# Are privacy-focused OEMs/companies sustainable?

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/are-privacy-focused-oems-companies-sustainable/32992
**Category:** General
**Created:** 2025-11-18T18:32:26Z
**Posts:** 28
**Showing post:** 9 of 28

## Post 9 by @ignoramous — 2025-11-18T19:15:28Z

Edit: The post was moved out (why @KevPham :weary_face:) from the [original thread](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/novacustom-launches-privacy-friendly-phone-shiftphone-8-1-with-iodeos/32835/96), but since almost all my questions are related to NovaCustom, I’ll edit just to @wessel-novacustom

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> [@NovaCustom launches privacy-friendly phone: SHIFTphone 8.1 with iodéOS](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/novacustom-launches-privacy-friendly-phone-shiftphone-8-1-with-iodeos/32835/96):
>
> Regarding the Proton apps, we are not paid by Proton for this.

Has Proton in _any_ way helped out NovaCustom / iodéOS, or any of the related projects?

> [@NovaCustom launches privacy-friendly phone: SHIFTphone 8.1 with iodéOS](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/novacustom-launches-privacy-friendly-phone-shiftphone-8-1-with-iodeos/32835/96):
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> Depending on Google for the delivery of hardware isn’t a good idea either in our opinion. That way, you still make yourself dependent on big tech and you feed your enemy

This is a weak argument. For customers for whom the Google hardware is a redline, they’d rather flash SailfishOS on their devices, not a multi-million line software authored by the said “enemy”.

~~Besides, folks using GrapheneOS (250k active GrapheneOS installs from what I read on their forums) “feeding” Google by buying Pixels is a tall claim when their quarterly revenues are $100bn+ dollars.~~

> [@NovaCustom launches privacy-friendly phone: SHIFTphone 8.1 with iodéOS](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/novacustom-launches-privacy-friendly-phone-shiftphone-8-1-with-iodeos/32835/96):
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> The spare parts can be easily ordered online and we are working on repair videos as well as written repair guides for every component of the SHIFTphone 8.1

Niice. Reminds me of [StarBooks](https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/starbook-specification). You ship internationally?

> [@NovaCustom launches privacy-friendly phone: SHIFTphone 8.1 with iodéOS](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/novacustom-launches-privacy-friendly-phone-shiftphone-8-1-with-iodeos/32835/96):
>
> NovaCustom does not have the financial power to make this happen.

You could consider cold emailing Nirav Patel, founder at Framework Computer,[[1]](#footnote-121966-1) and Luis Rossmann at the [Rossmann Repair Group](https://www.rossmanngroup.com/). I’m planning to meet few folksfrom Framework Computer in Jan 2026, & I can suggest [your project for their sponsorship fund](https://frame.work/blog/framework-sponsorships)?

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1. From what I know, Nirav actively seeks to help folks building repairable-hardware upstarts ([ex](https://eclecti.cc/bytes/what-hardware-is-hard-really-means)). [↩︎](#footnote-ref-121966-1)

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