John McAfee: The “World’s First Truly Private Smartphone”

The device

But first let’s focus on what matters the most: the phone and its features. The device is currently projected to be releasing in late 2017 through MGT, a cyber security company owned by John McAfee. Not much is known about the security specs yet, but in an interview with Newsweek McAfee highlighted that there was an “enormous investment in hardware” to make such a phone possible. He also lifted the curtain a bit by detailing some of the features that we can count on being in the device. The main vulnerabilities that are usually utilized by attackers and/or governments trying to spy on you are via your phone’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, geo-location, the camera and the microphone. John McAfee has dealt with this in a very simple way: he simply installed a bank of switches on the back cover of the phone that allow users to “physically disconnect” each of these, along with the device’s battery. Furthermore, he also revealed that the phone “will not be allowed to connect to a Stingray or any other IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catcher device” and that it will even contain “a web search anonymizer”.

The bad news for most of us, however, is the pricing; this phone will cost $1,100, which is just a little bit too much for some extra buttons. However, if we consider that the phone is targeting business users, this price may not be that high, and don’t forget that the full spec list of security features is yet to be released, which means that are certainly some hidden pearls left to discover.

The controversy

Nonetheless, the John McAfee phone is creating its own share of controversy too, and entirely because of its name. The question here surrounds MGT Capital Investments, the company behind the phone and of which John McAfee himself is CEO and executive chairman of the board. The company is in the process of changing its name to John McAfee Global Technologies, a fact that has led to Intel seeking legal action, in part because the company has now announced this privacy phone will be using the name of its creator. Intel claims it acquired the McAfee trademark when it purchased the company back in 2011, using it ever since to promote products, services, and publications.

However, John McAfee stated that no rights to his personal name were ever signed. The case was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York but, according to a letter from the court, both MGT and John McAfee “have produced almost no documents and are refusing to answer even the most basic interrogatories”. As a result, this is something that will involve both parties’ lawyers for some quite some time – at least until the phone hits the shelves.

Regardless of what brand or name the phone will have embedded on its case, it is surely a step towards greater mobile privacy and could set a precedent for future developments, which by itself deserves applause. Until then, all we can do is waiting patiently for it.