitpuri.sm
Runs Linux (PureOS), not Android, with three hardware kill switches for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular. Maximal software freedom, but niche apps and rougher day-to-day use.
Verified July 2026 and not exhaustive. A phone's privacy depends mostly on the operating system and default apps it ships with, so read this alongside Phone OS. We take no money from any product listed here.
Guides
- Choosing a private phone without overpaying A realistic look at private phone options matched to your budget and appetite for tinkering, from a well-configured iPhone to a Pixel running GrapheneOS to niche privacy hardware.
- Lock down the phone you already have The handful of iPhone and Android settings that cut the most tracking, with exact current paths, so you can improve your privacy today without buying anything.
- Set up a phone with hardware kill switches What physical Wi-Fi, camera, microphone, and cellular switches actually protect against, who really needs them, and how the Librem 5 and UP Phone compare to a well-configured mainstream phone or a Faraday bag.