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Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

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Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#81
post #62
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear this often, but it kinda implies they prospered because they had this obnoxious rules, i fail to see if this is actually true. Wouldn't they still be better without this tyranical bullshit?

They would, but that requires a fight against a party apparatus of 1+ million people, that controls the police, secret services and the army. And that in 1989 did what it did in Tiananmen and wouldn't be afraid to do it again, I'm pretty sure. So success would be far from guaranteed. If I'd be Chinese I'd probably do the same trade they did. After prosperity, keeping the lid on as hard as it is now is much, much hard…

So then maybe they aren't so "happy" to make the trade, but afraid for their status and lives if they don't obey?

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#82
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Android phone came with a weather app preinstalled. The app cannot be uninstalled, is full of translation errors and some links redirect to Chinese websites. Who knows what data my phone constantly sends there? Adding to that the fact that I don't receive system updates anymore, I have absolutely no trust in my phone. My next phone will be an iPhone, for the lack of better alternative.

Yeah, I recently switched from iPhone to Samsung Galaxy S10. I don't have a previous experience so my reasoning was "well it's Samsung, at worst they'll have some shitty branded apps and some cruft". But I don't have an idea what these dozens of preinstalled apps running on my phone doing. Almost none of them can be uninstalled and only a handful can be disabled. It is kind of scary to use a banking app on this thing…

> It is kind of scary to use a banking app on this thing.

My wife, who is not a tech person at all, flatly refuses to run any banking or financial apps on her Android phone. She knows just enough about the technology to know that most Android devices are cesspools of spyware and malware, even her Galaxy phone. She doesn't like iPhones though, so I doubt she will ever go over to that side even for security's sake.

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#83
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Android phone came with a weather app preinstalled. The app cannot be uninstalled, is full of translation errors and some links redirect to Chinese websites. Who knows what data my phone constantly sends there? Adding to that the fact that I don't receive system updates anymore, I have absolutely no trust in my phone. My next phone will be an iPhone, for the lack of better alternative.

Yeah, I recently switched from iPhone to Samsung Galaxy S10. I don't have a previous experience so my reasoning was "well it's Samsung, at worst they'll have some shitty branded apps and some cruft". But I don't have an idea what these dozens of preinstalled apps running on my phone doing. Almost none of them can be uninstalled and only a handful can be disabled. It is kind of scary to use a banking app on this thing…

Ever try the phones from Google with pretty much nothing pre-installed? It is a much better experience, but yes Android is still proper shit in some ways. In others it has come so far. I never have to restart my phone like I had to for my Galaxy S1 every day.

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#84
post #81
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They would, but that requires a fight against a party apparatus of 1+ million people, that controls the police, secret services and the army. And that in 1989 did what it did in Tiananmen and wouldn't be afraid to do it again, I'm pretty sure. So success would be far from guaranteed. If I'd be Chinese I'd probably do the same trade they did. After prosperity, keeping the lid on as hard as it is now is much, much hard…

So then maybe they aren't so "happy" to make the trade, but afraid for their status and lives if they don't obey?

Happy, probably not. Content? Most likely.

And what makes most people happy is having a rich personal life, rather than achieving their political goals, I've found.

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your title wasn't really great honestly, unfortunately this community is often based first impressions.

Or more bluntly: click bait wins. Now you don’t get away with taboola style headlines here, they have to be more sophisticated, but they need to grab interest.

In this case, it's not click bait that is winning.

> Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

isn't click bait, but simply much more clear and to the point than

> Ask HN: HMD Global (Nokia) is acting shady Any recourse?

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#87

Side note: I didn't notice the page was translated from another language until after I finished reading it and noticed the title bar. Machine translation between European languages has really come a long way.

Oh wow me neither. Just one word (ombudsman) stood out to me, but I thought it could exist in English. It does in my native language so I did understand it :p

That's a nice translation!

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#88
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People inside China are very aware of it; most just don't care that much. They (willingly, if not happily) trade what westerners might consider pillars of freedom for widespread prosperity. When you consider the progress China has made over the last 50 years from the perspective of a typical Chinese citizen, you can see why they make that bargain.

Taiwan has prospered just fine without pervasive digital surveillance.

Chiang Kai-Shek and Deng Xiaoping were different leaders who left different legacies; who knows what might've happened if Deng had been 15 years younger?

(I'm specifically noting those two because their deaths were epochal events in the modern political history of both countries.)

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese don't have to be covert about their tracking activities. It's part of their society, and everyone (at least outside of China) is aware of it, and nobody inside of China is allowed to talk about it.

People inside China are very aware of it; most just don't care that much. They (willingly, if not happily) trade what westerners might consider pillars of freedom for widespread prosperity. When you consider the progress China has made over the last 50 years from the perspective of a typical Chinese citizen, you can see why they make that bargain.

>People inside China are very aware of it; most just don't care that much.

The OP said they don't talk about it. Doesn't mean they don't care about it much. It is simply they don't have any means, tools or action they could do to change it.

Re: Nokia phones sent identifiable data to Chinese server

#90
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People inside China are very aware of it; most just don't care that much. They (willingly, if not happily) trade what westerners might consider pillars of freedom for widespread prosperity. When you consider the progress China has made over the last 50 years from the perspective of a typical Chinese citizen, you can see why they make that bargain.

I hear this often, but it kinda implies they prospered because they had this obnoxious rules, i fail to see if this is actually true. Wouldn't they still be better without this tyranical bullshit?

I don't mean to imply that modern-day China exists because the state is organized the way that it is, only that it does exist this way and that leaves little incentive for Chinese citizens (within the current climate) to upset the apple cart.
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