[TheHound80]

Howdy folks, after many years of using Google services I've finally caught on to just how much of my privacy I've willingly given up. As such I've been actively dumping Google from my life, switching from as many of their services as possible, and that includes leaving my Nexus 6P behind.

As of this morning, I'm now using the Blackberry Classic as my full time smartphone. It is taking some adjusting to get back into the swing of things, but so far I'm really enjoying OS 10.3. I'm happy to stick with it for as long as they keep supporting the OS, which hopefully is for the foreseeable future.

I'm glad to be back and hope to keep this device for the long term.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Officially they will support it two more years... Unofficially BB10 died back in 2014....

If you don't need apps, Classic should give you at least two years of service. If you need apps, then switching to Apple might have been the better solution to get Google out of your life.

[the_boon]

Officially they will support it two more years... Unofficially BB10 died back in 2014....

If you don't need apps, Classic should give you at least two years of service. If you need apps, then switching to Apple might have been the better solution to get Google out of your life.

That or De-Googling a KEYone (or getting the Chinese BBB100-4 version)

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

That or De-Googling a KEYone (or getting the Chinese BBB100-4 version)

I get the feeling that "some" don't trust that is enough....
But then for some reason the do trust that an outdated version of Android running on BB10 is a good thing in 2018.

But agree, using a up to date OS and taking the time to safely set it up and limit what you install is probably the smarter option. Personally I don't mind Google Services... it's all the tracking and advertisements that is an issue, and thankfully can mostly be avoided.

[Invictus0]

I'm happy to stick with it for as long as they keep supporting the OS, which hopefully is for the foreseeable future.

BB World is shutting down at the end of 2019, there's no telling how much support there will be after that.

Why not consider iOS?

But then for some reason the do trust that an outdated version of Android running on BB10 is a good thing in 2018.

The runtime isn't a 1:1 implementation of Android so it's not "blind trust", there's certainly precedent for it.

[TheHound80]

Why not consider iOS?

I don't like Apple products at all. iOS may have better security than Android, but iPhone is a gateway drug to the Apple ecosystem, and I've neither the money nor the mindset to be a part of that.

Would be a lot easier if there was a proper Linux phone.

[Chuck Finley69]

I don't like Apple products at all. iOS may have better security than Android, but iPhone is a gateway drug to the Apple ecosystem, and I've neither the money nor the mindset to be a part of that.

Would be a lot easier if there was a proper Linux phone.

There's not and won't be for the foreseeable near term. That being said, enjoy tinkering on the BB10 devices without using Google. The ART is pretty old anyway.

[coffee-turtle]

Emphasizing not giving up so much of your private life to the Google OTTO, might have been a nice angle for BB10.....AND if they did mainstream marketing. {sigh} Oh well....can't change the past.

[anon(9803228)]

I don't like Apple products at all. iOS may have better security than Android, but iPhone is a gateway drug to the Apple ecosystem, and I've neither the money nor the mindset to be a part of that.

Dont want to convince you at all, just telling my experiences with iOS devices in the past couple of yrs:
Been using Ipad since 2013, mostly without owning any other Apple product (until last year when I bought an iphone).
No major problems, I dont even use icloud LOL - only to sync app settings, but definitely no need for the paid version
It can sync photos for example with any cloud service which has an iOS app, not only Google -which you want to avoid- but Onedrive, Dropbox, whatever
Since iOS 10 it is even possible to delete most of the stock Apple apps if you dont need them (was a PITA all the time on Android - I use Gmail, photos, maps, youtube, but do not need the cr*p hangouts, g+, google play games, etc, and you can only disable them - without root at least)

[Invictus0]

Would be a lot easier if there was a proper Linux phone.

Sailfish is the closest you'll get and probably the only viable/longterm option given your requirements but much like BB10, you'll be relying on third party Android app stores.

[Chuck Finley69]

Emphasizing not giving up so much of your private life to the Google OTTO, might have been a nice angle for BB10.....AND if they did mainstream marketing. {sigh} Oh well....can't change the past.

I know right. If only the company had any money for the so called marketing at time. Oh, they also needed something to market.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I know right. If only the company had any money for the so called marketing at time. Oh, they also needed something to market.

Marketing wasn't lacking the summer of 2013....

[Chuck Finley69]

Marketing wasn't lacking the summer of 2013....

Unfortunately, desired product was lacking still..
LOL Everybody kept asking, where are the apps?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Unfortunately, desired product was lacking still..
LOL Everybody kept asking, where are the apps?

Even these recent buyers.... kinda like deja view.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Here's the thing: devices that completely "protect your privacy" do so not only at the expense of functionality, but at the expense of market viability - the market of people who value privacy over functionality, and are willing to pay a hefty premium for it, is too small to make such projects a profitable business.

And so, in order to increase the possibility of being profitable, the project has to move away from complete privacy and ever more like the companies that its supporters object to. It's a no-win situation, which is why most of those projects have been abandoned even after huge efforts and the spending of lots of money.

The irony is that it is probably safer from a privacy perspective to use iOS or Android and crank down the permissions than to use other OSs that rely on "alternative services" from small companies who probably lack the knowledge and resources to properly protect their data.

Both Apple and Google are well-known (and not loved) in DC for requiring due process (valid, reasonable warrants) before handing over limited amounts of data - and for fighting requests that seem unreasonable or unjustified. Many smaller companies wouldn't have the resources to fight, and likely just give what is requested.

That being said, I personally don't care what anyone chooses to use. Just be realistic about what it is and what it isn't.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Here's the thing: devices that completely "protect your privacy" do so not only at the expense of functionality, but at the expense of market viability - the market of people who value privacy over functionality, and are willing to pay a hefty premium for it, is too small to make such projects a profitable business.

And so, in order to increase the possibility of being profitable, the project has to move away from complete privacy and ever more like the companies that its supporters object to. It's a no-win situation, which is why most of those projects have been abandoned even after huge efforts and the spending of lots of money.

At this point I think one of the most secure devices is the Sirin Labs phones... but few would recognize them as smartphones. But they seem to be depending on crowdfunding, and some sorta of "SRN economy" (cryptocurrency)....

[anon(10321802)]

Howdy folks, after many years of using Google services I've finally caught on to just how much of my privacy I've willingly given up. As such I've been actively dumping Google from my life, switching from as many of their services as possible, and that includes leaving my Nexus 6P behind.

As of this morning, I'm now using the Blackberry Classic as my full time smartphone. It is taking some adjusting to get back into the swing of things, but so far I'm really enjoying OS 10.3. I'm happy to stick with it for as long as they keep supporting the OS, which hopefully is for the foreseeable future.

I'm glad to be back and hope to keep this device for the long term.

Nice! I'm planning on switching from an iPhone to a Bold 9930 or Q10 (I've owned and used both in the past).

I've used a Classic and there were a lot of things I liked about it (toolbelt!!!!), but it wasn't quite as "palmable" as the 99XX or Q10 and it didn't have an easily replaceable battery.

[Q10Bold]

Nice! I'm planning on switching from an iPhone to a Bold 9930 or Q10 (I've owned and used both in the past).

I've used a Classic and there were a lot of things I liked about it (toolbelt!!!!), but it wasn't quite as "palmable" as the 99XX or Q10 and it didn't have an easily replaceable battery.

I've returned to the Q10 too. And now am using a Q10 and Black Keyone. Both are superb for their needs

Posted via Q10

[cribble2k]

Hey OP,

BlackBerry collects your personal information as well (and shares it), perhaps you should familiarize yourself with their privacy policy.

I always find it silly that some people would 'ditch' Google over privacy concerns, but the same people give BlackBerry (and Apple) a free pass here.

At least Google gives you control over the information they have about you (which most of it you voluntarily gave when creating your Google account).

Can't say the same about BlackBerry. 🙄

[Invictus0]

Hey OP,

BlackBerry collects your personal information as well (and shares it), perhaps you should familiarize yourself with their privacy policy.

I always find it silly that some people would 'ditch' Google over privacy concerns, but the same people give BlackBerry (and Apple) a free pass here.

At least Google gives you control over the information they have about you (which most of it you voluntarily gave when creating your Google account).

Can't say the same about BlackBerry.
½
¹„

The problem isn't data collection, the problem people have with Google's collection is that Google creates massive user profiles that contain details across all of their services (including ones that are impossible to avoid, like web ads or analytics). This doesn't even touch on data retention.

Here's a good intro from a few years back,

https://www.digitaltrends.com/androi...-need-to-know/

BlackBerry doesn't do this on BB10 and they certainly didn't have the scale to match it even at their peak. If you limit how much data Google can collect I wouldn't be surprised if it's still more than BlackBerry.

Edit: And in practical terms, government and privacy organizations have gone after Google many times for their data collection and retention policies. How many times have they gone after BlackBerry for the same? Or Apple? Security and privacy claims shouldn't be taken at face for any company but it's hard to ignore these issues tend to follow Google around.

[bakron1]

I have a simple solution over privacy, I don’t worry about it anymore. Anytime you are connected to the grid, you are vulnerable no matter what OS you are using.

Every day I read another article about this company and or OS being hacked or some defective product you have to be concerned about.

Life is to short to worry about all of this. I have been in the tech field since the early days and have come to the point that it’s all part of the risk you accept when your using a PC or smartphone and are connected to the grid.

This is 2017 and not 1987 everything is being done online and requires using the grid. Just the way it is at this point in time.

[coffee-turtle]

I know right. If only the company had any money for the so called marketing at time. Oh, they also needed something to market.

Don't get me wrong, I love the products! People are always shocked when I show them whatever BlackBerry I happen to be carrying that it is still out there and the feature set with the physical keyboard still impresses.

But I am not expecting a resurgence by any means. Secretly, I like being the only one in the crowd sporting something "different". ☺

[applenomore]

I became tired of Apple's greed, so I switched to the KEYone just today. in fact, I'm still getting everything set up.

[the_boon]

I became tired of Apple's greed, so I switched to the KEYone just today. in fact, I'm still getting everything set up.

Apple's greed certainly isn't enough to make the vast majority of their customers leave (yet). iPhone X sales have apparently surpassed all expectations. The iSheep disease is still very much going strong.

[applenomore]

But at least I'll know that I'm not the one getting my phone throttled.