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Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

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Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#121

Post by skywhopper »

mbrumlow wrote: post #72

This seems to be a growing trend, mostly in journalism; Blame technology. Just recently there was a article going around about how Google's search algorithm was at fault of keeping two sisters apart. And entire multi page write up on how our lives are at the whims of computers and algorithms. Then to be told that the one sister could not find the other because she changes her name online to protect her identity. Now…

Interesting. I personally find that journalism all too often neglects the negative aspects of technologies, being far to eager to play up companies' own hype about the revolutionary impact of their technology or software without taking a second to examine the risks or shortcomings. See: social networking, cryptocurrency, autonomous vehicles, online advertising, hyperloop, online education, tablets/laptops/PCs in schools...

The fact is that powerful technologies are usually quite easy to misuse intentionally or not. Often/usually just in a wasteful way--the tech isn't ready, or it's a waste of time and money, or it gets people to take ridiculous gambles and lose all their money. But sometimes the misuse is actually extremely dangerous. Huge unintended consequences are possible, and we are kidding ourselves to ignore it or to say "Don't blame the technology, only people can misuse technology." Well, people are imperfect, and it's irresponsible to pretend that the massively powerful tools we now have do not come with massive risks as well.

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#122

Post by [deleted] »

t-away9912 wrote: post #40
Rjevski wrote: post #3

FTFY: a shitty government is putting people in jail. Even if we ignore the horrible government and bullshit reasons why they're considering installing an encrypted chat app a "crime", they should at least use proper evidence for the convictions, like a dump of the phone's memory with the chat app installed on it, and not a simple DNS lookup/HTTP request to the chat app's domain.

It's getting worse by the day. They arrested people for wearing a t-shirt. They just arrested people for tweeting against the war (recent Turkish incursion to Syria).

[deleted]

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#123

Post by alpb »

benmmurphy wrote: post #116

why did the gulenists use bylock when they could have used whatsapp or signal? it looks like they are getting rounded up because their use of an obscure app has become a strong signal that they are gulenists. though, signal might have had similar problems. not sure how popular it is in turkey.

Basically poor call. They had someone code Bylock from scratch for them because they thought it would be more secure.

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#124

Post by qwerty456127 »

What is horrifying here is that people are actually forbidden to communicate securely (ByLock is a secure messenger AFAIK). IMHO the right for privacy is to be absolute, mo matter what. No kind of safety or anything is worth living under constant surveillance and being unable to chat and be sure no 3rd party can read that.

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#125

Post by yorby »

w0m wrote: post #34
yorby wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought that the American government had the worst ratio of free citizens/incarcerated citizens ...

No one mentioned ratio, this is about 'injustice/abuse of tech' not volume. For comparison, even with the BS behavior in OP, Turkey is about 285/100,000 incarceration rate. The US of A is at 666/110,000, over double.

what are you saying? USA is worst?

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#126

Post by yorby »

Aaron1011 wrote: post #32
yorby wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought that the American government had the worst ratio of free citizens/incarcerated citizens ...

A government can imprison people for horrible reasons, but still not have the worst radio.

if you imprison 1 person for no reason at all, that would be pretty horrible... but if you imprison thousands for barely nothing, that is ok?

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#127

Post by ken »

mbrumlow wrote: post #72

This seems to be a growing trend, mostly in journalism; Blame technology. Just recently there was a article going around about how Google's search algorithm was at fault of keeping two sisters apart. And entire multi page write up on how our lives are at the whims of computers and algorithms. Then to be told that the one sister could not find the other because she changes her name online to protect her identity. Now…

> In the end it is people who are to blame

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." -- Frank Herbert, 1965

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#128

Post by remind_me_again »

Bylock app is a closed group chat app. The people who used it heavyly in Turkey was a group called Gulenist. They staged the coup in July 15, 2016, and failed. Turkish intelligence service had already infiltrated the Bylock server at least 6 months before the coup attempt. AFAIK the server was in a Eastern Eurepean country.

Since the coup attempt prosecutors using Bylock communications as one data point to identify group members. They do this going through the telecommunication logs connections from members' phones to that particular server. Gulenist as a counter measure and to dilute themselves within the general population they used another app that connects to that server. The app is simply an app that tells the prayer times (for muslims). So whoever used that app became a suspect as well. A friend of mine unfortunately lost her job because of that. She went through a big turmoil for about a year. For one, she is nothing to do with the group and has been a critic of them years before the coup attempt. Think about for a second if you go through an ordeal for the very thing you have been opposed.

Fortunately, again government realized this sinister plot and has been trying to identify who is really were not affiliated with the group. And my friend, after a year later, clear of blame and reinstated by the government back to her job. She is physician.

Unfortunately public either half or misinformed most of the time. This is a very sinister group who tried to overthrow a government who was elected democratically, and a very popular one. During the coup attempt 243 ordinary citizen were killed in the hands of these people. For a moment just think what would you do if your own F-16 fighter jets are bombing you, your very own rifles are showering bullets when you are demonstrating against the coup.

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#129

Post by tim333 »

reallymental wrote: post #4

Everybody hears the echos of this behavior throughout history. I wonder if Erdogan thinks he'll be the one who escapes the universal fate of tyrants. As Turkey becomes increasingly alienated from the EU, Putin looks to gain another monster.

I'm not sure what the universal fate of tyrants is supposed to be. A lot of them seem to hang in there fairly comfortably till they die of old age.

Re: Thousands of Turks accused of using Bylock app despite never having used it

#130

Post by djrogers »

wu-ikkyu wrote: post #95
Banthum wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America has a high ratio. To call it 'worst' is a value judgment and not an objective statement, any more than saying the abortion or divorce rate is better or worse.

>To call it 'worst' is a value judgment and not an objective statement Why does that matter here? The very laws which a large % of them broke (drug laws) are not based on objective statements.

>The very laws which a large % of them broke (drug laws)

Common misconception, but that's not actually the case - best numbers show about 15% of prisoners are in with drug charges.

[1] https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/releasing-drug-offender...

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