ICE-tracking app developers aren’t giving up(wired.com) |
ICE-tracking app developers aren’t giving up(wired.com) |
Historian Timothy Snyder’s first lesson in his book On Tyranny is “Do not obey in advance.” To obey a tyrant before you are compelled to do so teaches them what they will be able to get you to do, easily, without even needing to expend the resources and energy it takes to carry out that part of their agenda.
I don't know if that's true but that's their claim
It's hard to escape using Apple devices, but the company's actions under trump have made me into a consumer open to other options.
If the Apple phone and the Chinese-brand are both going to bow to their respective authoritarian government, it makes the cheaper, better spec'd non-Apple options much more appealing.
Didn't people want Apple's thoughtful, executive curation? If you're still not switching phones, what gives? Apple won this fight years ago, I'm shocked that we only now see people lift pitchforks and complain. You fought for your ability to resist sideloading and this is your just deserts. It's the phone you wanted.
I think it was either the way they added the two-button passcode lock that can be done without pulling the phone out of your pocket, the San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone (2016), Apple's resistance to the UK's backdoor requirement in ADP, or maybe when they wouldn't unlock the Pensacola Shooter's iPhone (2019), Apple's methods to resisting China's demand for iCloud Master Key multiple times, or the constant updates like disabling biometric unlock after being disconnected from cell networks for a certain number of hours.
> Senator Wyden called them out (alongside Google) on backdooring Push Notifications years ago.
Apple's notification framework is wildly different than Google's Android method. Apple's notifications can be anonymous (hence the article we're commending on!) but Google's cannot.
> Didn't people want Apple's thoughtful, executive curation?
The app store doesn't promise curation in the sense of a museum store... it's more running the apps through a pre-check before offering to customers. It's safety, not sales appeal, at least mostly.
> If you're still not switching phones, what gives?
The alternatives are many times worse. Have you ever actually looked at what iOS collects vs Android?!
> I'm shocked that we only now see people lift pitchforks and complain.
We're upset about ICE apps being removed and Apple giving gold chunks to wannabe dictators. That didn't happen until recently.
> You fought for your ability to resist sideloading and this is your just deserts.
Google is also fighting sideloading. What phone maker are you imagining exists today and makes phones that don't have this issue?
You don't have to use a smartphone. You can buy a flip phone, a $20 Android handset or even a Linux burner that handles SMS, takes photos and keeps your voicemail. Or you could use no phone at all.
And yes, using "no phone" is a perfectly amicable solution to the problem. I know, it sounds wild. You can still make it 24 hours without touching Instagram in 2025, I've checked myself.
The reason for this charade is because everytime somebody tries to sue the NSA over illegal data collection, the case gets tossed for lack of standing. You need to prove both that you were illegally spied on and negatively affected by such. If you can't prove that, then you have no standing to sue. And anytime people try to gather evidence of said collection in e.g. discovery, the government simply claims national security - and the case ends up tossed.
The public cases are efforts to try to streamline the process where the government could legally directly utilize such things. So you have this sort of charade where Apple is giving the government everything it wants in private, but then genuinely fighting them publicly. Both sides get more or less what they want out of the deal. Apple gets to pretend to be a protector of privacy, and the government gets unfettered access to whatever they want.
The Intercept has run a bunch of articles on this topic, alongside direct evidence of such. Here's one. [2]
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction
[2] - https://theintercept.com/2017/11/30/nsa-surveillance-fisa-se...
Today's announcement from Apple further flies in the face of your arguments: https://security.apple.com/blog/apple-security-bounty-evolve...
Parallel construction isn't a technical "feature" on any phone. It is a way the NSA can use their de-facto coercion powers, ones that Apple has already admitted to fielding. If Apple is fighting this "more than any other large company" you know of, you better trust them a whole lot more than any of us do. There is no evidence that Cook has resisted this admin, at the going rate it seems like a Tweet is all it takes for him to redesign the ecosystem.
> Today's announcement from Apple further flies in the face of your arguments
Apple has always had a pitiful security bounty. It's why NSO Group burns their zero-days instead of disclosing them responsibly. Nobody cares what Apple will pay you if the exploit is worth more.
Mind you, Apple tried to sue NSO Group but then dropped the case after their federal handlers warned them of fighting with Israeli intel: https://www.securityweek.com/apple-suddenly-drops-nso-group-...
Who are you speaking for when you say "any of us do"? I don't know many technically competent people who would choose an Android device at retail over an iOS device at retail, and if you do, you should question their specific reason to see if they're competent.
If we're in agreement that the frogs are boiling, you need to stop making veiled threats towards a monopoly and take action if you want to save yourself. There is no point in moralizing Apple's decisions when the abuse of their top-down control has already led to real-life censorship. The point of my whole combative comment chain is to snap you out of the ludicrous fantasy that your personal politics will triumph over the economy or sitting administration. You have already lost, your ownership of an iPhone is the loudest approval of Apple's behavior you can possibly voice. Victimize yourself all you want, you're the one asking your telecom to ship you the Apple phone.
Get this into your head: Tim Cook is not aligned with you - you are aligned with him. He isn't going to read your hand-wringing "as a long time Apple user..." comment and reconsider his life goals. Why would he? You aren't a priority to him, he is the CEO of a monopoly. All he has to worry about, to ensure his continued success, is currying government favor and selling new products. No need to listen to you in a market that doesn't compete. His RSUs are worth exponentially more when he skips your "valuable feedback" to fabricate more consolation prizes for the president. It's simple economics.
"exactly the same reasons" undercuts your entire argument
Android and iOS are more dissimilar than Windows and macOS. You need to be more aware of the moving parts if you wish to compare them or have a distrust based in fact.
> The point of my whole combative comment chain is to snap you out of the ludicrous fantasy that your personal politics will triumph over the economy or sitting administration.
You have failed at your stated goal, as your comment has not changed my opinion. Perhaps if you tried a non-combative, more-informed approach on your next reply you can sway someone's opinion to be closer to your own.
> It's simple economics.
Three wordy paragraphs with a trite ending claiming you've made a simple argument anywhere here.