Edward Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Agency spying on basically everything we do and say online has upset a lot of people, so it’s no surprise that we’re now looking for ways to ‘opt out’ of the NSA’s dragnet.

Though not everyone cares that much about being spied upon, others are less keen. Some have even started seeking out alternative services that protect their identity and don’t allow the government to track their web searches, read their emails, or listen into their calls.

More recently, some companies have gone to new extremes and created devices that they claim, can totally block the NSA and other hackers from spying on you.

But are these smartphones the real deal, or they’re just selling us a load of bullcrap? Let’s take a look at three newly released “Privacy Phones” and see how they measure up to scrutiny.

FreedomPop’s “Snowden Phone”

The FreedomPop Privacy Phone, aka “the Snowden Phone” is really just a tricked out Samsung Galaxy SII smartphone. It uses 128-bit encryption, which is the same that banks and government agencies use to encrypt their files. It uses this to encrypt voice calls, text messages, let users browse the Internet anonymously, prevent them from being tracked by online marketers, defend against data monitoring and third party eavesdropping, and even allows them to access restricted websites.

Aside from that, the Snowden Phone is equipped with software that protects it from viruses and malware; it can temporarily make contacts, call history, and text messages confidential; prevent others from accessing the phone when it gets lost or stolen, and also allow users to locate the device anywhere in the world. The software also blocks unsolicited incoming calls and text messages; and protects against malicious websites so they can’t access personal information like passwords and usernames that are stored on the device.

And as final layer of security, or privacy, you can purchase the Snowden Phone using Bitcoin. The device is priced at $189, and comes with 500MB of data and unlimited voice and text free for three months, and if you want to continue using the service, you only have to pay $10 a month.

If you’re not familiar with FreedomPop and are wondering why the service is cheap, it’s because it uses Clearwire and Spint’s 4G network to connect to the Internet so you can make calls and send messages. The huge downside of this setup, especially when you’re living in an area where Sprint and Clearwire’s broadband is notorious for being sluggish, is that call quality can be exceptionally poor at times.

The Boeing Black Smartphone

Unless you live in a cave, you’ll know that Boeing Co. is primarily an aerospace company that makes fighter jets, airliners and satellites. But it possesses advanced technology that prevents its products from being hacked, and so it recently made the unusual decision to build a smartphone that claims to offer complete security against government spying, and has the handy ability to self-destruct whenever it’s tampered with.

The Boeing Black features a 4.3-inch qHD (540 by 960) display, supports dual SIM cards, has micro-USB, PDMI (portable media and digital interface) and modular 24-pin connector ports, and includes embedded FIPS 140-2 key storage, configurable inhibit controls and support for trusted modules.

The device runs on Android, and its key security features include disk encryption so you can store sensitive information securely; Hardware Root of Trust to ensure software authenticity; a Hardware Crypto Engine to protect stored and transmitted data; Embedded Secure Components to enable trusted operations; Trusted Platform Modules to provide secure key storage; Secure Boot to maintain device image integrity; and something called ‘hardware modularity’ for endless modularity capabilities.

Even so, the central security feature of the Boeing Black is called PureSecure, an architectural foundation “built upon layers of trust from embedded hardware, operating system policy controls and compatibility with leading mobile-device management systems.”

Additional perks of the device includes the ability to communicate via satellite transceivers and “discrete radio channels,” advanced location tracking and biometric sensors, and finally, there’s the aforementioned ‘self-destruct’ feature that automatically triggers when the device’s casing is opened, causing all data and software on the device to be deleted, rendering it totally unusable.

The Blackphone

Created by SilentCircle founder Phil Zimmerman and Geeksphone, the Blackphone runs on a security-oriented version of the Android operating system, known as PrivatOS. Like the Snowden Phone and the Boeing Black, the Blackphone also promises to totally secure all of your phone activities.

The Blackphone features a 4.7” HD IPS screen, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, LTE connectivity, 2GHz quad-core processor, 8MP rear camera, and 1.3MP front camera. It comes with a full suite of privacy-enabled apps, including Silent Phone, Silent Text, and Silent Contacts. It also offers anonymous search, private browsing, secure cloud file storage, remote-wipe, device recovery tool, secure video chats, and smart disabling of all Wi-Fi except trusted hotspots.

Available now for pre-order at $629, the Blackphone will start shipping in June.

So which is the most secure phone?

The three devices offer different types of security. The Blackphone offers a secure OS and privacy enabled apps; Boeing Black has disk encryption to protect your data and hardware protection to prevent tampering; and finally, the Snowden Phone uses the same encryption employed by banks and government agencies, and comes with added protection against malware.

It’s too early to tell if these phones really are as impregnable as they claim, since their security measures haven’t been tested in the wild. This means there’s a good possibility that they won’t be as secure as the makers claim. After all, hackers are by their nature extremely crafty buggers, and if any of these devices become really popular, the race will be on to crack them.

What SiliconANGLE would like to see is a phone that combines the security measures offered by all three phones – that way you’ll be totally protected from the NSA, hackers, malicious sites, malware, and best of all, those pesky internet marketers :)

main image credit: practicalowl via photopin cc