Purism Launches Librem 16 High Security Linux Laptop Featuring Hardware Kill Switches and Open Source Software to Ensure Total User Data Sovereignty
Purism has introduced the Librem 16 and this is a high security Linux based laptop system that is marketed to give the end user all out sovereignty over their own personal data. The hardware has been planned to be bypassed in how it enables users to avoid the commercial mainstream ecosystems and telemetry tracking. Using what has been said on the official Purism product page of the system, the system is designed to be such that it will safe to users through a combination of hardware security and verified open source software.
Librem 16's most important security component is the bunch of hardware kill switches. The physical hardware switches can cut the power to the camera, microphone, and wireless hardware so they are immune from any hacking through these associated software drive channels. The system is based on the Free/Libre/Open source PureOS operating system, which has the seal of the Free Software Foundation. There is no advertising, telemetry, or opaque background tracking presented by the OS, and there are no known spy programs running in the background2.
Purism founder Todd Weaver made it clear that the new hardware needed privacy controls at hardware level in todays setting of technology that mass market platforms, he said, go too far too fast. Weaver pointed out the philosophy that leads to the new hardware in product launch briefing.
Modern digital systems intrude too deeply into private lives by harvesting location and behavioral data, and this hardware serves as a step toward a digital space where technology works strictly in the interest of the user.
Housed in a strong aluminum chassis the Librem 16 has a screen size of 16 inches with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels. It has the power of an Intel Core i7 13620 H with 10 cores which can be clocked up to 4.9 GHz. Can be designed to support up to 64 GB DDR4.
Physical connectivity offered by two USB Type C ports that can deliver up to 100W of power (by way of Display port video delivery), and can simultaneously transfer data 10 Gbps. Additionally the chassis supports 2 additional USB Type A ports and comes equipped with a full size backlit keyboard. The system is built to deliver desktop class productivity without eroding the core security model.
It can be bought through the official Purism website in a few different specification tiers for hardware. The lowest specifications is an entry level $2899 version with 16GB of ram and a 512 GB solid state drive. For business users and developers needing the most resources the Max configuration offers 64 GB of ram and 16TB of storage at a price of $9799.
