Ethical phones

[Decarraig]

Hi Kurtis,
Technoethical sounds interesting but if the original device was not ethical (I don't know about Samsungs record) the refurbished device would hardly be ethical either ? I am thinking of the device rather than the software / OS

Sent from my iPad

> On 18 Jul 2017, at 21:55, Kurtis Hanna <kurtis at riseup.net> wrote:
> 
> I wanted to mention that, when it comes to figuring out what phone has
> the least environmental / social injustice impact, it is sometimes
> better to buy used and refurbished devices than it is to buy Fairphone
> type devices.
> 
> New phones that use recycled and ethically sourced materials are great!
> 
> Preventing a phone from needing to be recycled because it has a well
> maintained LineageOS or Replicant ROM is also great and potentially greater!
> 
> Free software helps our society move away from the planned obsolescence
> strategy of proprietary software companies.
> 
> I use a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone that I refurbished, as a member of
> Technoethical.com. It now sports a ROM from https://replicant.us that
> has regular security and other updates to it. I'm looking to switch to a
> Technoethical Note 2 soon.
> 
> Cordially,
> kurtis
> 
> Max Mehl:
>> Hi Padraig,
>> 
>> # Decarraig [2017-07-17 20:51 +0200]:
>>> I have been following various discussions on android at lists.fsfe.org
>>> and I am wondering if FSFE has any policy on ethical issues with
>>> mobile phones e.g. Conflict mining, cobalt mining etc ?
>> 
>> No, to my knowledge, we don't have a policy on that. But if we had, it
>> would probably be "The more ethical, the better".
>> We are experts when it comes to ethical software, but I doubt we have
>> enough expertise to evaluate the many granular issues of certain
>> minerals and the often dubious circumstances in which they are produced
>> – not to speak of the labour conditions in which mobile phones are
>> manufactured. This is a field large and complicated enough for dozens of
>> NGOs.
>> 
>> However, many of us appreciate initiatives like Fairphone, and we will
>> continue to help them to improve the freedom of their software (and
>> users).
>> 
>> Best,
>> Max
>> 
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