Although there is hardly any evidence to support the claim that the Freedom Phone is a CIA honeypot, there are still quite a few glaring inconsistencies and red flags associated with it.
Starting off with the creator of the Freedom Phone, and self proclaimed “Bitcoin Billionaire”, Erik Finman made his fortune through cryptocurrency before launching his own mobile device. Finman boasts huge claims about the device’s anti-spy/censorship capabilities, yet none of these claims hold any real weight due to their vagueness. The creator claims he is outspoken when questioning Big Tech’s unethical practices, yet the Freedom Phone’s operating system is essentially a re-skinned version of Android OS (Which was created by Google). Not all operating systems based off of Android OS are inherently bad, like Calyx OS or Graphene OS. That is because Android is written in open source, allowing people to adjust it and remove the bad parts (similar to how Brave is based off a lot of Google Chrome code).
In another twist of irony, the Freedom Phone website also accepts Apple Pay as a payment option. This should be a surprise to those interested in purchasing the phone considering Erik Finman’s “goal” is to “liberate users from Big Tech”.
Another red flag is that the Freedom Phone’s hardware manufacturer (MediaTek) also produces devices that are popular in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). This is because MediaTek devices are designed to support highly customizable operating systems. This type of hardware is popular in authoritative countries because it allows governments and state operatives alike to circumvent the security settings configured by the user. AKA SPY. Overall, we would not recommend this phone to anyone who is truly concerned about their privacy. It might not be a honeypot, but it is most definitely a risk nonetheless.