Buying a Blackphone from eBay is a terrible idea
Silent Circle, the company behind the
security-focused Blackphone 2, is taking aggressive steps to curb proliferation
of “grey market” Blackphone sales on channels like eBay or Craigslist.
Customers who bought Blackphones from
unauthorized sellers risk ending up with bricked devices, Ars Technica reports. An update to Silent OS, the
Android-based operating system that powers the device, is disabling core
functionality for some users. One customer in Germany, who bought a Blackphone
2 off eBay, was told by Silent Circle that his bricked phone is not genuine.
Upon review of the IMEI number you provided,
it has been determined this device is not a genuine Silent Circle Blackphone 2.
This device was not sold by Silent Circle or an approved vendor of Silent
Circle and, therefore, we are unable to provide any further assistance.
It’s not clear what the company means by “not
genuine.” The devices in question could be counterfeits or “replicas” designed
to scam gullible users. It’s also possible that the Blackphones that keep
popping up on eBay are unauthorized units sold without Silent Circle’s
approval. Ars Technica speculates that the contract manufacturer that
built the Blackphone 2 for Silent Circle made more units than the “official”
production run.
Silent Circle is going through tough times,
after the original Blackphone flopped, leaving the company with a large number
of unsold units. It’s possible that something similar has happened with the
second generation of the device, and unsold Blackphone 2 units somehow ended up
on the grey market.
Silent Circle did not dispute the veracity of
the Ars Technica report and said it’s working aggressively to stop the
sales of “unauthorized devices have been manufactured as Blackphones.”
Silent Circle’s heavy-handed tactics aside,
the Blackphone 2 remains one of the better options for users who worry over the
privacy of their communications.
Is the Blackphone 2 truly secure? That’s
arguable, but one thing’s clear – buying one from a random seller on eBay is a
bad idea, even if the price is very tempting. You not only risk getting your
phone bricked via OTA, but you also have no guarantee that the software on the
device is genuine, untampered with, or supported by Silent Circle. And
that defeats the whole purpose of getting a secure phone.
Bottom line, if you’re interested in a
Blackphone, only buy one from the official channels: Silent Circle in the Americas, Kick
Mobiles and Styx in EMEA, and Dialog Hub in Asia Pacific.
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