Backstory: Richard Stallman is quite adamant about not having or carrying a cell phone, be it a smartphone or otherwise. One reason, he says, is that these phones always contain at least some non-free software, starting with the firmware and continuing up the stack through drivers, operating systems, and apps. Stallman even points out that Android devices, while being “less bad” than Windows or Apple smartphones, still have a long way to go to be truly run only by free software. Also, Stallman is strongly opposed to the many ways that cell phones can spy on a user, by tracking one’s location and activities, even potentially becoming a listening device.

Quotes: “I am unwilling to hand over that sort of data about my movements at all, which is one reason why I refuse to have a mobile phone. I think that a court order should be required even to store data about people's movements.” November 2011

“There is a way to make a cell phone acceptable _for occasional communication only_: put a one-way pager in the phone, so people can page you if they are trying to reach you. That way, you can keep its radio connection off most of the time. When you get the page, you can decide when and where to reveal your location by connecting the phone to the network.” May 2014

“We must stop all the ways that phone companies track the location of portable phones, beyond the unavoidable minimum needed to know how to communicate with the phone.” December 2011

"I don't have a cell phone. I won't carry a cell phone. It's Stalin's dream. Cell phones are tools of Big Brother.” March 2011