The Privacy Starter Pack (That Actually Works) (ft. Mark37.com)

State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John sit down with Sean Patrick Terrio, a tech executive and digital privacy advocate who co-founded mark37.com. The conversation opens with rapid fire questions and turns into a full primer on why the phones, watches, cars, and smart-home devices we carry every day are, in Terrio's words, surveillance tracking devices. He frames the whole problem with a gun analogy gun owners will feel: you would never carry a firearm into a fight if it streamed your location, audio, and video straight to the enemy, yet that is exactly what an iPhone or Android phone does when the companies behind it fund causes opposed to the values of the people using them. Terrio spent his career in Silicon Valley and the data center industry, where he saw how the back end really works, and he walks the hosts through the core ideas: what privacy actually means (granting access only to people you choose), the Fourth Amendment, the addiction that devices are engineered to create, and how cars now report your driving data to manufacturers and insurers. His repeated point is that the question is not whether you can do something on your phone, but whether you should. He argues most people are not tech savvy the way they are gun savvy, and the fix starts with learning the basics rather than reaching for advanced tools like a VPN before understanding them. On the practical side, Terrio explains what mark37.com sells: de-Googled phones and laptops running GrapheneOS, an open-source operating system built on Android. The devices are carrier agnostic, run the apps people rely on through sandboxed Google Play Services, and let users keep their number by moving the SIM and telling Apple or Google to stop routing their calls and texts. He covers pricing (phones from around $400, laptops from the high $500s), the free 15 to 30 minute privacy consultations his team offers, and a roadmap on the site. Listeners get a 5 percent discount at mark37.com/goa, with a percentage of every sale going back to GOA. The episode closes with the reminder about GOALS 2026, GOA's 50th anniversary celebration in Des Moines, Iowa on August 1st and 2nd. Linksmark37.comQuestions this episode answers What does digital privacy actually mean, and why does the Fourth Amendment matter to it? Sean Patrick Terrio defines privacy as granting access to your data only to people you choose, and he ties it to Fourth Amendment protections. His core test is not whether you can do something on a device, but whether you should. Are our phones really listening to and recording us all day? Terrio argues that phones, watches, cars, and smart-home devices function as surveillance tracking devices that monitor users constantly. He spent his career in Silicon Valley and the data center industry, where he saw how the back end of this infrastructure actually works. Is a VPN a must-have privacy tool, or is it overhyped? Terrio cautions against reaching for advanced tools like a VPN before you understand the basics. He argues most people should start by learning fundamentals rather than jumping to tools they do not yet grasp. What is GrapheneOS, and how is it different from a standard iPhone or Android phone? GrapheneOS is an open-source operating system built on Android that runs on the de-Googled phones and laptops mark37.com sells. Unlike a standard iPhone or Android phone, these devices are carrier agnostic and run apps through sandboxed Google Play Services to keep data under the user's control. Can you still use everyday apps on a de-Googled device? Yes. The devices run the apps people rely on through sandboxed Google Play Services, so users can keep using the software they need while limiting how much data leaves the device. Will these privacy phones work on any carrier, and can you keep your existing number? The phones are carrier agnostic, so they work across carriers. You keep your existing number by moving the SIM and telling Apple or Google to stop routing your calls and texts. How much do mark37.com's phones and laptops cost? Phones start around $400 and laptops start in the high $500s. mark37.com also offers free 15 to 30 minute privacy consultations, and listeners get 5 percent off at mark37.com/goa, with a percentage of every sale going back to Gun Owners of America. Are steps like a Faraday bag or turning your phone off at night enough, or just a band-aid? Terrio treats these as partial measures rather than a full fix. His larger point is that real change comes from understanding how devices track you and taking back control of your data, not from one-off workarounds. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and meet Sean Patrick Terrio 00:18 — Rapid fire questions 02:59 — Sponsor: Langdon Tactical 03:38 — Terrio's Silicon Valley and data center background 05:10 — The firearm-with-a-tracker analogy 08:11 — What privacy means and the surveillance state 11:22 — Devices are addictive by design 14:03 — Where the name Mark 37 comes from 15:44 — Cars as mobile surveillance devices 22:50 — What makes mark37's devices different: GrapheneOS 31:14 — Sponsor: Patriot Mobile 32:35 — Faraday bags and limits: band-aid or fix? 36:42 — Is the AI revolution a net benefit or negative? 41:32 — Practical questions: carriers, apps, what to replace first 48:17 — Pricing, the GOA discount, and free consultations 49:18 — Wrap-up and GOALS 2026 About the guest Sean Patrick Terrio is a tech executive, digital privacy advocate, and co-founder of mark37.com. He spent the vast majority of his career in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur and worked across several software companies before moving into the data center industry, where he gained hands-on experience with how digital infrastructure operates on the back end. He wrote a book on that industry called the Data Center Colocation Industry Playbook. He left the industry after concluding it was opposed to his values and faith, and now builds de-Googled phones and laptops running GrapheneOS through mark37.com, which has hundreds of users. He is 45 and has three kids. He also does training and education on AI. Key quotes "Most people don't fully grasp that their devices are being listened to all day, every day." — Sean Patrick Terrio "It's a tool and a weapon because it's been weaponized against you." — Sean Patrick Terrio "We literally live in a surveillance state right now." — Sean Patrick Terrio "The question, as I've been hammering, is not can I use it? It's should I use it?" — Sean Patrick Terrio "So our cars are now mobile surveillance tracking devices." — Sean Patrick Terrio "You can still live in society, but now have control of your data because that's key." — Sean Patrick Terrio