Received request from a friend in Minneapolis.
I suggested FairPhone/Murena and they found this Cape.co. The finding a compatible wireless carrier and managing a VPN piece thru them off. They need an easy solution that gives them peace of mind, but they are not techy at all. “Being able to research and pick a carrier, phone and OS was overwhelming.”
This person is not nefarious, but they rightly believe the government is being nefarious in their town and they want to resist while being safe. The marketing from Cape hit the nail, but it’s marketing.
I’m not there to help, so looking for experienced condensed advice on the device.
I should add - this will be a daily driver and I’ve already advised to leave the device home for protests, etc. due to tower tracking. We’re at the next layer.
I think you can only simplify things so much without making the entire thing pointless. As others have already said, install GrapheneOS yourself — it’s almost as easy as making an online purchase. And remember the phone is inherently a tracking device no matter what — especially if the cellular/radio stack is active.
I don’t think there’s any more shortcuts that can be taken if security and protection from surveillance are actually important.