Most people seem to think that a flip phone is some kind of protection from owning a smartphone. They're wrong. Most phones that are not considered smartphones run KaiOS, which is jointly owned by Mozilla, Meta, and one other company. It's a smart OS that flies under the radar, but engages in the same spying, etc. that Android and iOS engage in.

Like it or not, you likely already own a smartphone unless you use one very specific Nokia model (that incidentally doesn't flip).

My son and his wife provide me a 'flip phone'. They don't have a landline phone at their house and that's where I keep their kids. So for an emergency, I have one for the kids sake. Other than that, I rarely use it. And I never TEXT.