Horrible for a so-called democratic country …
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India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
71–80 of 783 posts
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even an open platform would do nothing. If you are a suspect, your phone would be checked in person (India doesn't have the concept of the 4th Amendment, and police demanding physical access to your phone during a search is routine) and if you were using something like GrapheneOS, it would be used as evidence against you. Indian law enforcement has already used access to Signal and Telegram as circumstantial evidence…
If it was open, truly open, wouldn't using GrapheneOS be easier and far more common than it is now?
That distro is seriously not good for your privacy.
DYR (deeper) and support less dodgy options like LineageOS.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#73It is happening, in spite many won't really deeply believe. Every day 33 brits are arrested for what they say online. It's happening, and it's time we say no. It's uncomfortable, but we need to do it en masse, right now. Do not buy backdoored hardware, help others get rid of the backdoors, use anonymous technology to organize protests. There has to be a line.
Do you have a source for the Brits being arrested?
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#74Very concerning. I will be suprised if companies like apple comply though.
They are doing this for US from the beginning so it is only matter of time or carefully applied pressure. This is only a PR.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#75What stops someone from loading GrapheneOS on their (Indian) Android phone?
Mostly the fact that GrapheneOS only works on Google Pixel hardware currently and vendor unlock status. It's the only available phone hardware that provides full bootloader unlock capabilities AND suitable security protections baked into the secure enclave and boot process, including things like rate limiting in hardware like password cracking attempts via external brute-force input means, lockdown of usb ports until boot unlocked with a pin, etc. Their website spells out all the reasons.
Other phone makers could if they wanted to do the same, but do not as an active choice, or at least somebody's choice above them.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#76What stops someone from loading GrapheneOS on their (Indian) Android phone?
... secure boot? I don't understand "just load GrapheneOS" sentiments. It only runs on extremely specific flagship devices with explicit features that allow it that are out of financial and technical reach for >99.9% of population of Earth and it still fully relies on AOSP. It's an escape hatch for mice. Or is it really not that way?
It is a dodgy Android distro for several reasons.
LineageOS has no such shenanigans nor has a pattern of suspicious funding.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Do they actually have a choice? Yes. Apple's revenues are half as much as the government of India's [1][2]. That's a resource advantage that gives Cupertino real leverage against New Delhi. [1] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-reports-fourth-... $102.5bn / quarter [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen... $827bn / year
Like any business Apple needs growth to satisfy the shareholders. New growth would come from India and China. Apple didn't leave China and neither it will leave India. India can and will survive without Apple. Though having it in the country would be good for optics. The moment mobile companies locked down sideloading, ability to uninstall bundled software, etc., they made it impossible to argue techincally against b…
> Apple didn't leave China and neither it will leave India. India can and will survive without Apple
They can both survive without each other. But neither is going to break the arrangement without a lot of pain. They have mutual leverage with each other, and that becomes particularly material when one stops treating India as a monolith.
> India can and will survive without Apple. Though having it in the country would be good for optics
Most people aren't content with merely surviving.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#78It is happening, in spite many won't really deeply believe. Every day 33 brits are arrested for what they say online. It's happening, and it's time we say no. It's uncomfortable, but we need to do it en masse, right now. Do not buy backdoored hardware, help others get rid of the backdoors, use anonymous technology to organize protests. There has to be a line.
I didn't find any context for your claim so here is some reddit comment:
So it’s true 3,300 people were arrested for posts online. What they don’t tell you are the statistics or context. The actual law for these arrests covers EVERYTHING online. These arrests include those arrested for terrorism (if the planning/act of terror includes any online communication in the UK), threats of violence, racist abuse, hate speech and unwanted communication (including sending unsolicited sexual photos to strangers). It also includes spreading false information that could cause harm or affect an ingoing investigation.
If you look at convictions, only 137 people were actually sentenced in 2024.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DebunkThis/comments/1mmux6r/comment...
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#79What does this app actually do, in detail? Anyone know?
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#80It is happening, in spite many won't really deeply believe. Every day 33 brits are arrested for what they say online. It's happening, and it's time we say no. It's uncomfortable, but we need to do it en masse, right now. Do not buy backdoored hardware, help others get rid of the backdoors, use anonymous technology to organize protests. There has to be a line.
Do you have a source for the Brits being arrested?
A Liberty GB spokesman said: "Mr Weston was standing on the steps of Winchester Guildhall, addressing the passers-by in the street with a megaphone.
"He quoted an excerpt about Islam from the book The River War by Winston Churchill.
"Reportedly, a woman came out of the Guildhall and asked Mr Weston if he had the authorisation to make this speech.
"When he answered that he didn't, she told him: 'It's disgusting', and then called the police.
"Six or seven officers arrived. They talked with the people standing nearby, asking questions about what had happened.
"The police had a long discussion with Mr Weston, lasting about 40 minutes.
"At about 3pm he was arrested. They searched him, put him in a police van and took him away."