71–80 of 354 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It's okay when we commit the same immoral acts that authoritarians commit because we're a democracy" American democracy commits heinous crimes across the world. Being a democracy doesn't absolve them of the moral degeneracy.
He's right about the whataboutism though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's definitely a thing. I believe ESTA now asks for all social media user names (not passwords, but I suppose the US government doesn't need those), and it is definitely a requirement for getting a US visa.
They ask but it’s not a requirement to fill it in.
The permissions mentioned sound like someone that doesn't understand the permissions systems used by Android and iPhone tried to translate them. So this part of the article is almost useless as it is hard to figure out what permissions the app actually has. I don't understand the Android permissions system well enough here, but I would be especially curious about which API version this is targeting as I don't know ho…
"And in a country where e.g. homosexuality is illegal this kind of stuff presents additional dangers beyond compromising your privacy." What are the dangers if you respect the laws of that country? You are in danger in any country if you entry it with the intent of breaking the laws.
This is really no different than what other countries do, e.g. US border officials extensively questioning foreigners or asking for usernames and passwords for social media. As a visitor you have to abide by the law of the country, which may be different from your own country, and whose interpretation may be stretched by border control at the point of entry. The only difference here is that they were able to build an…
What if you don’t have a smart phone? Or hell, what about one that’s 5+ years old? Are they just SoL?
This is the reason that when I travel I carry two phones. One is the phone I actually use, and the other is the one I give to authorities when they ask for my phone. It is astonishing to me that not once have I ever been asked if I have a second phone. (It will be an interesting experiment to see if that happens now that I have posted this here.)
Hayya:
- control vibration
- have full network access
- prevent phone from sleeping
- run at startup
- run foreground service
- view Wi-Fi connections
- view network connections
- access sensor data at a high sampling rate
- access approximate location only in the foreground
- access precise location only the foreground
- listen to C2DM messages
Etheraz:
- access bluetooth settings
- control vibration
- disable your screen lock
- have full network access
- pair with bluetooth devices
- prevent phone from sleeping
- run at startup
- run foreground service
- this app can appear on top of other apps
- view Wi-Fi connections
- view network connections
- access approximate location only in the foreground
- access precise location only the foreground
- directly call phone numbers
I don't think these are really that extraordinary, but some are not obvious to me at least. Especially "listen to C2DM" seems odd, possibly a side effect of another permission. Of course with these permissions you can track and trace most of your life, but that is now the norm unfortunately.
> In particular, the covid-19 app Ehteraz asks for access to several rights on your mobile., like access to read, delete or change all content on the phone, as well as access to connect to WiFi and Bluetooth, override other apps and prevent the phone from switching off to sleep mode.
The statement about delete/change all content on the phone seems false tho. Also it doesn't "override other apps" whatever that should mean, but can draw over other apps.
edit:fix formatting
Wouldn't an easy work-around be to get a cheap new Android phone? I assume you only have to install the apps on one device, if you take two; otherwise, just take the new one. I doubt that the expense would be an issue for somebody attending the World Cup. It seems like this would be good practice these days for any international travel.
This is the reason that when I travel I carry two phones. One is the phone I actually use, and the other is the one I give to authorities when they ask for my phone. It is astonishing to me that not once have I ever been asked if I have a second phone. (It will be an interesting experiment to see if that happens now that I have posted this here.)