Resisting control in a digital age

Across the United Kingdom, the European Union, and beyond, public concern around digital ID systems is growing rapidly. Millions of people are pushing back against government and corporate efforts to link personal identity, banking, and movement to centralized databases. In response, a quiet rebellion has begun — the return of the “dumb” phones.

Also known as “feature phones,” dumb phones are simple devices reminiscent of the early 2000s — models like the classic Nokia 3310. They make calls, send texts, and do little else. For many, they represent an escape from constant tracking and algorithmic manipulation — a symbolic rejection of the “smart” surveillance economy.

The problem: GSM networks are already surveillable

While the impulse to disconnect is understandable, switching to a dumb phone offers little real protection. GSM networks — the mobile infrastructure that carries calls and texts on these older devices — are inherently unsecure and surveillable. Governments and intelligence agencies can intercept GSM traffic with off-the-shelf hardware, and many regions still allow lawful interception without meaningful oversight.

Even without internet access, your location, call metadata, and contact patterns are visible to carriers and accessible to authorities. Turning off apps doesn’t turn off tracking — it just moves it lower in the stack. The surveillance shifts from digital profiling to network-level monitoring, where users have even less control or visibility.

The smarter rebellion: privacy phones

Rather than stepping backwards in technology, there’s a growing movement toward taking technology back. Modern privacy phones represent a practical and principled alternative — devices that embrace open-source systems and encrypted communication while rejecting surveillance capitalism.

Unlike dumb phones, a privacy phone can run end-to-end encrypted messengers like Signal and BitChat, keeping your communications private even across monitored networks. With tools such as Mullvad VPN and LNVPN, users can encrypt all data traffic, obfuscate their real IP address, and even use non-KYC eSIMs for anonymous connectivity. Both Mullvad and LNVPN accept private cryptocurrency, like Monero, allowing you to stay fully outside the identity-linked payment system that digital ID frameworks depend on.

For communication beyond messaging, privacy phones also support PGP-encrypted email through open-source clients such as Thunderbird, ensuring your correspondence stays private even across traditional mail servers.

Cutting off your nose to spite your face

The philosophical case against dumb phones is not about mocking simplicity — it’s about recognizing that abandoning modern tools doesn’t stop control systems; it merely removes your ability to resist them effectively. Real resistance happens when you understand the system and fork it toward your own goals: freedom, autonomy, and privacy.

Walking away from the digital world entirely is akin to cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Connectivity, encryption, and computation can serve freedom just as easily as they serve surveillance — if you choose the right hardware and software. The solution isn’t to hide from technology, but to reclaim it.

The practical path forward

Using a dumb phone may feel safer, but it’s largely symbolic. The better path is to use open-source, hardened devices that let you communicate securely while staying off the data-harvesting radar. A deGoogled privacy phone running GrapheneOS or a similar operating system gives you the best of both worlds: digital freedom without digital compromise.

When paired with privacy-respecting tools — Signal, BitChat, Mullvad, LNVPN, Tor — you gain control over your communications, network footprint, and identity exposure. Combined with pgp-encrypted mail and other privacy-first, these devices can completely replace the functionality of mainstream smartphones — without surrendering your autonomy or data to third parties. That’s not a step backward; it’s a step into a parallel, freer digital ecosystem.

Freedom through technology, not from it

Technology itself isn’t the enemy. The danger lies in centralized control and unchecked data collection. By using devices and systems designed for privacy and decentralization, individuals and groups can resist coercive digital policies while remaining effective, connected, and informed. The goal is not isolation — it’s independence.

So before reaching for a dumb phone, consider a smarter rebellion. Choose a device that lets you stay private without disappearing. Choose a privacy phone.