Frequently Asked Questions

Easy! Pop on over to your 'MY ACCOUNT' page to see a history of your orders and other details important to you and your account. The regular links for this section are also in the footer of the website, and on the sidebar of most of the shopping pages.

• In short, We offer a 45 day return window covering any hardware sold which is damaged in transit, or found to be physically defective upon receipt, and/or if there is device failure (within normal use). See Order & Return Policy.
• There is a 15% re-stocking fee for buyers remorse.
• If you desire a 1 year phone warranty, for example, please make inquiry before purchase. Sometimes when we procure the phone, it comes with a default warranty, or we can add an extended warranty to the phone for approximately $50.

GetPrivacyFreedom is a small private business and not a big chain store. We will support as much as time permits. WE LOVE TO HELP! Expect there to be a small learning curve with your Privacy phone. Change and reform takes work and sacrifice. Freedom takes sacrifice.

Check out the Resource page for more help as well.

• The phones are gently used, refurbished, like new / near mint condition. If you want a NEW phone, please inquire about a Pixel 8 or newer, or even another kind of phone as we also flash Calyx OS and e/OS/ if the customer so desires.

Most phones are in stock. Some are already deGoogled and ready to go out the door, while some still need deGoogled, so a day or two is needed before it is ready to ship out. Some newer phones are stocked but mostly are procured once an order is placed. There is a 5-10 day lead time typically for the newer phones. Since we are a small business we do not carry heavy stock.

• Most phones on in stock and ship next business day.
• Newer phones like Pixel 6 are ordered upon customer preference of color and storage size. Delivery for phones that are not in stock will be approximately 7-10 business days. Please inquire before purchase, as sometimes there is one in stock.

• Yes, the carrier will be indifferent and not even know and shouldn’t give a hoot if Google is removed from your phone. It will operate just like a Google phone. The Android operating system is no way negatively affected regarding carrier services.

• Setting up the phone may look a bit complicated but, it's actually easier than it looks like and there's plenty of guides out there to help you install F-droid first, & Aurora Store second, if not already installed for you. This guide is complete and very helpful for Graphene OS.

• Every network / carrier has there own procedure for Bringing You Own Phone / Device (BYOP). Most of the time, you can simply just transfer your SIM card to the new phone and be ready to rock. Also you can order a SIM CARD kit from whoever you want to use and then go through their activation process, transferring your old number to new SIM CARD. This is called “porting”.
• If SWITCH FROM IPHONE: When you message other iPhones from your iPhone, they'll communicate via iMessage when you're connected to the internet. This is different from regular SMS texting, and if you leave iMessage turned on on your iPhone, many of your texts will still be routed through that service. SO TURN OFF iMESSAGE ON YOUR OLD IPHONE.

There are many ways to accomplish this.

Contacts

• can be transferred with an APP called Smartswitch by Samsung or Smart Transfer, a File Sharing App by Aomata, LLC. This can work from Iphone to Android. These can typically be found on Apple Store, Play Store, and Aurora Store.

• If Android to Android you can simply go into Contacts -> Setting and select Export. They will be saved as an ICF file and can transfer that to new phone by email, cloud drive, or USB flash drive...and then Importing that file.

Messages/SMS & Calls Log Transfer

• SMS Import / Export easily transfers Messages, Call logs, and Contacts. It can be found on Fdroid APP and here at Fdroid site for more info. Just follow the instructions...it's easy peasy.

• Any other data from Iphone typically has to be uploaded to cloud then can be transferred with various methods. There are too many to list /explain but check here for some: https://mobiletrans.wondershare.com/iphone-transfer/iphone-to-android-transfer-app.html and/or https://www.androidcentral.com/switching-iphone-android.
• Feel free to reach out to info@getprivacyfreedom.com and we will try to guide you if run into issues.

For latest and updates, please read https://getprivacyfreedom.me/best-degoogled-phone-recommended-apps/

App Stores:

• Droid-ify and Fdroid have FOSS (Free Open Source Software) and many decentralized Pro-privacy apps.
• AuroraStore has almost anything that GooglePlay store has. Be careful what you download and use. You are able to check what TRACKERS there are and PERMISSIONS needed for each App.

MAPs:

• GMaps WV - This is a restricted WebView wrapper for accessing the web version of Google Maps. Intended for use when OpenStreetMap isn't enough. Unofficial, not sponsored or endorsed by Google. You can choose your weather source; Open-Metro, Accuweather, MET Norway, OpenWeather, etc.
• Magic Earth Pro-Privacy very user friendly and has turn by turn instruction and voice. It’s on AuroraStore APP.
• Organic Maps, and OsmAnd~ are open source and secure but not quite as friendly. They can be found on Fdroid store.
• Waze can be used also but it's a grey area especially since Google acquired it. If you must download it, simple uninstall it after finished using it.  ANYTHING google can compromise your Privacy-Freedom.

Weather:

• Breezy Weather is a terrific FOSS (Free Open Source Software) weather app or try using websites instead of Apps for Weather.com or Accuweather for example. Their apps of loads of trackers on them! Breezy Weather comes from the IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository and will need to be added if you can't find it in your FDroid App Store.

Email:

• K9, FairEmail, Protonmail, Tutanota are some private and secure options. For best encryption and privacy, Tutanota (Tuta) is right on it.

Messaging:

• Signal is supposedly encrypted for messaging and calling but I have read now in a couple places that there are security concerns. Just be discerning what you write.
• Briar is secure and found on Fdroid.
• Session is another encrypted messenger. It's a favorite.

Bible:

• AndBible on Fdroid is by far a favorite. It has many languages, versions, reading plans, commentaries, etc.

Use Exodus-Privacy tool to check an app before you install it onto your device, Exodus-Privacy website will show you details on Trackers as well as App Permissions.

Also checkout Recommended Apps at Divest.org!

• We have shared some basics, but Privacy-Pro Rob Braxman provides some great detailed input as always for What it's like to use a de-Googled phone.

see our blog post about this

MicroG GmsCore is a free software reimplementation of Google's Play Services. It allows applications calling proprietary Google APIs to run on AOSP-based ROMs like LineageOS, acting as a free replacement for the non-free, proprietary Google Play Services (sometimes referred to as the more generic term "GApps"). It is a powerful tool to reclaim your privacy and freedom while enjoying Android core features (although apps you use that take advantage of it may still be using proprietary libraries to communicate with microG, just as they do when communicating with the actual Google Play Services).

Features:

• Opt-in to Google Services and extend application support
• On-/Offline location service
• Easy on battery, memory and CPU
• No bloatware