Before I buy... is PinePhone actually open source?

[kern707]

We require open source firmware verifiable 4G/MNO connectable via SIM Card devices with POTS call capability and zero possibility of GPS location awareness.

Unfortunately there is no such device, and there won't be so long as radio devices require regulatory approval. Read the 4G standard docs - see
https://www.3gpp.org/specifications/ - from what I remember location awareness is part of the specification. Many (most?) jurisdictions now require location for emergency calls, and network operators find it useful for a number of reasons, including selling it to 3rd parties even when they've promised they won't.

Exactly what I wanted to say, there were regulation put in place, to make it impossible for any average Joe to have a device that is 100% untraceable.

What concerns me, is not some intelligence agency tracking my gps signature, because I am not of an interest to them.

Some primary concerns are things such as when you buy a very expensive phone such as the latest Samsung Android phone, or a Google Phone, or an iPhone, pay like 800 euros or USD for it, think that you "own" it, while in fact those companies feel entitled to encapsulate malicious features on system updates, without your consent! such as the very dirty move that apple did when they decided to add a Tracking feature as a native part of their OS (so you can't even get rid of it), without even asking the end customers if they agree to it, with the excuse that it was to "fight the pandemic", right after they have mentioned that the collected data will be "available to various of governments agencies", that is a very big breach of my privacy and what gets me the most is that they feel like they can do it, and they don't even need my permission to do it, they sell you a phone for a lot of money but still feel privileged to do with it and the data that is on it as they please like they lent it to you for free or got your permission to use your personal data for their own business model. 

Or when google phones or Android phones literally are constantly taking audio samples of what you are talking about, and translate it to traceable data - then you open up an app such as facebook (another huge privacy violator and private data miner) and surprisingly see an offering that is exactly what you TALKED about with your wife an hour ago, without ever typing it into any search engine on your device - that is a big privacy breach.

Those companies IMHO can never be trusted again, from the moment they decided to put profits the top priority at the expense of their customer's privacy and real ownership (not to mention that they started designing their products to be un-repairable, again for maximizing profits without any care for product quality and longevity)

That is from the basics of the "privacy" prospect. but in general for many daily linux users - owning a Linux powered phone that is not running on the hardware of one of the big tech giants is pure bliss.