Is the privacy screen permanent?

I’m looking to buy a Librem 14. It’s not clear to me whether the Privacy Screen option is a permanent placement on the screen (which would reduce image quality), or an accessory that you can add on and take off.

Looking at the item on the accessory page, I see there is a little notch on the top-right portion. Maybe that’s to put your nail in and pull the screen off.

Still, I’d like confirmation before I order, because I am not looking for a permanent solution.

Thanks

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Welcome privacy! You will get the correct answer to your question by emailing Purism support. The main page of this forum explains how to contact them. Might take a day to get an answer. I’ve had good luck with them.

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You can attach it temporary or glue it, which would attach it permanently. Note that, if you glue it, you can’t return your device for refund. So we advise that you first attach it temporary (do not glue it), until you determine if this suits your needs.

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Mladen is totally on spot here, just let me add something…

The privacy screen filter is an about .5mm thick sheet, i.e. it is quite sturdy. Since it also reduces brightness a bit you probably do not want it permanently attached to your creen anyway but only in situations where you have potentially non trust worthy people around (train, bus, airport etc.).

So there are two types of fixtures ocming with it in the package, transparent sticker strips and transparent holders. The sticker strips are used to indeed stick it to the screen long term, these are like double sided transparent sticker tape. The holders are more like “ears” that attach to the bezel frame, there are six of these in the package (IIRC). You can then just slide the screen filter behind these, between holder and screen. This holds the filter to the screen just fine and can be slid in and out at any time, just as you need it.

For the Librem5 phone this is a little different. There you do not have the space for holders so the L5 privacy screen has a special sticking surface on its back. This is less like glue but more like a nano sticking material that kind of sucks itself to the screen glass - pretty cool :slight_smile: (feels a bit like the glue on post-it note stickers). So you can also attach and remove it many times, you just have to be very careful that no dirt accumulates on the sticky side.

Cheers
nicole

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Thanks @nicole.faerber
That was quite useful.
I was too chicken to attach the screen permanently and never even noticed the holder tabs
Actually I never even noticed the strips or the tabs or the instruction booklet. Or the nice screen cleaning cloth.

I assumed it was like a phone screen where you peel the protective thing off and stick it forever.
But now I am rocking a temporary privacy screen mv the Librem15 laptop. ( allegedly )
I used 4 holder tabs ( out of 12 i think - 2 strips of 6 )
I did have to remove the privacy screen’s protective film to get it to fit because its snug.

So now, not only can I remove the privacy screen but I can even remove the see-through sticky tabs if i wanted to redo it all symmetrical and professional looking.

Thanks again for the detailed info!!!