CEO Joe Weil on American Thought Leaders with Jan Jekielek
Our CEO, Joe Weil, sat down with Jan Jekielek on American Thought Leaders (EpochTV) to explain just how exposed we really are, and why he left Apple to build Unplugged.
In the hour-long interview, the wide-ranging conversation covered the personal, the political and product:
How advertisers and data brokers track you
Your location, your movements, the people you co-locate with, even whether you’re walking, driving, or lying down; details all stitched together into detailed “patterns of life.”
“Where you go, who you associate with, what you like is all easily discoverable…
It’s publicly available. It’s purchasable.”
Why the Fourth Amendment doesn’t protect this data
Thanks to the third-party doctrine, advertising and app data sits outside normal warrant protections meaning it can be accessed and used in ways most people would find shocking.
How adversaries can weaponize your phone data
From foreign governments to criminal cartels, anyone can buy this data, apply a few filters, and pinpoint individuals or groups.
“This is a national security issue, it's an economic and a cultural issue, it's a civil liberties issue. It's time for us to get in the ring as innovators, as customers. This is the big battleground," Joe asserts.
Why Joe walked away from Big Tech
After a decade at Apple leading zero-to-one product work, Joe watched the company shift into political activism, soft censorship, and deep integration with China. He decided it was time to build an alternative that better supports the future he wants for his own children and for others.
Are we on the path to preserve our freedom?
Joe raises important questions in the interview about where we are going as a society as AI becomes a part of our lives,
"It's important way for us to ask In the last 15 to 20 years, we have had this massive change to our economy. Smartphones have changed everything. Enormous wealth has been created. I don't think we realize the velocity of change we've just lived through. The way we connect with each other; the way we relive our memories, the way we buy food, the way get taxis, the way we rent homes-all of this has changed. The way we get information and facts-all of this has changed in a very short amount of time.
"It has changed not only our day-to-day lives, but it has changed our economy and it has changed our country, and it has also changed China's. I think we need to look at what has happened in both countries, and ask ourselves, 'Is this the direction we want to keep going in?' Because we really are at a crossroads as AI comes online and becomes part of our lives."
What makes the UP Phone different
- A system-level firewall to block third-party data harvesters
- No Google Mobile Services
- Hardware kill-switch that truly powers the phone off
- Encrypted photo storage where you hold the keys, not us
- A business model that doesn’t depend on tracking or profiling you
Joe also talks about something closer to home: how our screen habits are reshaping families and why Unplugged is building features like Time Away to help you spend more time with the people in front of you, not the screen in your hand.
Watch Joe Weil on American Thought Leaders (EpochTV)
Thank you to Jan Jekielek and The Epoch Times team for your attention to this issue, and for having Joe on the show and creating a first-class production.
To our readers and customers, thank you for being part of the Unplugged community and for caring about privacy, freedom, and building better tech.
Stay Private and Free!
The Unplugged Team
P.S. For our Black Friday Sale, we’re taking $150 off UP Phone for new orders. If you’ve been thinking about switching, this is the moment to do it. Buy your UP Phone today.