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We ran a phone check at a Y Combinator event in SF
- xwdv 4y agoI would only use this if they agree to let me leave my phone out in front face up so I can show off all the notifications I constantly get and let people who enter the venue see how important I must be.
- wycy 4y agoTangentially related: I went to a Hasan Minhaj live show that had a phone check, except you kept your phone on you in a locked cloth bag that they unlock when you leave. Interesting concept I hadn't seen anywhere else.
- mcintyre1994 4y agoFrom the App Store page this looks like a clone of One Sec, does it work the same way using iOS shortcuts? I’ve found One Sec does a really good job but setup is a bit fiddly with shortcuts. This is quite a bit more expensive too.
- atorodius 4y agoI've also been using One Sec, definitely has reduced my Instagram/Twitter consumption significantly. In the beginning it was interesting to see how often I reach for my phone and tap these apps (eg on the way to get some water..)
- cornedor 4y agoIt works with screen time. No setup required. It looked really nice, but if you want to add more than one app you have to get a (not that cheap) subscription.
- LegitShady 4y agoDid anyone else say "your sign looks like you spent $1 on it, you're keeping the devices insecurely out on a bench, and this whole setup doesn't inspire confidence and is sketchy af?"
- peterangular 4y agoI see you're getting downvoted (gray comment) but I'll jump aboard the unpopular opinion here: There is exactly zero chance I'd be leaving my device with these people. Trusting your phone to strangers when you can just silence it and leave it in your pocket is a fool's errand - this whole thing is just silly. It's unnecessary risk - everything from auth, to payments, to my career is piped through this device. Leaving it with absolute strangers is leaving someone with my most significant and risk-prone tool that I own. Sorry to be pedantic but common folks - let's use some common sense here. This is so silly.
- chatmasta 4y agoHave you ever given your car keys to a valet?
- xapata 4y agoYou're implying that car-theft would be equally as bad or worse than phone-theft. I'm not sure that's true for everyone. Further, stealing a car may be more difficult than stealing a phone.
- peterangular 4y agoThis. I'd rather my vehicle was stolen vs or damaged vs getting digitally compromised. The damage someone could cause with my phone vs. stealing my car is vastly different.
- chatmasta 4y agoHow insecure is your phone that someone can digitally compromise you without knowing the passcode? If you lock a modern iPhone, even the FBI will have trouble extracting any content from it.
- peterangular 4y ago
- quickthrower2 4y agoNow do this at DEF CON!
- jszymborski 4y agoDefinitely the first thing I thought was "I'd hate to leave my phone unattended with perfect strangers".
- quickthrower2 4y agoBeing hustlers I am sure they could have sourced a gym locker rack from a out of business gym for free or cheap. Which would be a bit better.
- blitzar 4y agoThey have displayed a weak grindset
- rvnx 4y agoWell it could be interesting then, to see what happens to your phone and get knowledge as a security researcher. Reminds me of the Evil Maid attack as pictured in https://objective-see.org/products/dnd.html https://objective-see.org/products/dnd.html
- BrianOnHN 4y agoNot surprised at the results. Super glad my granny always made sure I knew how rude it was to look at my phone when you're with someone.
- tonymet 4y agoFigure out how to make this conspicuous and you will have a luxury product . Like a badge , wristband . Maybe hypercolor shirt that responds to emf so you know the person is not carrying . Only the most powerful people are capable of operating without one so there will be desire to signal that somehow.
- maxerickson 4y agoThey handed out pens and paper, the weak will be fine.
- __derek__ 4y agoSomething conspicuous like a gold sticker and a branded pad of paper?
- tonymet 4y agosomething more like a high end watch . jewelry, clothing . something that indicates people desire them despite not having a phone
- justsomehnguy 4y agoYears ago tehre were t-shirts which would light up in presence of 2.4GHz frequencies. Like http://www.xoxide.com/wifi-tshirt.html http://www.xoxide.com/wifi-tshirt.html
- guenthert 4y ago> Only the most powerful people are capable of operating without one so there will be desire to signal that somehow. Or those older than 30. And I can assure you, they have no desire to signal that fact.
- tonymet 4y agohipster groups eschew tech and they will find a way to signal eschewing the phone
- blitzar 4y ago
- archarios 4y agohttps://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.thelightphone.com/
- vaastav 4y agoSo basically a normal phone from the mid-00s
- throwaway6734 4y agocan you install signal?
- DANmode 4y agoThis niche industry probably keeps wondering why nothing gets mainstream traction. It's because they always miss one or two of the ten vital check boxes to get tech influencers (meaning, at the individual group level, more drilled down than "network effect") to jump on board. One of the most vital check boxes: supporting whatever major method techies are currently using to avoid SMS/MMS.
- archarios 4y agoNo but Signal has a desktop app..
- dukeyukey 4y agoIf it has WhatsApp I might just go for it. Nobody I know aside from _sometimes_ my 80-year-old grandmother uses SMS.
- archarios 4y agoNo just SMS. I have been using WhatsApp desktop a lot more.
- paxys 4y agoNeat concept, but the website and the ad on it are so pretentious that I cannot take them seriously. If you are selling a phone then show me the phone, its specs, what buttons it has, what ports it has, how long the battery lasts.. Instead we get "It's an experience we call going light." "We're humans, we are taking back our lives." Give me a break. I also don't see why anyone would pay $300+ for the same tech as a $30 prepaid flip phone you can get at any gas station.
- gzer0 4y ago"“My cofounder needed me to 2FA our Stripe login, and I couldn’t” " How did the alleged cofounder contact this person to let them know to send the 2FA code? lol
- paxys 4y agoEither they found out later, or their cofounder was right there with them at the event.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- 9991 4y agoCount me among the people who don't trust you or the whole system. There are a lot of ways this could go wrong, when there's an alternative to turn off your phone in your own pocket. This is a sign that you live in a high-trust society, or at least think you do ...
- operatingthetan 4y agoThe whole thing was just a novelty so they could write a blog post and get some attention for their software.
- thefourthchime 4y agoI went to a comedy show recently that wouldn’t allow phones in. It was a huge show with thousands of people. The way they did it was with a special sleeve that you would lock your phone in. You had your phone, you just could access it. At the end of the show, they used a strong magnet to unlock your phone.
- dboreham 4y agoI use a Samsung LTE-connected watch for scenarios like this.
- 31337Logic 4y agoOh, I feel sorry for you.
- DANmode 4y agoThis comment most probably refers to Google's Project Zero recently exposing exploits on Samsung basebands.
- omnibrain 4y agoAround 2014 I was invited to a birthday party. The party location was in a cellar bar in a narrow side street in the medieval city center. In the bar was absolutely no cell reception and even if you ascended the stairs and went infront of the door you only had Edge. There was no Wifi. It felt magical. Like the parties we had in the before smartphone era. Each gust arrived their phone in their hand, noticed that there is absolutely no reception and just put it away. So people talked, joked and debated. With anyone staring at their phone.
- mcast 4y agoThis would be a really nice restaurant/bar idea, too bad cell phone jammers are illegal in the US. Maybe you could layer your walls with foil to naturally block antennas?
- deebosong 4y agoMaybe this could be like, neo brutalism. Purposefully use materials in locations that are cel reception dead zones. If you wanna get all covert & secret agent ish, then have data harvesting agents plant lil doohickeys that extend range lol. Now you got some neo noir sci-fi cyberpunk espionage actions a-brewin.
- throwaway1777 4y agoThey do stuff like this at defcon
- gessha 4y agoSo like, build a bar out of whatever they use in Walmart or BJs. I swear every time I go to one of them, my phone loses its mind and I’m forced to use their wifi.
- fwlr 4y agoThere are bars with Faraday cages built into the walls to achieve this effect, here’s one https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-36943686.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-36943686.amp It seems like it’s probably legal. Might want to provide a reception-available area to give people the option of stepping out to check their phone, similar to a smoking area.
- paxys 4y agoSilicon Valley is coming for the coat check industry..
- smcin 4y agoAirTags stitched in while-you-wait... remember the James Bond shoe tracker in Goldfinger (1961)?
- Thorentis 4y agoThis is a great idea, and I'd love to do this at other networking events or even social events like weddings. The biggest obstacle to doing this at social events is that people often want to take photos throughout the night, and own phones are almost always how we do this. One solution is to ensure there's a good roaming photographer who can take peoples details and share the photos later, but it still feels like a bit of a barrier to scaling this to places like function centres, etc.
- fwlr 4y ago“My cofounder needed me to 2FA our Stripe login and I couldn’t” I’m guessing the issue was that the request to 2FA was sent to the founder’s phone and thus they didn’t see it. It would take some testing but perhaps it’s possible to take advantage of Do Not Disturb and other similar features on modern phones to upgrade a phone check with the ability to notice when there’s something important and go fetch the phone’s owner. I’ve always wanted an Apple Watch in the hopes that I could set it up to be a low-information zero-interaction way of letting me know when I need to look at my phone, but it has always seemed like Apple Watches are designed to be mini-phones and just as distracting. Maybe there’s a way, though.
- paxys 4y agoThis is more or less already possible. You can create a focus mode that only lets certain critical apps through. Of course the bigger problem is having the discipline to keep it on and not randomly pull out your phone anyways. And Apple (or anyone else) cannot fix that part.
- fwlr 4y agoI experimented with focus modes a while back and found them lacking. Does what it says on tin but I guess I was after Do What I Mean, i.e. I wanted my phone to figure out what was important for me. Maybe I’ll revisit them!
- snowwrestler 4y agoThis is somewhat off topic, but in general one should turn off all alerts related to 2FA. If you’re logging in, you’ll obviously know to go looking for it. If you’re not logging in, you don’t want to get tempted or fooled into approving access when you shouldn’t. Buzzing someone’s phone incessantly with alerts is a known social engineering tactic for breaking 2FA.
- scoot 4y agoI was also confused by this. Stripe (as do many other services) allows multiple individual accounts with unique credentials to access the same "parent" account or service. If these guys were sharing a single account, I have to question how they ever got into YC, as that isn't remotely tech savy. (Yes, some service make credential sharing an unfortunate inconvenient and insecure reality – but not Stripe.)
- vernal 4y agothis is hilarious! the phone check is a gimmick... they have a chrome extension and app [1] saw them on product hunt a few weeks back [2] [1] https://www.getclearspace.com https://www.getclearspace.com [2] https://www.producthunt.com/products/clearspace https://www.producthunt.com/products/clearspace
- el_benhameen 4y agoThey got me to download it, but you can’t block Safari (where all of my procrastination goes), and to block a specific site, you have to have the site’s app installed. Bummer.
- gnicholas 4y agoI downloaded it too, and was disappointed to see I need to enter a phone number before being able to even try the app. I went through the onboarding and then deleted immediately. They need to be more transparent about what the app does (why it's better than just using the screen time controls, which it seems to hook into), and what the paid features do. But mostly they need to not force you to enter your phone number before you can learn any of this.
- 31337Logic 4y agoOh my god, I love you guys. Thank you.
- snowwrestler 4y agoI’m just not inclined to surrender my phone to anyone for any reason. Maybe my sense of security is out of date, but it was drummed into me over years and years that physical access was a big deal. That said, I fully support the idea of being phoneless in personal conversations. I was having lunch earlier this week with someone I hadn’t seen in a long time, and was determined to keep my phone in my pocket. It definitely took some willpower to ignore it when I felt it buzzing a few times. I heavily curate my alerts so I knew these were messages from someone important to me. But sure enough, when I checked them after lunch it was all things that were totally fine to wait for an hour or so. And it was nice to be fully present for lunch.
- sourcecodeplz 4y agoBut then again one of those notifications could have been from your bank/crypto alerting you that someone logged-in to your account from Pakistan.
- noAnswer 4y agoIf it is not an alert asking you whether you want to give access, it is already to late anyway. (And since you don't want to give someone from Pakistan access to your account, you want to ignore it anyway. But change your pw though.)
- tomjen3 4y agoEvery such prompt I have seen has been useless, incorrect location and only because I was logging in manually. But as long as I have to approve them, who cares if they are trying to log in in Pakistan? I won't approve the notification if I saw it right now, or later.
- kibwen 4y agoFor the security aspect, they could offer to lock your phone inside a pocket-sized faraday cage so that you can keep it on your person while rendering it useless.
- deleted 4y ago
- libbyjan123 4y ago[flagged]
- juujian 4y agoLove it. I love leaving my house without my phone when I have the opportunity. I cannot remember the last time I did anything productive or important phone frankly, other than 2FA or sending an email that I could have sent from my computer. Giving your phone to a stranger can be daring, but it's probably the second best thing to leaving it at home. If you guys do that again, get a locker. I remember seeing a locker with chargers for phones in China. Requires less trust (if you don't actually plug it in).
- bentley 4y ago> I love leaving my house without my phone when I have the opportunity. I used to do the same, but after a fender bender I decided to keep one with me when driving in case I need to (1) take pictures or (2) make an emergency call. But I don’t feel any less disconnected, because my phone is kept in airplane mode except when absolutely necessary. I get the benefits, without the drawbacks. > Giving your phone to a stranger can be daring, but it's probably the second best thing to leaving it at home. In my opinion, developing the self control to have a phone and not use it is better than giving it to a stranger.
- juujian 4y agoWell, leaving my phone at home is my version of self control... I know myself well. What you're saying reminds me of minimalist phones though. Devices that are not powerful enough to do more than messaging etc. I should get one.
- cycomanic 4y agoThere are actually bags designed for shutting out phones. AFAIK they are mainly aimed at concerts to prevent people recording etc. So you drop your phone into a small bag that is a Faraday cage. The bag is closed with a very strong magnet (similar to theft prevention tags in stores. You then carry your phone with you without being able to use it, but also without anyone else being able to temper with it. That said, I'm surprised why anyone wouldn't trust the wardrobe at a ycombinator event.
- layer8 4y agoThey might secretly be a smartphone forensics startup.
- rvnx 4y agoPulling out a stunt: "Look how many naive people gave us our phone, buy our security solutions to prevent physical tampering. We didn't even have a logo, we just drew on a paper and pen."
- rvnx 4y agoHigh-value targets, interesting technologies to steal, probably some shady secrets about some VC parties that could destroy some VCs or companies, source-codes, client data and trade secrets, info about unreleased products, plenty of reasons.
- Kiboneu 4y agoWould you invest money to a startup run by people willing to give up their phones (with personal information, mfa, passwords, contact point) to an investor event? It seems like the right alternative would be to leave it at home. Maybe this is my inexperience or overabundance of paranoia but that would be a red flag to me. It takes so little to lose the castle to an adversary...
- eldritch_4ier 4y agoThis was a YC event of other YC founders only (from the current batch). YC founders are overall very high trust of each other.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tiffanyh 4y ago1. Love the idea of disconnecting. 2. Given that on your phone might have your credit cards in your digital wallet, bank apps that can access your financials, and email to allow someone to reset password - there’s no way I’d surrender my phone to a stranger.
- nikcub 4y agoI've been to numerous shows recently with no-phone policies (TOOL, Louis CK, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle). I _love_ the policy, it frees people to enjoy the show, doesn't block views with people holding phones up and doesn't ruin the lighting. I now intentionally seek out no-phone shows and events (it's common in standup comedy). The first two enforce the rule with security - if you get caught, you get kicked out and banned from future shows. The later two shows used the pouch system from Yondr. At Chris Rock the show started 90 minutes late since people came to the show with their tickets on their phones and had to walk back out to unlock them. There were also nowhere near enough staff to lock the phones and provide pouches, nor to unlock phones. It was chaos. Chappelle doesn't do digital tickets, but on the way out there was almost a crush in the crowd as people lined up to get their pouches unlocked. We ended up forcing open a fire escape and went home with our phones still in pouches, I ended up unlocking the pouches at home (you just gotta beat it open, or use a magnet) The implementation of these systems aren't perfect - but there is definitely room here for a good implementation. My thought was that the best solution would be phone lockers in venues that are after ticketing. Simple slots that you slide your phone into and get an RFID tag with a locker number back in return. I'm sure somebody will figure it out.
- Algemarin 4y ago[flagged]
- hamburglar 4y agoI’ve also never had my view literally blocked by someone holding up a phone, but I do consider it spoiling my view to have a little glowing screen held up right in front of me so i have to look past it to see the performance. It’s obnoxious. I suspect that’s what GP is referring to, as opposed to literally blocking the view. No comment on the anger about comedians being offensive.
- Algemarin 4y agoThe argument that phones are banned from venues because they are disruptive is disingenuous, because far more disruptive things are not banned; or rather, the bans are not enforced. For example, I find it infinitely more disruptive to have people vaping at shows, and yet I have never seen people have to give up their vapes when attending a stand-up show, or ever be made to leave for vaping, for that matter. As for anger about comedians being offensive, not at all. On the contrary, I think stand-up comedians have a duty to be offensive and push boundaries. I just think it's pathetic and cowardly to try to prevent people from recording those incidents.
- sommohapatra 4y agoPeople that are raving about security and privacy are missing that this was a Y Combinator event. Invite-only, from a population that's been selected for from the general populace. Obviously that's why this worked - you're not handing your phone to a stranger, you're handing it to someone who affiliation is clearly identifiable and who is one degree of separation from you.
- eftychis 4y agoLet me get this straight. A bunch of company executives/founders (37/150) provided physical access to their phones -- turned off I hope -- for the duration of the event? And they should be proud of that? The phones used to cf. provide 2FA access to their company. As someone commented: I am jokingly curious if they would do the same thing at DEF CON. Or provide that phone to a LEO/DoJ without a warrant.
- bhawks 4y agoIn my experience it is not surprising at all. Without a vocal and engaging security advocate and a shared belief in the sensitive nature of the company's data and processes - all devices in the employee's possession are insecure. If you think with a security mindset you probably work in security.
- yao420 4y agoI’ve worked in security for 10 years at startups to faangs and have even presented at defcon a couple of times and don’t see the concern. I take my iPhone and regular laptop to defcon for a decade. What is the worst that can happen? Everything is ssl with hsts so even if they own the wifi connection they can’t eavesdrop. Do you expect someone to launch an apple zero day?
- hackernewds 4y agoI could send a login OTP to the phone number and read the 6 digit OTP on the lock screen (most don't disable this). I've worked in netsec for 2 years and know the weakest link to connected security is usually the users
- ipaddr 4y agoAt defcon? Seems like a place that will test your security.
- justsomehnguy 4y agoNext steps: 1) Run a Phone Check at a Y Combinator Event... when there is no Phone Check at that event. 2) ??? 3) PROFIT
- andsoitis 4y agoInstead of hading over your phone, I prefer what Madonna did at her Madame X tour in LA (as also happens at other concerts), which is your phone gets locked up in a pouch (but you keep it). https://www.vogue.com/article/yondr-locks-up-phones-at-concerts https://www.vogue.com/article/yondr-locks-up-phones-at-conce... https://www.overyondr.com https://www.overyondr.com
- sourcecodeplz 4y agoI use my phone as a phone. When I want Internet, I turn it on and do my thing. Then I turn it off. Have great battery life this way.
- Lammy 4y agoWhat's the spread of phone models (or just iPhone vs Android) in the photo for those of us who can't tell by looking?
- INGSOCIALITE 4y agoWow, your app wants a whole lot of personal information just to limit actually using the phone
- mesarvagya 4y agoYep. I installed their app and first step is to provide my phone#.
- raldi 4y agoSearched the article and all HN comments for "parents", "kids", "babysitter", etc. No matches. If you want to be more inclusive, have a sign like, "Tell your cofounder/babysitter than in an actual emergency they can call or text [number] and we'll come get you."
- zainhoda 4y agoI’m shocked that kids isn’t the number 1 answer. If I don’t have my kids within my line of sight, I need to have my phone accessible.
- raldi 4y agoI personally don't go that far — for a long time before cell phones, people trusted babysitters with their children — but in that era, it was customary for the venue to have a phone number and the parents to write it down for the babysitter in the event of an emergency.
- ipaddr 4y agoSociety needs less of this fear. Your kids are safe and if they weren't there is very little you can do in your location.
- joseda-hg 4y agoThat's too broad of a statement to say with confidence Say, I left them with a friend and there's an accident, I'm still expecting to be contacted for Allergies and Medical History, and so I can make my way there Having lived in a really unsafe enviroment, there's too many variables that people who live in safe places take for granted, Have you ever been followed by a car? or have you had a family member kidnapped? Calling the right person (Because local LEO wouldn't do enough until an actual crime had taken place, has saved me and my family more than once)
- ipaddr 4y agoYour kids medical file contains that information and the emergency doctor is not going to call you for allergies information. You being as the hospital now or hours later is not important in an emergency unless you are also the doctor. Your kid being followed in a car and kidnapped doesn't change because you are by your phone. If the police ignore you calling about a car following you the cell phone isn't going to help In your situation I would trade in your cell for a gun. It gives you a fighting chance against kidnappers and I would not let my kids out without armed guards. Whatever protection a cell phone provides parents in the first world those benefits apply less in your situation.
- eqmvii 4y agoLove this
- nytesky 4y agoSo Apple/Google need to come up with a geofenced protocol where once you enter it, the phone enters DND by default. Which means multiple calls from same number go thru, and it could be overwritten for doctors and such, but in general once you walk in the fence phones are dulled. You could even add a limit networking and app function without entering some verbose acknowledgment that you are being a rude guest or some such. Most reasonable people would appreciate the assist to have phone realize you are at the opera and silence itself for you.
- judge2020 4y agoI see 0 reason why Apple or Google would do this. Imagine the outrage, and the potential for abuse is exponential (not even abuse: you wouldn't be able to use this feature is most of NYC or any mixed use property since you'd inadvertently take out anyone living above the businesses). Apple already has a solution for this. If you have something on your calendar, like a party invite, it'll suggest to turn on DND until you leave / until the end of the event. No forced "your phone is now disabled, go talk to people" necessary.
- nytesky 4y agoI haven’t seen the auto DND but putting DND in my calendar events (and could be included with invites/wallet tickets which we would then accept) is a pretty nice idea too. True it is ripe for abuse, hence why I was suggesting a geofence which requires setting up a physical waypoints around the enclosed space — not just a Wi-Fi hotspot telling your phone to keep it down. They could require a key purchased from Apple which then could be reported for abuse. Probably cheaper than foam case locks.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- primitivesuave 4y agoThere's an easy iOS trick that worked wonders for me - set your phone display to grayscale. Open Settings, then Accessibility, Display & Text Size, Color Filters, tap the switch and select "Grayscale". You will still be able to enjoy functional use cases for your phone without the inexplicable psychological addiction.
- neilv 4y agoIf anyone wondered whether it was a test by YC, then I guess one question would be which test: * People who hand over their phones are perceived by YC as team players, or willing to engage fully with others, or savvy about some new tech-fashionable mindfulness practice (that the person is alarmed they haven't yet heard of). * People who hand over their phones are perceived by YC as being followers rather than leaders, or having bad InfoSec sense, or not being connected and accessible at all times.
- ofchnofc 4y agoI cannot imagine even remotely engaging in a culture where either of those are possibilities, let alone speculating about which is likely. But then again, I'm not a fan of incestual SV culture.
- dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y agoOption 3: * If you're that concerned about perception you're not going to make it far in startup land
- ofchnofc 4y ago[dead]
- Sparkyte 4y agoYeah won't happen. I have a suggestion so people who are security freaks don't panic about it. You can always have them turn the phone off for you. In a non transparent plastic bag you seal after they turn it off. When they come to show you that they hadn't broken the seal you provide them with the badge.
- CapstanRoller 4y agoDo you really trust fancy stickers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQzyWXPyn3A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQzyWXPyn3A
- Sparkyte 4y agoI was thinking more of a plastic crimp seal where you have tear it open to get access.
- CapstanRoller 4y agoDo you really trust the people who supply and apply the seals, without oversight, while everyone is busy doing something else? Seals, stickers, etc. are mild deterrents, not a shortcut for security.
- Sparkyte 4y ago? But you are still holding onto your phone. You just show them you haven't broke the seal and get a badge.
- CapstanRoller 4y agoAh, I thought you meant a scenario where they keep the bags.
- realjohng 4y agoAwesome! More events should be phone free
- dewey 4y agoSmall reality check for everyone being outraged that company founders "risked" their company, customer information and all their bank accounts by doing that: They are not that important, nobody is going to use a zero day iOS exploit or roll up with a Cellebrite device to unlock phones at a early stage founder event. It's not the same as surrendering your phone to a hostile border guard as a human rights activist.
- AmericanChopper 4y ago“Surely there are no threat actors here. Not that I’ve checked or anything, I just feel surely there wouldn’t be any here…” Great opinion
- rl3 4y agoI check under my bed for threat actors before going to sleep every night. That said, in all seriousness you're right: the notion of handing over one's phone is insane to me.
- AmericanChopper 4y agoI’d be willing to bet that you already take reasonable steps to reduce the likelihood of threat actors ending up under your bed at night. My point is simply that relying on people you have no formal relationship, and haven’t screened in any way, to have your best interests at heart simply because “what are the odds?”, is a rather stupid approach to security. Especially when you’re making such a compromise simply for a little bit of cheap virtue signalling.
- rl3 4y ago>I’d be willing to bet that you already take reasonable steps to reduce the likelihood of threat actors ending up under your bed at night. Sadly not. Truth be told I'm kind of lonely.
- armatav 4y agoNo it’s actually 1000% exactly the same. Literally the exact same shit. You’re giving away your informational life to some random dude.
- Aeolun 4y agoClearspace app shows “How did you find clearspace: -“ with no way to actually specify an option… Hmm, I can’t select app categories unless I pay them ¥1000/month. Never mind then.
- RomanPushkin 4y agoAchtung! Achtung! If you want to keep your guests' credentials safe from potential attackers, you should consider placing these phones upside down. Just imagine, a coordinated attack where someone takes a high-resolution picture of sensitive information and uses services like Coinbase to send it to their mobile device. By flipping your phones, you can prevent this security concern altogether. PS And if you ever need a security consultant with expertise in software, hardware and office security, you know where to find me!
- ec109685 4y agoI think they could have gotten more people to give up using their phones by just giving folks the conspicuous “phone free sticker” and calling out people who violated the norm and encouraging others to do the same.
- htag 4y agoYou can also just print out "I voted" stickers and wear one every election day without going to the polls. Stickers are such a low authority document.
- tombert 4y agoI feel like I could provide another reason of “why I don’t want to give my phone up”, which is “fuck that noise”. I don’t view the perpetual connectivity as a bad thing; I like being able to actively look stuff up immediately, I like being able to do something when my conversation partner inevitably has to use the bathroom, and I think the “phone bad” mantra is reductive nonsense.
- spicyramen_ 4y ago[dead]
- jrochkind1 4y ago> You get a “Phone Free” badge to wear around the party You had me, lost me. That's just pretentious. But I actually like the idea of a phone-check. What if it was a normal thing to choose to check your phone sometimes?
- marcosscriven 4y agoThat’s the opposite of pretentious - it’s a fact if you don’t have a phone, not a pretence.
- jrochkind1 4y agoTrue, that wasn't the right word. Show-offy? Self-important? Conceited?
- Gustomaximus 4y agoI've often wondered if places that have no reception would become popular for holidays. Places you truly can't check into work, or have them call you. Or if you have kids force the family to go oldschool and switch offscreens. There are a few articles on it when I search but doesn't seem something that is particularly promoted or sort after.
- kccqzy 4y agoI regularly go camping at locations without reception. It is an excellent opportunity to disconnect and enjoy nature, and without excessive artificial lighting it's hard to not fall asleep after dark. In 2021 the Santa Clara county parks department sent a survey to campers on (among other things) whether they should improve the Mt Madonna park by having Wi-Fi. I'm sure the responses are heavily biased towards no. There's still no Wi-Fi there.
- EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y agoHow much did you get in tips?
- code_duck 4y agoI’ll add another reason to the list of why I wouldn’t give up my phone: mine is connected to a continuous glucose monitor, a Dexcom, making it essentially a medical device. Having my phone near me at all times isn’t remotely frivolous.
- snvzz 4y agoWhile I carry one, it's always in airplane mode, to save battery, and because my free time is mine: I am not available. Yet, while I have the device, I seldom use it. It can be helpful occasionally, and I take pictures at times. I might take it out of pocket and use it once or twice a week. Battery lasts me over a week despite 5 years old device. I would certainly not surrender it to strangers.
- fencepost 4y agoAs I learned after my father had a stroke and before he recovered enough to remember and communicate his lock code, you can still answer calls, and some financial institutions give you your choice of SMS or call 2fa (yes it's bad). I suspect a lot of phones will still ring after power on even if they've not been unlocked.
- throwawaaarrgh 4y agoI wear a watch and trained myself to just not take out my phone at social events. It's kind of a cool feeling to know you just don't need to look at it. Like learning to be comfortable in silence/boredom. And it does help me engage more with people and the world around me. Frees me up to think more. There's no secret or magic trick. Just keep it in your pocket and don't take it out.
- jhugo 4y agoYeah, I have got it to the point that I often go several hours at home or work without even knowing where my phone is. Out and about, it rarely leaves my pocket. I catch up on things once in the morning and once in the evening, and other than that unless something urgent is going on, the phone has little to offer me, and certainly nothing worth distracting from a conversation or an event.
- devmor 4y agoIf you really want a phone free event, go to defcon!
- lofaszvanitt 4y agoPhones are little oppressor devices, just leave them home whenever you can.
- atorodius 4y agoThis ad worked in so far as I downloaded their app. However, if you open it, you have to enter your phone number? No other way to sign up? Without even seeing the app in action?! Deleted.
- mcintyre1994 4y agoI'd recommend One Sec if you're interested in something similar, I don't remember that asking for anything like that and have no idea why a similar app would need to.
- atorodius 4y agoYeah I‘m using and liking One Sec :)
- slugiscool99 4y agoThat experiment seems like an incredible use of time for so many reasons
- deafpolygon 4y ago> Of the ~150 guests in attendance at the event, 37 of them opted to go “phone free” for the evening, and left their phones with us.
- realworldperson 4y ago[dead]
- someweirdperson 4y agoWas anyone denied from participating, because they did not carry a phone they could hand over?
- someweirdperson 4y agoNo need to scare people about physical access. Turn off the phone, put in envelope, seal it. At the end of the event, verify envelope and seal are still in proper shape. Would yield another nice data point, number of seals broken.
- throwawayarnty 4y agoDo people have to sign waivers so phone checkers aren’t liable if and when robbers come and take the whole basket of phones ?
- bravura 4y agoUnrelated but funny: My sister got back to Berlin from a hiking trip, where she brought no technology. It was the summer and per usual she was wearing her little sailor's hat, navy short shorts, and a white tank top. She went straight to Berghain, a techno mecca club with a notoriously strict door policy and the most extensive body contraband search in Berlin. No photos or video are allowed inside, so everyone's phone cameras are stickered. Pam is friends with the booker and was on the staff guest list, so the door staff treated her with the smallest modicum of respect afforded by such a self-serious organization. They padded her hips but were frustrated to find no phone on her person. "Where is it?" they demanded. "I don't have it" she smiled with her natural strong ease. Impossible. They simply couldn't believe in the existence of a person without a mobile phone. Flummoxed, they finally demanded she remove her sailor's cap, as that was the last possible hiding place. Seeing nothing there, disappointed---but strangely charmed---they waved her in.
- nmca 4y agoThe clearspace app that this blog advertises looks amazing; it might push me over the edge to iPhone...
- DJ_Icebear 4y agoThis idea and the write-up is brilliant!
- a-dub 4y agoreminds me of when i had an art student/architect from austria rent a room for the summer. he carried a pocket map book and a pen, and proudly referred to it as "my iphone." what was cool was that at the end, he had an awesome souvenir for the trip, complete with geotags (scribbles on the maps), contacts (phone numbers on the margins) and memory triggers (spills and tears of the pages).
- marsven_422 4y ago[dead]
- Beltiras 4y agoThis is insane. You don't relinquish control of your 2FA token for ANYTHING. You are basically allowing someone else to plug in your phone to whatever poisonous hardware they choose.
- breck 4y agoMy 3yo used to say to me "No phone daddy!" I gave up having a smart phone last year. Has made my life better. Highly recommend.
- ProllyInfamous 4y agoMid-30's: I don't carry a cell phone, nor do I use email (unless temporary burners). Nobody believes me, and even showing them my numeric pager brings doubts. I had a recent court filing (probate), and it really surprised me when the official public form asks for both phone and email (which I did not list, and the filing still went through). Same with DMV/titling vehicles... why does everything think this is okay [to "require" personal information]? Just so free not always being reachable.
- rwalle 4y agoI'm afraid the comment doesn't contribute to the conversation. This is a lifestyle that can hardly apply to anyone else, especially those in a relationship or having a family, so might as well just keep it to yourself.
- TheHappyOddish 4y agoWhat absolute nonsnse. Many people throughout the worlds (we're talking hundreds of millions, if not billions) live without a phone or email and are in relationships and have families. What a closed minded viewpoint.
- ProllyInfamous 4y agoThank you for writing this. I have more actual friendships than I think the average person in my demographics. Just prefer not to be reachable, unless you know my pager# or where I live (which is few and far — how I prefer to live). There are dozens of us out there! DOZENS!
- TheHappyOddish 4y agoI am very jealous of you. I'm on the same journey but not quite able to get there. However I have found my resistence to be the same - my friendships are relationships prosper much more than before I started in this path! Good on you for living the way that works for you. You only get one life, don't let others dictate it.
- jgerrish 4y agoReminds me of the phone bin joke bit in Parks and Rec., during the bird flu practice exercise. I guess if you're selling it as a tool to get people to spend more time together, it's good? It feels kinda bad I wasn't able to use my own words to sell the same ideas. In ten years, I wonder what arranged event is next. Not angry, just... Anyways, I honestly hope people have fun and can build their own life, sorry for all that.
- SergeAx 4y agoThere really was a period in mu life, when I was taking out my phone and fiddled with it during social events. But as most of bad habits it could be corrected by first being aware of it, then noticing it, and then stopping doing it after I noticed. Now I can consciously put the phone in my pocket and take it out only when I really need it, like for writing something sown or checking online something meaningful for conversation. It also became a litmus test for social activities: if I want to take the phone out, it usually means that the event is boring, and it is better just to excuse myself from it.
- dnsco 4y agoDownloaded the app– I'm bummed it doesn't work on websites, I guess I'm a nerd so not the target audience, but I use the mobile web versions of twitter and reddit because I don't want to give the app developers more permission than they have,but I apparently can't block the safari app (I don't need more fine grained blocking than this). I guess apple is probably making this impossible, but it's still a bummer. Also, would it be a ton of work to get a firefox extension? Cool concept, I hope it eventually meets my needs. I have the game I compulsively play blocked at least.