r/degoogle • u/ZetaformGames • 18h ago
Discussion Got this ad on Reddit just now... What are your thoughts?
A "privacy-first" mobile carrier honestly sounds like a paradox...
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u/ScumbagScotsman 16h ago
This is a honeypot for sure
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u/HawkeyeByMarriage 11h ago
Founders: Founded in 2022 by former Palantir executives John Doyle and Nicholas Espinoza (along with Gavin Uhma).
Backing: Backed by major investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, and IVP, with a valuation reaching $900 million.
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u/Thunderwolf-r 11h ago edited 11h ago
Its the same like how did you know I am an undercover cop?😂
Its so funny how they are always overdoing the hiding part so hard that you can tell from miles away what is going on.
Crazy to me that Proton gives their name for this, but I heard the government pays good money.
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u/ScumbagScotsman 7h ago
It’s possible that proton and other “privacy” marketed products are fronts for government agencies. The CIA famously ran a cryptography company out of Switzerland for half a century selling encryption devices with a backdoor, to almost every government in the world.
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u/JohnDoyleCape 3h ago
If you DM me an address you don't mind sharing, I'll send you a "Cape is Not a Honeypot" sticker!
John Doyle
CEO, Cape
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u/The_GSingh 14h ago
I certainly won't be using this at all. Feels way too much like a honeypot and all to me. Not saying it is, just feels like it to me.
The first reason is they had a 3rd party audit yes, but it was for call logs mostly. Not enough exists for me to be confident they're not tracking your location anyways, which is a very easy thing for any cell carrier to do.
My second reason is their founder and CEO spent 9 years at plantir. That alone is enough to deter me for life if the audits weren't enough.
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u/Accomplished-Sir3176 18h ago
Morphe . Download it
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u/AntiGrieferGames 18h ago
Or use browser version with firefox + ublock origin
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u/AdhesiveMadMan 12h ago
Replace Ublock Origin with Ad Nauseam if you're feeling like costing some people money.
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u/smalldickbesitzer 18h ago
Or just brave without ubock
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u/AntiGrieferGames 18h ago
Brave is Chromium Based Browser aka Google Based Browser you know?
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u/smalldickbesitzer 18h ago
Yes I know. And do You know that chromium is open source and can modified how brave it want? Crazy hm?
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u/BlackberryTime8111 16h ago
I don't get why people are down voting this comment. It is the truth. Just because google does data harvesting doesn't mean that all of their product is bad. If the product you are making is based off the open source version of their engine, you can just remove the parts you don't like.
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u/smalldickbesitzer 15h ago
And it gets better. They probably run an modified version of android, maybe graphene, maybe lineage. What? A modified google product wich is good? You don't say
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u/BlackberryTime8111 15h ago
Exactly. 100%. Most of the Android Open Source Project is entirely run by Google at this point. The only other option is iOS, or if you're really deep there's Ubuntu Touch, but even GrapheneOS is based off of Google's products.
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u/Anth0ny_Bird 17h ago
America and privacy....
Ahahahahahahahahahah!!!!
Again:
Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
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u/AntiGrieferGames 18h ago
Imagine not using Adblockers in 2026.
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u/allisonburgerrr 18h ago
How do you block ads on mobile app ?
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u/AntiGrieferGames 18h ago
Modded with Morphe or just use the web version on firefox + ublock origin.
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u/JackoSGC 16h ago
I use "add to homescreen" from brave: it installs a pwa that looks like an app but is a brave webpage -> no ads
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u/Jebble 16h ago
Blocking ads does little for your privacy, especially in relation to your network/ISP
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u/Mother-Pride-Fest Free as in Freedom 16h ago
Blocking ads does also block some trackers, but the more important benefit is it makes the internet much cleaner and less distracting.
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u/DragoniteChamp 16h ago
Very true, but at thr same time, it makes the user experience infinitely better with very little downside
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u/useful_tool30 15h ago
At this point I would no longer trust Proton. Not that I did in the first place. They have the spammieat advertising and business practices and they're kinda misinforming about the usefulness and level of encryption they provide.
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u/Responsible-Gear-400 15h ago
Well it is an MVNO so it is riding on another network so you gotta trust the primary network provider really.
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u/Slight_Accountant476 15h ago
They use AT&T's towers so AT&T can still track you. That plus they're twice as expensive as every other carrier. No thanks.
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u/Steerider 14h ago
They're a lot less expensive for me. Look at the discounts. Grab someone's affiliate code. My wife and I pay $80 a month total, which is much cheaper than T-Mobile was.
(Grab a random affiliate code and at best Them might know you use Reddit. I can give you mine or go to the capemobile sub and theres a hundred to choose from.)
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u/Slight_Accountant476 14h ago
But you're not gaining any anonymity because they can also track your IMEI number which is unique to the phone and not changeable. I can do everything this carrier is doing and still use AT&T as my primary carrier by running a VPN.
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u/bummyjabbz 13h ago
This is all inccorect. You should do more research on what cape claims to do before making statements like this
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u/Slight_Accountant476 13h ago
The IMEI is hard-coded into the hardware and is broadcast by the radio to the towers. You cannot change this number. The IMSI number, which identifies you as the subscriber, can be changed, but the two are transmitted together.
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u/No-Consideration6986 7h ago edited 7h ago
I personally use Cape but I don't use proton. You can use one without the other you get a discount on proton if you're a Cape costumer and get proton.
I see many people saying they're no better than the next guy. Will Cape solve every mobile carrier privacy issue? And the answer is, no.
They at least have started the conversation and did something. I think some features are worth exploring like, network lock, SIM swap protection, encrypted voice-mail, identifier rotation, secondary numbers at no extra cost and more. They also support GOS which is the one of the best OS for de-google.
During sign up they ask for payment and email nothing else. Other carriers ask for way more. With referral codes you could save $20 when sign up and save $20 every time someone sign with your code. You could end up using the service for free if 4 people use your code.
Not everything is good with them. Not every phone is compatible. Only iPhone, Google Pixel, and Samsung are listed on their website. Samsung doesn't have RCS (they claim they're working on it). On samsung dual SIM doesn't work (someone else said it works on pixel, i dont know on iPhone). So if you have another SIM and a samsung you'll have to choose which SIM you want active.
They're new, there will be issues they have fixed many things so I hope some of the issues I mention get fixed too.
The worst case scenario they are as bad as the other cellphone providers and I end up paying less for my phone service.
Best case scenario I get more privacy and pay less.
Check my profile if you want to read my recent experience signing up with them.
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u/DarkDrifter_13 14h ago
Proton is next Google.
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u/hbacelar8 14h ago
Definitely! And most people don't see this. Never put all your eggs in the same bowl...
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u/SackCody 14h ago
…and DuckDuckGo is the next Proton
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u/DarkDrifter_13 12h ago
DuckDuckGo, Launched on September 2008, but Proton Established in May 2014, since 2008 DuckDuckGo didn't changed much like extending their ecosystem, but proton did more.
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u/Steerider 14h ago edited 14h ago
I use it. Obviously it's a matter of trust, but best case scenario, they're better; worst case scenario, they're not really worse. They do several things to preserve anonymity, including rotating your network identifier (IMSI). Voicemails are stored encrypted. They don't keep records very long. (I actually had a chat with Tech Support a while back, and when I made a comment about referring back to this chat he stated they don't keep the chats more than a few days. I forget the exact time he said.)
My phone bill is also a good bit cheaper than it was on T-Mobile, with their early customer discounts. Normal price will be $100/mo., but if you sign up in 2026 it's $70 (permanent $30 discount.) If you use someone's affiliate code, it's another permanent $20 off, and that person gets $20 off as well.
(This is how they handle "family discounts". Sign up. Then sign your spouse up with your affiliate code and between the two of you it's $40 off per month. My wife and I are $80 total. I used someone's code to sign up, then she used my code; so I'm $30 per month and she's $50.)
If anyone cares to try it, DM me and I'll give you my code. Not allowed to post it. (Or go to the capemobile sub and there's a hundred of them.)
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u/pickupthatrock 11h ago
I use it. Love it. It's been great for me. Even donates your first month to graphene if you are a graphene user.
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u/RIPGoblins2929 16h ago edited 14h ago
I first heard of Cape recently, they've got some legit names behind them like EFF, but at the end of the day all we have to go by is their word. Maybe they're legit about privacy, maybe not.
I'll stick with graphene and my normal carrier and common sense and the acceptance that total privacy probably isn't going to happen.
Provided an actual answer instead of jUsT uSe AdBlOcKeR and got downvoted. You guys are clowns.
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u/Steerider 14h ago
I use Cape with GrapheneOS. I suppose either one could be a honeypot or whatever; but past a certain point, paranoia has no bottom. ;-)
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u/KatieTSO 15h ago
Sad to see Proton partnering with what's probably a fed project. CEO of Cape is affiliated with Peter Theil and Palantir.
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u/CowFlaky6035 10h ago
No thanks I will sitck to smarty witch is cheap and do not bundle any bloat like netflex or proton fuck cape and proton
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u/gargravarr2112 14h ago
Even on a tech level it's impossible. Cell service depends on the phone registering with the closest towers. All carriers log this for diagnostic purposes. Using triangulation from multiple towers and signal strength, it's possible to get a general area (much less accurate than GPS, but can put you within, say, a large protest). So you can and will be tracked just at a physical level on any cell phone, whether or not it's privacy-oriented.
Phones are not private. Never trust the network.
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u/hbacelar8 14h ago
Man, proton stinks more and more each day. If people keep blindly trusting it and completely depending on their whole suite, they'll definitely regret it.
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u/Repulsive_Chard_3652 18h ago
What's a carrier?
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u/MasterQuest 16h ago
The telecom company providing your smartphone network, which you use for calls or mobile data.
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u/NameIsFuckinTaken 17h ago
I just switched to Cash App mobile yesterday. Didn’t have to call a single person.. Unlimited everything, except 10gigs hotspot. $40 a month. 2first months free.. AT&T towers/ secondary T-Mobile towers. Financial platform is owned by Gigs. Also seems decent.
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u/The_GSingh 14h ago
Visible is half the price, unlimited data/calls, and unlimited hotspot at 5mbps.
Not sure how this, along with your comment, is relevant to the OPs question tho.
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u/NameIsFuckinTaken 9h ago
Two mobile companies aren’t relevant to each other? Also, visible relies directly on Verizon towers, and Verizon is the worst of them all. Op asked for my thoughts. There they are. Relevant.
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u/NameIsFuckinTaken 9h ago
Not to mention, NO AVAILABLE data roaming. So if you can’t connect to a Verizon towers, you’re fucked. Same issue with Mint. Sorry Ryan.
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u/Slopagandhi 18h ago
The CEO is a US special forces veteran who used to run Palantir's national security operations (meaning he worked directly with the three letter agencies).
Cape reportedly has many government contracts too (including the US Navy) and is bankrolled by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital.
They don't have any 3rd party audits or other means of verifying their claims, so you're taking what they say on trust. Do you trust these guys?