Don't take my word for it
Every phone I sell can be checked. Here's how.
There is a fair criticism of buying a privacy phone from someone else, and I would rather raise it than wait for you to.
When you buy a de-Googled phone, you are trusting a stranger with the foundation of your digital life. You cannot see what software was installed. You cannot know whether anything was added. You are being asked to solve a trust problem by trusting someone new.
That is a real problem, and "I'm a nice guy" is not an answer to it.
So here is my answer instead: check.
Every phone I sell runs official, unmodified GrapheneOS, and every phone I sell can be verified by you, in about ten minutes, without any technical knowledge and without taking my word for anything. The steps are below. Nothing is hidden, and I will walk you through any of it if you would like company while you do it.
Why this is even possible
Google Pixel phones have an unusual feature. They let you install a different operating system and then lock the phone again, so it cryptographically checks its own software every single time it starts up.
This is called verified boot, and it is the reason GrapheneOS only runs on Pixels. On most Android phones, installing alternative software permanently disables this check — which leaves the phone less secure than when it started. On a Pixel, it can be re-enabled, protecting the new operating system just as strongly as it protected the old one.
The useful consequence for you: the phone itself will tell you what it is running. It has no reason to lie and no way to be quietly modified without the check failing.
How to check your phone
Do this when your phone arrives, before you put any personal data on it. It takes about ten minutes.
1. Read the startup screen
Restart the phone and watch carefully as it boots. You will see a screen saying a different operating system is installed, along with a long string of letters and numbers.
That string is a fingerprint of the software running on your phone. Every Pixel model has its own correct value, and it changes with every GrapheneOS release — so rather than print a table here that would go stale the moment either of those things changes, check it against the live source directly.
Do not take my word for which value is correct. Go to grapheneos.org/install/web, select your phone's exact model, and compare the fingerprint shown there against what your phone displays. If they differ, something is wrong and I want to know immediately.
2. Confirm the phone is locked
Go to Settings → About phone. It should say GrapheneOS.
Then go to Settings → System → Developer options and find OEM unlocking. It should be switched off.
This matters more than it sounds. An unlocked phone is one that could be modified by anyone who picks it up. A locked phone is protected by the verified boot check above. Any seller who ships you a phone with this left on has not finished the job — and it is worth asking why.
(If Developer options is not visible, that is normal. Go to Settings → About phone and tap "Build number" seven times.)
3. Check the software is current
In Settings → About phone, look at the build number — a long number that looks like a date. Compare it with the current releases listed at grapheneos.org/releases. Yours should be recent. If it is months old, ask me why. Usually it just means the phone was prepared a little while ago, and it will update itself within a day — but you are entitled to an answer.
4. Ask the phone to prove itself
This is the strongest check available, and it is genuinely clever.
Install the Auditor app from the built-in app store. It uses a dedicated security chip inside the phone to produce cryptographic proof of what hardware, firmware and operating system are actually running.
The proof is displayed on a second device — your old phone works — so that a compromised phone cannot lie to you about itself. Auditor will confirm the device model, the operating system, the security update level, and that verified boot is switched on and the phone is locked.
If you have not got a second Android device, tell me and I will run it with you over a video call.
5. Look at what is installed
Open the app drawer. You should recognise everything on it, because we will have discussed what you wanted before I set it up. If there is anything you do not recognise, ask. There will be a straightforward answer, and if there is not, you should send the phone back.
6. Make it properly yours
Optional, and I will help if you want it.
Set your own PIN or passphrase — one I have never seen. If you want to go further, factory reset the phone and set it up yourself from scratch. The operating system stays exactly as it is; only your data and your lock are rebuilt, with encryption keys derived from a secret only you have ever known.
Some customers do this and some do not. Nobody has ever asked me why they would want to and got anything other than encouragement.
What I commit to on every device
- A carrier-free Pixel that can be unlocked and re-locked properly
- Official GrapheneOS, unmodified, installed by hand
- Bootloader locked and OEM unlocking switched off before it ships
- The IMEI and condition recorded and photographed before dispatch
- The apps you asked for, and nothing you did not
- Support afterwards, from me, by email, personally
- An honest answer about what will not work, before you buy — see what doesn't work
- 14 days to change your mind — see returns
Doing an installation session instead? Everything above applies just the same. We run these checks together at the end of the call, so you leave knowing the phone is genuine — and knowing how to check it again yourself whenever you like.
What to ask any other seller
If you buy from someone else, use these questions. I would rather you bought a properly prepared phone from a competitor than a badly prepared one from anyone.
- Is the bootloader locked, and is OEM unlocking switched off?
- What is the verified boot fingerprint for this model, and where is it published?
- Is this a carrier-locked device?
- Which Pixel generation, and when do its security updates end?
- What exactly will not work on it?
- Who do I contact in six months, and will a person reply?
A seller who welcomes those questions is doing the job. A seller who cannot answer them is guessing with your privacy.
Questions about any of this? Email me at ohm-privacysolutions@protonmail.com. I answer everything myself.