Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with digital ID is that it can be switched off in an instant. I was talking to some people in a strike picket line about this. They seemed unaware of it. Suddenly you would be unable to travel, pay your bills and access internet etc for doing the wrong thing.
If an authoritarian state tells a bank to block you as a customer you get exactly the same result. All these options of blocking people are already available to states in general.
India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
481–490 of 783 posts
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#482Earlier quoted context omitted.
the singaporean "singpass" has been an amazing convenience. at this point its like why is any company still asking you to fill in personal particulars on forms? they should ask for access to singpass and you just authorize them. you apply to or for anything.. and they just give you the option of authorizing via singpass.. and you use your passkey-like singpass app to authorize it... and its done! you go to hospital a…
Doesn't this mean that it's not only your hospital that sees your medical records, but... everyone who would otherwise only need your name and telephone number? Or is there some way to restrict which party gets which data?
It is trade-off, but probably lot more accountable than paper records in big hospitals.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#483Earlier quoted context omitted.
you're all over this thread saying this, can you link an article or at least explain what you mean?
It is tiresome to repeat every single time the arguments that so many other cyber experts have also mentioned including here on YC. This is quite the common knowledge by now. Kindly use the search box on the bottom of the page.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#484Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stalin did not force anyone to install apps. He was actually a good ruler. He took over the country with a plough and left it with a nuclear missile.
The nuclear missile was developed under Khrushchev, who was actually decent. Stalin brought back the Czarist internal passport system, Russian chauvinism, racial discrimination and prison slavery, enriched a new oligarchy, his police killed most of Lenin's politburo and thousands of other good Communists on false charges, and he almost lost Moscow to a fascist incel armed with Panzer IIs, despite the superiority of t…
It is fun to read about Russian chauvinism under Stalin rule, given the fact that he wasn't Russian himself.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#485Earlier quoted context omitted.
As concerning as it is, this is just another addition to the pile of malware that a modern smartphone is. Everyone including SoC manufacturer, RF baseband manufacturer, OEM, OS developer, browser developer and app developers add their own opaque blobs, hidden executable rings, lockdown measures, attestation layers, telemetry, trojan apps, hidden permissions and more. We lost the game when we allowed these players to…
I completely agree with you but I'm not sure I can really think of a solution for the RF baseband problem. I really don't want to live in a world where everyone's wifi signal is terrible because lots of stupid software devs decided to boost the RF power for their product to make it work better.
In the longer term however, we will need such a restriction on RF BB lifted too. Openness isn't just about modifiability. It's essential for security too. I'm someone who believes that security and granular restrictions can be implemented without being hostile towards users. This is why I don't buy Apple's argument that hardware lockdown measures like soldering on batteries, permanently gluing up ICs, etc are essential for miniaturization and security.
One solution for the problem you mentioned (devs over-boosting the RF output) is to have a one-time programmable power limiter after one of the final fixed-gain RF power amplifiers. (An example of a one-time programmable device is an anti-fuse FPGA). Such a baseband can be programmed to conform to the market country's regulations (or something even stricter) before assembly. This way, the developer can boost the signal as much as they want, but the device simply won't respond beyond the permissible limit.
Of course, all these are daydreams, because it has to be implemented by the baseband manufacturer. Unfortunately, their incentives don't align with our interests.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#486Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I abhor any decision that robs even a grain of my individual freedom. Silly goose. "Freedom" is always balanced against "Responsibility" (both Individual and Group); it can never be absolute. The latter needs State support. That is the reason my "freedom" to rob you is curtailed by the "State's (i.e. Group's) responsibility" enacting laws to prevent it. You also exercise "your (i.e. Individual) responsibility" when…
This comment would've been good without the pointless insult at the top.
"Silly goose" is a lighthearted, informal expression used to describe someone who is acting foolish, silly, or has made a silly mistake. It is a playful term that is not meant to be offensive and is often used affectionately. The phrase can also refer to a "silly person" or "simpleton" in an informal context.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#487Earlier quoted context omitted.
Digital ID is also an identification system, social security number isn't. For instance you can't ID people on porn sites using it.
You can't ID people on porn sites with what's implemented in most European countries either. I feel like what you mean by "digital ID" is very different to what others mean.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#488I'm shocked by people and state using the crutch of cyber crime or scams to push a totalitarian solution to a problem that is better solved by improved education and targeted campaigns against common security pitfalls. I abhor any decision that robs even a grain of my individual freedom.
Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
#489Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I will be suprised if companies like apple comply though They will. All tech companies already comply with India's IT Act. And India now manufactures 44% of all iPhones sold in the US [0] while dangling the stick of a $38B anti-trust fine [6] but also the carrot of implementing China-style labor laws [10] that Apple lobbied for [11], so Apple doesn't have much of a choice because both China and Vietnam (the primary…
From what I just heard on the Upgrade podcast, Apple only put a splash screen up when you first purchased your phone “encouraging” users in Russia to download the app. It didn’t force you to.
In more recent developments of this story, looks like Russian authorities saw a success of EU's push for alternative stores and now want Apple to allow that in Russia too [1,2]. Sadly, the motivation is twofold: a. let authorities publish their spyware (Max messenger) and b. let sanctioned companies publish their apps (sberbank). I haven't heard a single word about caring for user freedom.
P.S. just for laughs: Since it's currently (almost)impossible to install alternative appstores, stores and online marketplaces selling iphones now label them as "defective" [3]: below title "Имеется недостаток товара: невозможно установить и использовать RuStore" = "Defect: impossible to install and use RuStore"
[1] (ru) https://www.ixbt.com/news/2025/07/07/apple-rustore-iphone-ip...
[2] (en) https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/06/27/an-app-store-ultimat...