VIDEO: The BlackBerry Priv ‘runs Google’! Who cares about privacy???

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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BlackBerry Priv demoWouldn’t it be great if more technology companies focused on the selling point of security and privacy rather than superfluous bells-and-whistles?

Keep dreaming… it’s not going to happen. Because for the vast majority of people, security and privacy simply aren’t sexy. But curvy touch screens, pull-out capacitive keyboards and “all that good stuff” are.

And that, presumably, is why BlackBerry CEO John Chen focused so much on the non-privacy aspects of the company’s new BlackBerry Priv smartphone, which runs on the Android operating system.

If you want to see my take on Chen’s bumbling BlackBerry Priv demo below, check out the video below, and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to see more like it.

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Who cares about privacy? The BlackBerry Priv runs Google! | Graham Cluley

You can’t imagine Steve Jobs or Tim Cook ever demonstrating the Apple iPhone quite like that, can you?


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "The AI Fix" and "Smashing Security" podcasts. Follow him on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, or drop him an email.

5 comments on “VIDEO: The BlackBerry Priv ‘runs Google’! Who cares about privacy???”

  1. Jim

    Obviously it runs Google, because they're one of the best companies on the planet at protecting people's privacy. :-) Oh crap, it won't let me use it without signing in …

  2. Fufu

    This is not priv official launch event, what are you talking about? Chen confirmed an android blackberry yesterday because it's leaking everywhere, and he don't want to tell us the whole priv's specs. And yes he is right, it runs google, he meant that it has google playstore, chrome, etc…. on bb10, you can't do sideloading google play services or google's apps on blackberry devices before

    1. Spryte · in reply to Fufu

      So it runs google and its got privacy…

      Hmm, isn't that what we call an oxymoron?

      If it runs android, I won't be buying it as a ***secure*** device.

    2. coyote · in reply to Fufu

      I admittedly watched the video yesterday – and sleep deprivation takes its toll on many things including memory – so maybe I’m forgetting this but I don't recall Graham claiming it was a launch event.

      QUESTION: You say it hasn't been launched yet and you say he won't reveal the whole specs (but see below), right? So then how do you know it 'runs Google' if it hasn't been released yet? Or do you have VIP status?

      But as for the whole issue of specs – he himself said it has 'literally the latest specs' (something like that including the blatant abuse of 'literally' – not that I'm deliberately trying to judge there). So if it has the latest specs what else does he need to say on the matter? Yet you say he won't reveal the full specs; his claims contradicts yours.

      Furthermore, as some others have pointed out (and I was going to but didn't get around to it) – Google and privacy do not mix at all. In fact, I especially like the way Spryte words it – oxymoron. Perhaps that is because the same word occurred to me yesterday but it is still an accurate word for it.

  3. Zack

    It's obvious Priv will sell like hot pancakes. Apple had that keyboard attachment made by Ryan Seacrest. Samsung's Galaxy has a keyboard attachment.

    Both are horrible.

    This keyboard dubs for navigation, mouse gestures.

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