In 2017, San Francisco-based Purism raised $2.5 million via crowdfunding to bring the Librem 5 smartphone to life. The Librem 5 is privacy and freedom-focused, and allows the user to control every facet of the device, while avoiding the Internet’s pervasive surveillance. Units are expected to ship next year, and Purism says it’s making great strides in bringing the device to life. The company has finalized the hardware specifications of the Librem 5, and has ordered the initial developer kits from the manufacturer. These, Purism says, share the base specifications as the final model that will ship to customers. Purism…

This story continues at The Next Web