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India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

reuters.com

561–570 of 783 posts

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of people in the US are clinging to the hope that this type of friction, along with judicial decisions, will cause the process of removing our legal protections to stall out. I'm not optimistic that this is the case, because the party currently driving the federal incursion on private and state-held data is the one that until recently was opposed to things like national ID. Anything can be done in the n…

I don’t really get why people seem convinced that the government is removing protections for all citizens under a smokescreen of illegal immigration handling, as opposed to taking limited and temporary measures to deal with an unusual situation. My current interpretation is that they are fear mongering about violence because they are actually way more racist than they admit publicly, and might want to remove more peo…

>> why do we think that they are using this as a ruse to like become despotically authoritarian in general

You stated this very well.

But I do think it's a ruse. I don't have a problem with enforcing the law on illegal immigration.[0] But I do think the deployment of National Guard and in some cases Marines on American streets, allegedly to disperse anti-ICE protests, is a long game to make sure that there will be no judicial obstacles in the way if MAGA loses the 2028 election fair and square, cries foul that the election was stolen, decides to send in their own slate of electors, and faces nationwide protests.

I live in Portland. I see the ridiculous cosplay of protesters outside the ICE detention facility. I see the absurdity of deploying troops to face off against them. If these clowns can be used as a casus belli to declare war and use the US military against the civilian population, then it will be no stretch to do so when a large portion of the population rises up to demand a proper electoral count in 2028. That's the scenario I see when I see the willy-nilly, unnecessary use of federalized troops on American soil.

And for the record, I'm a registered Republican and mostly libertarian.

[0] I am not anti-immigration, and I don't view immigration as a "demographic problem". I don't care what race people are as long as they are coming here for the right reasons and want to integrate and be productive members of our society. I was also an illegal immigrant in Europe for years. I accept the fact that countries have the right to decide who they want to accept as citizens, and that breaking those rules may damage your ability to become a citizen of the country you want to be accepted into. And that going there illegally may carry certain risks.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if that were the case, by what mechanism are they commandeering it? That's essentially what I was thinking about in this India case. Undoubtedly most people will comply, but there will be a few who don't, so I'm curious what the plan is to bring them in line.

UK isn't commandeering anything. The UK government hasn't decided yet how digital ID will work, currently it's just a talking point. Probably it will be an app that you install, like the NHS app. Nobody is proposing that it be installed by default. Apple separately announced that a Digital ID feature will be built into iOS[0] which the UK may use or not use. > few who don't, so I'm curious what the plan is to bring t…

You do not need any form of photo or biometric id to work in the UK. I have never given anything of the sort, and have worked here for decades.

All that is required is a national insurance number (equivalent of Social Security Number in US).

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t really get why people seem convinced that the government is removing protections for all citizens under a smokescreen of illegal immigration handling, as opposed to taking limited and temporary measures to deal with an unusual situation. Probably because the actions being taken are against people of every category; illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, and naturally born citizens. As has been noted, _anyone…

What actions are being taken against legal immigrants and naturally born citizens? Are you referring to getting arrested and released due to some suspicion (let’s say the suspicion is always fabricated for the sake of argument), or deported, or something else? On due process, if someone accidentally gets a free flight to a foreign country, that totally sucks and they should be paid compensation, but let’s not pretend…

> if someone accidentally gets a free flight to a foreign country

It's practically a vacation, you're right. I really don't know what they're complaining about /s

> think the Germans of the ‘30s would have a very different reputation if they had simply attempted to deport all the Jews...

There's no way you've just written that. I urgently suggest you to pick a history book.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#564

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What actions are being taken against legal immigrants and naturally born citizens? Are you referring to getting arrested and released due to some suspicion (let’s say the suspicion is always fabricated for the sake of argument), or deported, or something else? On due process, if someone accidentally gets a free flight to a foreign country, that totally sucks and they should be paid compensation, but let’s not pretend…

Of course this is where it starts. If you ever find yourself in the situation of saying “at least it’s not as bad as Nazi Germany” then you’re probably not heading in a good direction.

While being mistaken about what Nazi Germany did (they did not, in fact, start gassing people in 1933; it began precisely with deportations).

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#565

Sounds so authoritarian. Luckily, in the UK you only have to scan your face and ID to access cat photos.

Are you talking about downloading reddit, which is infested with the weirdest pornography that exists ?

While I am very much against facial scanning etc, it is quite clear that something needs to be done about the access of porn to kids. It is a drug like any other that we do not allow kids to consume.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#566
As "totalitarian" as it sounds, it actually makes sense that India's govt had to take such drastic steps. Telecom providers and smartphone manufacturers have criminally refused for decades to protect end-users, because it makes them money.

Govt can't have their population at large being scammed by criminals and do relatively nothing about it. It's a huge economic and productivity drain people seem to have "accepted as normal".

So how do you not shut down and arrest these greedy international corporations, which would disrupt a country's infrastructure, despite ongoing warnings? Force them.

To me it's akin to the US govt mandating software that allows users to report any and all spam, fully traceable to criminals and providers, whom the govt could prosecute/heavily fine 100% of the time. Dangerous 2-edged sword, but if takes down that despicable scam industry, later it can transition to a law mandating the same protection but in a privacy a preserving manner.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#567
post #203

Does this mean visitors to India would also get this app installed on their phone as soon as they land in India?

I am visiting India. The app wasn’t installed automatically. I received the SMS telling me to install the app but I am using an Indian sim borrowed from a friend. So I figured I got the SMS because of Indian sim. My wife didn’t receive sms as she is using Airalo esim data service.

I didn’t know the SMS was legit or not and I just marked it as spam. The challenge I have found with mobile in India is the excess of sms spam. Also the sender is always some cryptic alphanumeric characters so authenticity is difficult to judge.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SIR has been carried out historically many times in India. In the recent years a lot of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants (who ironically hate India) have registered as voters. A lot of political parties have changed policies to cater to these illegals. So this was due for a long time.

This is propaganda from the fascist ruling party BJP/RSS. After the Bihar SIR exercise, not even a single illegal immigrant was found. All this talk of illegal immigrants is classic anti muslim dog whistle.

BS. I grew up in Delhi. We used to have a large open space where I and neighborhood kids used to play cricket . Eventually the whole area converted to slums with people from Bangladesh. They took over the whole area. I was too young to care about ethnicity but the loss of my cricket field still bothers me. My neighbor was a bank manager and he once said that the government politicians forced him to give "loans" to Bangladeshi people , with no documents and only their thumbprint,before elections to those people to ensure victory of the ruling party.

Re: India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app

#570

As "totalitarian" as it sounds, it actually makes sense that India's govt had to take such drastic steps. Telecom providers and smartphone manufacturers have criminally refused for decades to protect end-users, because it makes them money. Govt can't have their population at large being scammed by criminals and do relatively nothing about it. It's a huge economic and productivity drain people seem to have "accepted a…

“greedy international corporations”. I see where you coming from.
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