Privacy & Security Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms we use across our products and blog.
GrapheneOS
A hardened, open-source Android-based operating system focused on privacy and security, built without Google services or telemetry by default.
Related reading: GrapheneOS: The Future of Privacy-Focused Mobile Operating Systems, The Easy Guide to Installing GrapheneOS on Your Smartphone, Behind the Scenes: The Measures SentiCell Takes for Ultimate Smartphone Security and Anonymity
De-Googled Phone
A smartphone with Google's proprietary apps, services, and background trackers removed, reducing the data collected about the device's user while still allowing optional, sandboxed access to Google services when needed.
Related reading: GrapheneOS: The Future of Privacy-Focused Mobile Operating Systems, Behind the Scenes: The Measures SentiCell Takes for Ultimate Smartphone Security and Anonymity
Threat Model
A structured assessment of who might want to access your data, what they could realistically do, and what you're protecting against, used to decide which privacy and security measures actually make sense for your situation.
Related reading: Behind the Scenes: The Measures SentiCell Takes for Ultimate Smartphone Security and Anonymity
App Sandboxing
A security technique that isolates each app in its own restricted environment, limiting what it can see, access, or communicate with on the rest of the device.
Related reading: GrapheneOS: The Future of Privacy-Focused Mobile Operating Systems
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A service that routes your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a remote server, hiding your traffic from your local network or ISP and masking your IP address from the sites you visit.
Related reading: Behind the Scenes: The Measures SentiCell Takes for Ultimate Smartphone Security and Anonymity
Tor / Onion Routing
A network that routes traffic through multiple independent relays, encrypting it in layers, so no single point in the network can see both who you are and what you're accessing.
Related reading: Behind the Scenes: The Measures SentiCell Takes for Ultimate Smartphone Security and Anonymity
Kill Switch
A safeguard that automatically blocks all internet traffic if a VPN or Tor connection drops unexpectedly, preventing your real IP address or traffic from leaking.
Verified Boot
A security feature that checks the cryptographic signature of the operating system every time a device starts, refusing to boot if the software has been tampered with.
Related reading: GrapheneOS: The Future of Privacy-Focused Mobile Operating Systems
Anonymous SIM Card
A SIM card that isn't registered to your name or identity, reducing the link between your phone number and your real-world identity.
Related reading: Exploring the Advantages of Using Smartphones Without SIM Cards
Metadata (Privacy Context)
Data about your communications, like who you called, when, and for how long, that's collected even when the content of the communication itself is encrypted.
Related reading: Exploring the Advantages of Using Smartphones Without SIM Cards