Unplugged is a privacy-first technology company behind the UP Phone, a de-Googled smartphone running its own UnpluggedOS - an Android fork stripped of Google Mobile Services. Built around an on-device firewall, a no-logs VPN, encrypted storage, and a hardware battery-disconnect switch, the phone is designed for people who want to keep using a modern smartphone without feeding the surveillance economy. The company sells direct-to-consumer and through Best Buy, and says it earns no revenue from customer data.
Joe Weil is the CEO of Unplugged, a privacy-first smartphone company that makes the UP Phone - an open-source Android device stripped of Google services, built with a hardware battery disconnect switch, on-device firewall, and a no-surveillance business model. Before leading Unplugged, Weil spent roughly a decade at Apple leading zero-to-one special projects for Apple Services, and before that built Psycho Films LLC, directing music videos for Kendrick Lamar, 21 Savage, A$AP Ferg, and Big Sean. He left Apple, by his account, after watching the company shift into political activism, soft censorship, and deep integration with China.