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Pokemon Go banned by Iranian authorities over 'security'
- msoad 10y agoFor a long time they didn't know why or if they should ban it. They simply didn't know what to expect of it is open to public so they banned it. How China is dealing with this? Are they allowing people to play Pokemon Go?
- cableshaft 10y agoI imagine there'd be a riot if China banned Pokemon Go. China's one of the top countries for free-to-play mobile game usage, it might even be the top now.
- leojg 10y agoHow does China comes to an Iran thread? I think this issue is more about that for the type of islam practiced in iran any form of representation of images of living beings is a sin.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoAny citation or that? It looks to me you're just raising bullshit accusation. Pokémon Go can be rightfully suspected to be a surveillance device given how it works (geotracking, camera overlays and stuff) and how popular it is among general population. Not every nation is, or wants to be, in bed with the US, so such concerns are no surprise.
- leojg 10y agoAccusation of what? I just telling you that I think that as pokemons are representations of (fictional) beigns, its a sin in the view of some islam branches/currents (I dont know how they are divided) I'm not an expert in any religion and my source is a youtube video which named the fact as a side note. But is just a point... Im not intending to provoke a flamewar... About the "surveillance", I don't buy it, all that the game is doing, is already being done by google itself.
- astronautjones 10y agoActually, the Shia variant practiced the current regime is probably the most lenient of all of the islamic regimes [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam
- duskwuff 10y agoDoes Pokemon Go even work in China? Geographic data in China is ... weird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...
- cooper12 10y agoI was surprised to find that Google Maps didn't have any streetviews of China. This might help explain it, though Google's relationship with China itself didn't seem to have fared well. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_China)
- TeMPOraL 10y agoThe answer probably depends on whether Ingress ever worked in China. It seems that southern parts had some level of Ingress activity[0], so it's reasonable to assume there are some Pokémon players there too, likely using VPNs like the Ingressers. [0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Ingress/comments/3s4abq/ingress_in_china/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ingress/comments/3s4abq/ingress_in_...
- eva1984 10y agoNiantic is self censored, so Pokemon Go didn't work in China
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- hashkb 10y agoWhat is the perceived security issue? People wandering places they don't belong?
- bitwize 10y agoMore like the possibility that American spy agencies can use the app to gather intel (about where military installations are located, what's there, etc.).
- bcherny 10y agoGiven everything we hear about the NSA/FBI, this seems like a fair concern.
- hashkb 10y agoSo they're worried about us accidentally crowdsourcing our spying? Don't we have drones and satellites and stuff?
- TeMPOraL 10y agoSome things may be obscured from above but clearly visible from ground level.
- dmatthewson 10y agoYes, also Niantic's founder John Hanke has an actual documented history of CIA funding. It's not unreasonable paranoia for nations to suspect this may be an absolutely brilliant trojan horse especially given the data it collects and the access permissions it requires on some devices.
- xienze 10y agoYep. I'd be willing to bet money that it's being used to e.g., map the inside of buildings and the day-to-day habits of the person playing.
- dogma1138 10y agoBecause using spy satellites, humint, and hacking Iranian telecoms to gather intel is so out of fashion that Pokemon Go has to be used. Iran also went on to confiscate and destroy 100000 dishes that people used to watch regional and western news and TV at their home. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/iran-destroys-100000-corrupting-satellite-dishes-160724202722493.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/iran-destroys-100000-c... The ban on Pokemon Go has nothing to do with security, it's about controlling the society.
- eternalban 10y agoIsrael also shares this concern, apparently: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/01/world/middleeast/ap-ml-israel-pokemon-go.html http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/01/world/middleeast/...
- pcl 10y agoThere's a pretty big difference between a military banning active-duty soldiers from using it and a country banning its use across the board.
- gautamdivgi 10y agoI know there is this concern in India as well. My Machiavellian instinct was to say - demand the servers be located in India, and the data not leave India. Also - demand data be shared with agencies. Agencies need data collection - and this seems to be a fairly cost effective way of collecting geo spatial data. I mean if security is a concern not sure why the government refuses to work out some deal w/ the Pokemon folks rather than go all ape and ban it.
- dogma1138 10y agoIsrael banned it on military bases (it wouldn't surprise me if most countries do the same), you have an active application which records GPS coordinates, near by players, and uses the camera this conflicts with even basic opsec.
- J_Darnley 10y agoI think you mean "because it is haram". Or was that advice from the wrong kind theologian?
- ChuckMcM 10y agook, my next business card is going to say "Minister, High Council of Virtual Places" (with a foot note "and virtual responsibilities.") Pretty clear though that if you are playing Pokemon Go, and your actual identity is attached to your account, then there is a way for Niantic to tell someone where your are right now, and where you have been. Given enough adoption in the population, that data set could be used to illuminate organizations and memberships which might otherwise be considered classified. Both for players, and for non-players.[1] [1] Examples are available in the literature where people using good OpSec were identified by employees who did not.
- ivanca 10y agoBut your Facebook, Twitter, Tinder and Google Maps apps already have access to that location data. To be honest of all the aforementioned I think Pokemon Go is the less likely to use that information for evil.
- nashashmi 10y agoTrue, but they don't rely on location to use the app. P-GO does require location, or app does not work. Also, isn't tinder already banned?
- ChuckMcM 10y agoI don't disagree, perhaps Pokemon, by virtue of its active engagement while you are using it, provides higher density data. The social networking and mapping services really only note your location when you generate content or seek an address. Waze however would be a good example of something collecting location data all the time and potentially creating records of it upstream.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- rezashirazian 10y agothe Islamic Republic generally views phenomenons beyond its 1979 revolution that amass popularity as a threat.
- 0xFFC 10y agoAs a Iranian I can always clearly see how foreign analyzers, do analyze Iran issues from wrong perceptive. The regime is afraid of peoples life style change. They do know if people life style changes toward western culture then they have no place to rule. Any banning, suppression / etc you can see from Iran regime is because of this. They block access to YouTube, satellite, porn, Facebook, etc, not because they think these things are wrong. They do it just because people must not become familiar with western life style. "If they become familiar, they will understand Islam,tradition,etc is bullshit and if status quo changes ,then we don't have any place to rule" P.S. I live in Iran right now and I always track political analysis about Iran regime.
- ComodoHacker 10y ago>If they become familiar, they will understand Islam,tradition,etc is bullshit Don't they (government) themselves believe in Islam so much?
- 0xFFC 10y agoNope. Don't be naive, they are professional politicians, they don't believe in anything, at least when they are acting as leader.
- tim333 10y agoI was in Iran a while back and got the impression that the people were quite westernised. Especially traveling from Pakistan it felt like being back in France or somewhere like that. I'd suspect they are more worried by colour revolutions and the like.
- tim333 10y agoI can see the problem if the CIA have Niantic put a Charizard in a suspected nuclear enrichment plant and send back photos.