GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS • Hacker News Board

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#91

Post by ffsm8 » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:24 AM UTC

yubblegum wrote: post #49

throwfaraway135 wrote: post #14

- Heavy censorship - Two-tier justice system - This How did it come to this? The UK is arguably the country that has done the most for the cause of freedom, having led the way in abolishing slavery.

> the country that has done the most for the cause of freedom Need a history refresher. Let's skip the Magna Carta since that was really about giving power to feudal lords. Do you mean British empire being the unwitting and unwilling cause of United States? When, in God's green Earth, have the "lords" that lord it over the "subjects of crown" common people of that island have been vanguards of "freedom" when it did n…

UKs ban on slavery across their territories was in 1830 I think?

That should be a few decades before the civil war in the USA about the same issue.

The US was actually pretty much the last Western civilization to abolish slavery from what I recall from history class.

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#92

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:24 AM UTC

microflash wrote: post #3

Might as well report all users of internet to authorities for using internet because internet can also be used to commit fraud.

[deleted]

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#93

Post by ssl-3 » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:25 AM UTC

jiin wrote: post #9

Lucasoato wrote: post #6

A friend of mine told me that Yoti is used as an age verification system in so many porn websites. That’s such an issue, this information should never be owned by private companies.

Or you could just choose not to use pornography. Then you don't have to verify your age to these websites. I get that some people have a behavioural addiction to this harmful content but perhaps the age verification is an opportunity to step back and reconsider.

Agreed. It's important to remain pure.

I usually just use the Book of Mormon and that typically helps me get it done well-enough. But when that doesn't work, I allow myself some different material. The New Haven Code of 1656 is my reserve favorite and I have a laminated copy of the Comstock Act of 1873 on-hand for unusually-tricky edge cases.

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#94

Post by pogue » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:26 AM UTC

croes wrote: post #58

pogue wrote: post #20

Someone in the comments of that post linked to a long FAQ section for GrapheneOS about how apps can identify it and so forth [1]. I don't understand why it doesn't just attempt to spoof that's it's stock Android/Google everywhere it possibly can? [1] https://grapheneos.org/faq#:~:text=Apps%20can%20detect%20tha...

I bet they would count that as a attempted fraud.

It depends on what you're trying to do with it, right? If I have my browser spoof it's useragent to say it's firefox when it's chrome, is that fraud? At what point are we saying something is fraud and at what point are we just trying to avoid needless fingerprinting in apps/operating systems/whatever else?

If you're using any type of adblock in your browser, you're essentially spoofing countless systems just to have those ads not show up. But if I'm having my operating system tell an app that I'm not OS XYZ that's fraud?

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#95

Post by yubblegum » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:26 AM UTC

croes wrote: post #67

yubblegum wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the country that has done the most for the cause of freedom Need a history refresher. Let's skip the Magna Carta since that was really about giving power to feudal lords. Do you mean British empire being the unwitting and unwilling cause of United States? When, in God's green Earth, have the "lords" that lord it over the "subjects of crown" common people of that island have been vanguards of "freedom" when it did n…

Have you read parent‘s comment until the end? > having led the way in abolishing slavery

Oh, I missed that "let us now, assembled noble lords, end this abominable institution through which we have become filthy rich. And my lords, what say ye regarding pushing drugs to the wretches of Asia?"

As they like to say in England, bullocks!

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#96

Post by csomar » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:27 AM UTC

uni_baconcat wrote: post #18

This is not how authorities work. They need to prove people guilty, not flag all “suspicious activity” then let people prove they are innocent.

There is a whole set of things that can be done to you before you are proven guilty (detained, arrested, refused service, denied boarding, visit from the police, interrogated, etc..)

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#97

Post by elric » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:28 AM UTC

Any insights on what Yoti is or what might motivate them to take those moronic actions?

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#98

Post by sirsinsalot » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:29 AM UTC

skippyboxedhero wrote: post #45

uni_baconcat wrote: post #18

This is not how authorities work. They need to prove people guilty, not flag all “suspicious activity” then let people prove they are innocent.

This isn't how the UK works. There is a vast ecosystem of pre-crime authorities and the police are able to investigate things which aren't crimes and add "non-crime" incidents to your criminal record. It may not surprise you to learn that almost all of the cases in which this is used are "social" crimes. In cases of actual crime, custodial sentences are sometimes not applied at all...again, usually for reasons of soc…

But get your car stolen in the UK and the police won't do a thing. Even if you know where it is via a tracker. Nothing. Outright refuse to take any action.

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#99

Post by manarth » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:29 AM UTC

Aldipower wrote: post #53

Cider9986 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, police can simply ask anyone for their passwords and if you don't give it up they can put you in jail. I won't be visiting. Despite many flaws, the US has some damn good rights for its citizens compared to the rest of the world.

Is this satire?

[flagged]

Re: GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

#100

Post by paulgdp » Sat, Jun 06, 2026, 10:29 AM UTC

Cider9986 wrote: post #36

antiloper wrote: post #31

OI mate, you got a loicense for that operating system? The only surprising thing about this story is that the user didn't get a visit by the police to be charged with a "non-crime cybersecurity incident". The UK has become such a shithole.

Yep, police can simply ask anyone for their passwords and if you don't give it up they can put you in jail. I won't be visiting. Despite many flaws, the US has some damn good rights for its citizens compared to the rest of the world.

> Yep, police can simply ask anyone for their passwords and if you don't give it up they can put you in jail.

This is precisely the reason why I don't want to visit the US at the moment.

The USA immigration officers can ask me to forfeit my phone's password and look at all my photos, documents, messages, call logs etc, WITHOUT SUSPICION.

Some of that data can even stay on their servers for decades, and who knows if it ends up on a CIA/NSA server.

Of course, I can always refuse, but non-cooperation with CBP means immediate denial of entry and risks of lifelong headaches with future immigration checks.