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"The result is that the unique network ID of your socket is transported in an unencrypted form to the Chinese server" The use of The word "Chinese" in this art
by pmyjavec 10y ago
"The result is that the unique network ID of your socket is transported in an unencrypted form to the Chinese server"
The use of The word "Chinese" in this article is amusing.
Is it really important or necessary? Would it be preferable if the data was sent to a US server ?
- nostromo 10y agoIf you're a US citizen, you would be a bit better off if it was a US server, because the records from the server would be available to the US court system. This is helpful if a customer ends up suing the company, or if there is a security breach that is investigated by US-based law enforcement. I agree, the inclusion does hint at Sinophobia. But it's also a valid detail for security conscious customers to consider.
- navbaker 10y agoWhy is it "Sinophobia" to state a fact about where the server is located?
- pg_is_a_butt 10y agobecause race, gender, and borders do not exist in the new world order. those who acknowledge them will be eliminated. just some dumb law a pollack jew lady thought up.
- Fomite 10y agoThe suggestion is that the location of the server wouldn't have been reported if it went to say...Germany. Or Ireland.
- tedunangst 10y agoIs there evidence to support that suggestion? Like a similar review about a device that uses a German server but refers to it as a "server in a trustworthy country"?
- mmanfrin 10y agoBecause it frames the situation in a certain, coerced way.
- int_handler 10y agoHow is it coerced? The author reports the facts exactly as they are. If the author had instead attempted to tie this to, say, past security breaches caused by hackers operating out of China, then that would be framing the situation in a coerced way.
- mmanfrin 10y agoConsider the following: Man kills man. Man kills black man. White man kills black man. Assuming the facts are all the same, do you understand how the selective informing of facts frames the readers understanding or impression of the issue? Thanks for the downvote though.
- jsjohnst 10y agoConsider the following: Human kills human. Life form kills life form. At what point does it end? You are splitting hairs and I think you know it.
- mmanfrin 10y agoYou are splitting hairs and I think you know it. No, not really. I'm explaining how a fact can impart bias. Not sure why this is such a difficult concept to understand.
- int_handler 10y agoI am replying to your other comment here since it is not possible to reply to that comment for some reason. I do not think that is a valid comparison. The author did not go out of her way to point out that the server was located in China. There is no mention of China in the title, and the only place where the author mentions China is several paragraphs in explaining how and where the data is transmitted. There are more mentions of China in this comment than in the entire article. Finally, for the record, I do not have a verified email associated with this account and thus do not have the ability to downvote.
- cheeze 10y agoI don't think it is. Sure, he's pointing out that the server is in China, but I think he would point it out for many, many countries and continents (Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, etc.)
- int_handler 10y agoI don't see how this would be considered Sinophobia given the history of high-profile security breaches caused by hackers operating out of China. If the article reported that the data were being sent unencrypted to a Russian server, would that be considered Russophobia?
- nostromo 10y agoI think the author could have explained why this detail's inclusion was relevant, as you did very well. The current phrasing is clumsy and reads like a dogwhistle, although I doubt that was the author's intent.
- int_handler 10y agoI think it is highly debatable whether this is a potential dogwhistle. The author explained the facts are they are: > But if you’re not home, your phone sends the command to a server in China, which then passes the command along to the socket. > The result is that the unique network ID of your socket is transported in an unencrypted form to the Chinese server — and anyone who gets their hands on the ID can then control the socket. The problem with tying this to the other security breaches caused by Chinese hackers would actually make this article _more_ sensationalist because that would allege that this company is somehow affiliated with the hacking activity. If the company and server were located in other countries other than the US, it is highly likely that the author would specify the country as well.
- cm3 10y agoIt's the opposite. As a US citizen you have to be afraid of DC while Chinese citizens need to make sure they don't get on Beijing's radar and so on for each nation. It's a matter of under which jurisdiction you are and therefore which governing body has the most freedom-limiting power over you. These devices are developed in China and hence have Chinese IPs for some call-home feature. As much as I want to be skeptical, I wonder what the HN community would say if it'd be a US or French IP.
- StavrosK 10y agoConversely, if you get hacked by someone in the US, you have more recourse than if you get hacked by someone in China. Hence the word "Chinese" in the sentence.
- cm3 10y agoThat's true for a company with money for lawyers but not random private person. They will be mostly covered by their bank in case of fraud, but other than that, there's not much you can do. It's like burglary. I know first hand that you go report it to the police and a month later you get a letter that they stopped investigating the crime. I don't live in the US or China and I find it naive to single out Chinese ip address as bad addresses while not thinking twice about IPs in the US. There is no basis to trust a random ip address in the US more than one in Russia or China. And again, these devices are developed in China so it's natural for them to have a call-home ip that's in China. Instead of reading too much into it, let's first consider the most likely explanation.
- tedunangst 10y agoIf the device's operation is dependent on the GFW passing traffic, that's an operational risk not present for devices backed by servers in other areas.