Technologies

What Makes a Phone Ethical? I Talked With Someone Who Builds One to Find Out

CEO Raymond van Eck explains how the Fairphone 6 is better for people — including the people who make it — and better for the planet.

Fairphone is a David among Goliaths in the phone world. We’re talking about a tiny Dutch social enterprise that shipped just over 100,000 phones in 2023, versus tech giants such as Apple and Samsung, which routinely ship hundreds of millions of phones annually.

On Wednesday, Fairphone CEO Raymond van Eck unveiled the latest device, the sixth generation, in its family of phones. Intended to be known simply as the Fairphone (but in reality more likely to be referred to as the Fairphone 6), this modular phone is designed to be easily repairable and last people who buy it at least eight years.

I spoke with van Eck at the Amsterdam launch event, which took a different tack for a smartphone company. Instead of foregrounding the specs and AI capabilities, Fairphone talked mostly about how this newest device has the lowest carbon footprint of any phone it has made. Company reps also talked about how the workers in its supply chain are paid a living wage bonus and protected from harmful chemicals.

It’s not the easy or convenient way to make a phone. But if a phone maker as diminutive as Fairphone can do it, then it does raise the question of why industry mammoths can’t too.

«It takes effort,» van Eck tells me. «If we can do it, in my opinion, others can do it, because if you look at our scale, it’s even more difficult to convince suppliers to work this way.»

Niche phones are having something of a moment. Just last week the Trump Organization announced the T1 device, also known as the Trump phone, expected later this year, with much boasting of American origins. But rather than a preoccupation with making phones in the US, which doesn’t have the supply chain or manufacturing capabilities, I’d much rather see more options that present people with more ethically made, more easily repairable devices. I’ve been covering consumer tech and the climate crisis for many years, and not only do phones such as the Fairphone provide people with better value for the money in the long run, but they also put less stress on our rapidly warming planet.

Fairphone’s slice of the market is a small one, and van Eck is aware of that fact. But the company is also making an impact through its role in setting up systems that the entire tech industry can take advantage of. He cited progressive approaches focused on the use of minerals in mobile phone manufacturing like the Fair Cobalt Alliance and responsible gold credits (through which companies pay an extra $1 per every gram of gold mined in order to fund oxygen masks and other safety equipment).

A fairer phone

Then of course there’s the Fairphone itself — a device designed to be easily repairable by anyone who owns it, regardless of skill level. It even comes with a dedicated iFixit screwdriver in the box so that you can replace the back panel.

Inside is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip — a solid processor, but not the company’s most sophisticated silicon. I can’t help but wonder whether Fairphone is potentially shaving years off the phone’s longevity by not using the most advanced chipset at the time the device is manufactured. But van Eck thinks not.

«The device is perfectly equipped to fulfill the needs of the customers that are buying it,» he says. The Fairphone is designed for longevity via repair and updates, not to compete with future flagship models of competitors, he adds. «Within this midrange, we’re very confident that we can still deliver to the expectations of the customers in the years to come.»

One of the more notable (and noticeable) features of the Fairphone 6 is a lime green slider on the side of the phone. There’s been something of a renaissance of physical buttons on phones over the past few years, but most phone makers install these primarily for activating a device’s AI features.

I was fascinated to see that Fairphone has gone practically in the opposite direction. The slider is customizable, but comes pre-programmed to switch the phone into «essentials» mode. This pared-back monochrome interface gives you access to just the core functions of your phone — messaging, camera, web browser and the like — to give you something more akin to a dumb phone experience.

It’s not that van Eck is against AI. The Android version of the Fairphone 6 will come with Google’s Gemini. But he’s also aware of the wider conversation around responsible phone us.

«We see debates about children’s smartphones. We see debates about people who are glued to their devices even having eye problems,» he says. «It’s actually in our mission … that we want to make tech ethical. So it’s also good for us to help our users to switch off.»

When ethics meet scale

Worthy though its ideals and practices may be, this doesn’t mean Fairphone is totally above criticism.

If you’ve followed the company’s journey as closely as I have, it’s impossible not to have seen an influx of negative customer experience reports over the past few months, especially complaints about wait times and lack of communication.

Fairphone’s growth has been both a blessing and a curse, according to van Eck, who puts the issues the company has experienced down to systems, processes and workforce that have now been resolved.

«We see more interest for our devices, and that also triggered the fact that we needed to scale up,» he says. «We expect that the longer waiting times that customers have experienced, that will be a thing from the past within the next few weeks.»

Crucially, people who are interested in buying a Fairphone 6 shouldn’t see a repeat of these issues. This is the sixth-generation device, rebranded without a number officially attached to it. Does that mean this ultimate Fairphone is therefore the last Fairphone?

It is not. «We’re here to stay,» he tells me. Not only will Fairphone continue developing its tech, but it will keep pushing for and holding itself to higher standards. The new device contains more recycled materials than the Fairphone 5, for example.

«Of course there will be next versions to come,» he says. «But for now, we’re very happy with the Fairphone.»

Technologies

Social Media and AI Want Your Attention at All Times. This New Documentary Says That’s Bad

Your Attention Please, a documentary premiering this week at SXSW in Austin, Texas, explores how we live in the attention economy.

«Do you remember the world before cellphones?»

The question comes early in Your Attention Please, a documentary premiering this week at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. And it hit me harder than I expected. As a 27-year-old tech reporter, I realized I don’t have too many clear memories of life before smartphones. My adolescence unfolded alongside the rise of smartphones, social media, push notifications and the routine of endless scrolling. Like many people my age, I’ve spent most of my life inside the attention economy — without ever really stepping outside it.

That’s the uneasy territory the documentary explores.

CNET was given exclusive early access to the film’s trailer, embedded below.

Exploring how tech shapes our behavior

Director Sara Robin said she originally set out to make something smaller: a documentary about people trying to reclaim their attention by breaking unhealthy phone habits. In an interview with CNET, Robin described the idea as a personal story about focus and self-control in an age of constant distraction.

As Robin interviewed researchers, technologists and families affected by social media and cyberbullying, the film’s scope widened. What started as a question about individual habits quickly became a larger investigation into how modern technology systems are designed to shape human behavior. The story stretches from the rise of social media to the emerging influence of AI.

Along the way, Robin and her collaborators kept hearing the same observation from different corners of the digital world: Social media didn’t just change how people communicate; it quietly rewired what we value. Experiences that were once private or emotional — friendship, affection, belonging — began to acquire numerical equivalents. Followers, likes, comments, views and shares began to be how we saw our own self-worth. In the architecture of social platforms, those numbers function as a kind of social currency.

Trisha Prabhu, a digital-safety advocate and inventor of the anti-cyberbullying technology ReThink, argues that social platforms did more than create new online spaces. She says they fundamentally reshaped how social validation works. The metrics that define popularity often reward attention-seeking behavior and amplify conflict, while genuine connection is now harder to quantify and, therefore, easier to overlook.

Prabhu warns that the same dynamics already driving problems like cyberbullying could accelerate as automated systems become more capable. AI tools can generate abusive messages at scale, produce convincing impersonations or create deepfakes that spread rapidly online. In some cases, the technology may even blur the line between human interaction and machine-generated communication, which could deepen loneliness or encourage harmful behavior.

«There’s AI exacerbating existing harms [like automating cyberbullying], but then I also think that there’s AI creating completely new harms,» Prabhu told CNET. «There are reports of AI tools encouraging users, including minor users, to commit self-harm… Even for the everyday user who’s not experiencing the extreme outcome, I think we have to ask ourselves how much of our time and connection we want spent with an AI tool as opposed to a fellow human being.»

Bringing attention to attention

What struck Robin during filming the documentary was how universal these anxieties felt. Across conversations with families, educators and advocates around the world, the themes were remarkably consistent: overstimulated attention, declining focus in classrooms, rising anxiety among young people and a persistent sense of dread that comes from always being plugged in.

Those shared concerns have helped spark a coordinated moment around the film’s release.

On March 11, more than 25 organizations focused on digital well-being will simultaneously release the trailer for Your Attention Please as part of an initiative called Stand for Their Attention. What began as a small collaboration among five groups quickly grew as word spread through advocacy networks. The coalition now includes organizations such as Common Sense Media, Protect Young Eyes, Mothers Against Media Addiction, the Center for Humane Technology, Smartphone Free Childhood and Scrolling to Death.

The idea behind the synchronized launch is simple: Use the attention surrounding the documentary to highlight the growing movement that’s already working to reshape digital culture.

Many people feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, Robin says, but behind the scenes, a widening ecosystem of advocates is experimenting with ways to build healthier digital environments, from redesigning products to changing norms around screen use.

The campaign also arrives at a moment of growing scrutiny around the attention economy. Lawmakers in the US and abroad are increasingly debating how social platforms affect youth mental health and childhood development. Boycotts around AI use are taking off. Researchers are studying how these algorithms and chatbots influence behavior. Individuals are trying to figure out how much technology belongs in everyday life.

What can we do about it?

Despite the weight of those conversations, Robin says the goal of the film isn’t to leave audiences feeling powerless. In fact, the rapid rise of public awareness around AI has made her more optimistic than she was during the early days of social media. The systems shaping digital life, she argues, are built by people, which means they can also be rebuilt.

«We have more power than we think,» Robin said. «And there are a lot of different ways to get involved in this, from changing individual habits to changing the culture in your own family and in your community, designing technology differently, getting engaged in these conversations, all the way to pushing for legislative change.»

The film intentionally avoids presenting a single solution.

Instead, Your Attention Please asks a broader question: What happens when attention, one of the most human parts of our lives, becomes one of the most valuable commodities in the global economy? And perhaps more importantly, what kind of digital world do we want to build next?

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 12, #535

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 12, No. 535.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, with some very unusual categories. The blue one is pretty fun, actually. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: City of Brotherly Love.

Green group hint: NBA star.

Blue group hint: Grr! Meow! Roar!

Purple group hint: Think alphabet.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Philadelphia teams.

Green group: Associated with Larry Bird.

Blue group: Sports figures with animal names.

Purple group: Sports figures whose first names sound like two letters.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Philadelphia teams. The four answers are 76ers, Flyers, Penn and Temple.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Larry Bird. The four answers are Celtics, French Lick, Pacers and Sycamores.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports figures with animal names. The four answers are Bear Bryant, Cat Osterman, Catfish Hunter and Tiger Woods.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports figures whose first names sound like two letters. The four answers are Casey Stengel (KC), CeeDee Lamb (CD), Katie Ledecky (KT) and Vijay Singh (VJ).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, March 12

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 12.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I found 7-Across tricky. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.