7 ms·

I remain to be convinced that Apple or Samsung are any more trustworthy than Huawei. It's all made in China. While these manufacturers may not be sneaking bac

by beloch 8y ago

I remain to be convinced that Apple or Samsung are any more trustworthy than Huawei. It's all made in China. While these manufacturers may not be sneaking backdoors into devices, since this might be caught, they likely are being compelled to disclose designs to be analyzed for weaknesses. It doesn't really matter if some of the design work is done in California. I wouldn't have substantially higher trust in something made in the U.S. or other "five eyes" countries either. These governments do not respect the privacy of their citizens, as evidenced by the NSA's recent breaches. Some countries do slightly better than others (e.g. Canada probably isn't as bad as the U.S. yet). However, on the whole, privacy rights seem to be on the decline in these countries. Treaties and cooperation between the security agencies of these countries drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

friedman23 8y ago
Is your argument to use Huawei hardware here? Because if you are using Huawei you are guaranteed to be using an insecure device.
- yesforwhat 8y ago
  Yeah butwhatabout... (is the response here). You nailed it, either pick a 100% compromised device or a possible one.
anonymous_i 8y ago
Pardon my ignorance here. Putting the US or other five eyes countries on the same plane as China is a false equivalency. People can at least take it to streets and demand facts, which is not possible when we are talking about China. Hypothetically, if Apple and Samsung made their phones in the US or other five eyes countries we can assume some level of oversight on their practices , which is not quite possible in China.
- paulryanrogers 8y ago
  > People can at least take it to streets and demand facts, which is not possible when we are talking about China. I agree the US is better about permitting public protest. But if the directors of these US agencies can lie to Congress[0] without consequence then does it really matter? [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/01/27/darrell-issa-james-clapper-lied-to-congress-about-nsa-and-should-be-fired/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/01/27...
  - whatshisface 8y ago
    They wouldn't be allowed to lie to Congress if Congress didn't allow them to lie, and Congress wouldn't allow them to lie if the American people expressed a clear desire for their elected government to reign the appointed organs back in. That's what the protests are for. There is a lot of institutional momentum in the US to keep doing bad things, including a crushing blanket of a media that cares a lot more about pop culture than anything else. But it is nice to not fear much for writing this.
    - SuoDuanDao 8y ago
      What would you consider expressing a clear desire to look like? The two examples that come to mind for me, the TEA party and Occupy Wall Street, both got shut down with extreme prejudice and enthusiastic support from half the electorate.
      - whatshisface 8y ago
        Occupy and the Tea party weren't issues, they were groups. Groups are subject to many dangers, internally and externally, that have little to do with their goals. "Put our representatives back in charge," could be carried to Washington by anybody from a billionaire to Bernie Sanders.
    - roenxi 8y ago
      > They wouldn't be allowed to lie to Congress if Congress didn't allow them to lie That seems like a pretty radical position to take - I'd bet that Congress has a rule in place saying "you can't lie to us". How are you justifying that as a stance? What more do you want Congress to do? And how will that be different from trial by media?
- withhighprod 8y ago
  Not true. If you have done enough lobbying and managed to use “guanxi” correctly in China, you got pretty much all information you need. Of course if your social class is lower enough it’s hard to do( and it’s not easier in USA either)
- bb88 8y ago
  To be fair, it's really the level of independent journalism and free speech in the US that makes it better than China. Yes, the NSA has done terrible things in the past. The only way we know about it is because of journalism.
  - sschueller 8y ago
    But sadly those journalist and whistle-blowers are being hounded by the US government and threatened with death by high up government officials.
    - bb88 8y ago
      Edward Snowden, whistleblower, yes. Glenn Greenwald, reporter, no.
  - simiones 8y ago
    Mostly we know about it because of now jailed or internationally-wanted 'traitors' or 'enemies of state'; the journalists who agreed to publish the initial stories are few and far between.
hakfoo 8y ago
When they say "Huawei kit is backdoored by the PRC" the implicit message is "but probably not us." For some audiences, there's definitely a case to be made for "well, every officer in the PRC government from a truancy-officer on up can read your email, but the FBI (or any local LEO who can construct some flimsy National Security premise t them) can't."

by beloch 8y ago

friedman23 8y ago

Is your argument to use Huawei hardware here? Because if you are using Huawei you are guaranteed to be using an insecure device.

yesforwhat 8y ago
Yeah butwhatabout... (is the response here). You nailed it, either pick a 100% compromised device or a possible one.

anonymous_i 8y ago

Pardon my ignorance here. Putting the US or other five eyes countries on the same plane as China is a false equivalency. People can at least take it to streets and demand facts, which is not possible when we are talking about China. Hypothetically, if Apple and Samsung made their phones in the US or other five eyes countries we can assume some level of oversight on their practices , which is not quite possible in China.

paulryanrogers 8y ago
> People can at least take it to streets and demand facts, which is not possible when we are talking about China. I agree the US is better about permitting public protest. But if the directors of these US agencies can lie to Congress[0] without consequence then does it really matter? [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/01/27/darrell-issa-james-clapper-lied-to-congress-about-nsa-and-should-be-fired/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/01/27...
- whatshisface 8y ago
  They wouldn't be allowed to lie to Congress if Congress didn't allow them to lie, and Congress wouldn't allow them to lie if the American people expressed a clear desire for their elected government to reign the appointed organs back in. That's what the protests are for. There is a lot of institutional momentum in the US to keep doing bad things, including a crushing blanket of a media that cares a lot more about pop culture than anything else. But it is nice to not fear much for writing this.
  - SuoDuanDao 8y ago
    What would you consider expressing a clear desire to look like? The two examples that come to mind for me, the TEA party and Occupy Wall Street, both got shut down with extreme prejudice and enthusiastic support from half the electorate.
    - whatshisface 8y ago
      Occupy and the Tea party weren't issues, they were groups. Groups are subject to many dangers, internally and externally, that have little to do with their goals. "Put our representatives back in charge," could be carried to Washington by anybody from a billionaire to Bernie Sanders.
  - roenxi 8y ago
    > They wouldn't be allowed to lie to Congress if Congress didn't allow them to lie That seems like a pretty radical position to take - I'd bet that Congress has a rule in place saying "you can't lie to us". How are you justifying that as a stance? What more do you want Congress to do? And how will that be different from trial by media?
withhighprod 8y ago
Not true. If you have done enough lobbying and managed to use “guanxi” correctly in China, you got pretty much all information you need. Of course if your social class is lower enough it’s hard to do( and it’s not easier in USA either)
bb88 8y ago
To be fair, it's really the level of independent journalism and free speech in the US that makes it better than China. Yes, the NSA has done terrible things in the past. The only way we know about it is because of journalism.
- sschueller 8y ago
  But sadly those journalist and whistle-blowers are being hounded by the US government and threatened with death by high up government officials.
  - bb88 8y ago
    Edward Snowden, whistleblower, yes. Glenn Greenwald, reporter, no.
- simiones 8y ago
  Mostly we know about it because of now jailed or internationally-wanted 'traitors' or 'enemies of state'; the journalists who agreed to publish the initial stories are few and far between.

hakfoo 8y ago

When they say "Huawei kit is backdoored by the PRC" the implicit message is "but probably not us." For some audiences, there's definitely a case to be made for "well, every officer in the PRC government from a truancy-officer on up can read your email, but the FBI (or any local LEO who can construct some flimsy National Security premise t them) can't."