The hardware guarantees are real only while these rules are kept. Each rule closes a leak that provisioning cannot see, because the leak happens after the device is in your hand. Breaking one does not make the boot chain false. It makes the boot chain irrelevant.
Identity
- No personal accountDo not sign the handset into Google, a social network, or any account that already knows your name. Do not “restore” from another phone.
- No shared mailboxThe address you use on this device should not be the address on your employment contract, your bank, or your other phone. An encrypted transport does not help if both ends are the same named inbox.
- No cross-device pairingDo not pair earbuds, watches, cars, or laptops that you also use under your name. Pairing is an identifier.
Software
- No sideloadingDo not install applications from a file, a link, or a store other than the set on the device. You would be adding a parser and a maintainer that the memory and supply-chain controls were built to avoid.
- No unsolicited updatesInstall only images Theta has confirmed. Check verified boot after every update before you resume sensitive work.
- No browser exceptionsDo not install extensions, and do not accept a “certificate” so a network can see traffic. That request is a request to end the encryption.
Radios and files
- SIM disciplineA SIM is an identity. Do not reuse a personal SIM. If presence must not be tied to you, keep the cellular radio off.
- Forgotten networksDelete saved Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth peers that belong to another life. Disable radios you are not using.
- MetadataStrip location from photos and files before they leave. Do not send a document whose author field, template, or revision history carries another name.
- No cloud copyDo not back the device up to a drive or account in a legal name. A backup is a second copy of the identity you were keeping off the handset.
Physical
- Lock itPassphrase, not a short PIN you use everywhere. Short screen timeout. Do not leave it unlocked beside you.
- Charge without dataUse a power adapter or a cable that cannot speak USB data. A host you do not control, including a public charging port, is not a charger. It is a computer.
- One secret, one placeDo not keep the only copy of a credential, a key, or a recovery code on the handset. Loss and seizure are both realistic.
- Do not narrate the deviceDo not explain, on this handset, what the handset is for, who else holds one, or which passphrase policy you use.
People and messages
A careful device used to talk to a careless one still leaks through the other party’s phone, their backups, and their screenshots. Agree the channel before the subject. Do not move a sensitive thread onto a consumer messenger because it was convenient that afternoon.
Theta will not ask you to break these rules “just this once” to complete setup. Anyone who does is not completing setup.