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Dragonfly was this outrageous: (from memory) Google's managers sold the Chinese government on this: "we will require and verify a phone number for every user of
by thrway190326 8y ago
Dragonfly was this outrageous: (from memory) Google's managers sold the Chinese government on this: "we will require and verify a phone number for every user of Google in China. We will provide a state-run police department of your choice with an unredacted list of every single Google query performed by every single phone number. No restrictions. No warrants. Do whatever you want with it."
Whatever China wants includes concentration camps on the same order of magnitude as the Holocaust (they're not death camps, just imprison over 1 million people based on ethnicity alone.) It includes a social score that is similar to America's no fly list, except extending to rail and not restricted to a few thousand people. Simply mentioning the anniversary date of tiananman square over any chat network (such as whatsapp, or wechat) would get your Internet cut off immediately. Free speech is such that you cannot publish a childish caricature (of their president as a teddy bear). And Google says here is every query by every user, by phone number. Go wild.
On the outrage-o-meter Google's dragonfly is like a surprise thermonuclear strike against an unsuspecting populated city during peacetime. Apple not showing news is like a guy grimacing at you, shaking his head in disgust, and turning on his heels and walking away.
- enitihas 8y agoIt seems from your comment that you have a lot more knowledge on dragonfly than what is out there in the open. If possible, would you please elaborate a little more on the the google executives promises to China?
- thrway190326 8y agoAs I tried to indicate, I wrote it based on memory. (i.e. stuff I read online.) This article came up when I searched it: https://theintercept.com/2018/09/14/google-china-prototype-links-searches-to-phone-numbers/ https://theintercept.com/2018/09/14/google-china-prototype-l... >GOOGLE CHINA PROTOTYPE LINKS SEARCHES TO PHONE NUMBERS >GOOGLE BUILT A prototype of a censored search engine for China that links users’ searches to their personal phone numbers, thus making it easier for the Chinese government to monitor people’s queries, The Intercept can reveal. ... >Sources familiar with the project said that prototypes of the search engine linked the search app on a user’s Android smartphone with their phone number. ... >“Linking searches to a phone number would make it much harder for people to avoid the kind of overreaching government surveillance that is pervasive in China.” ... >The search engine would be operated as part of a “joint venture” partnership with a company based in mainland China, according to sources familiar with the project. -- The Guardian's article leads with these sentences: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/18/google-china-dragonfly-search-engine https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/18/google-ch... >Google's prototype Chinese search engine links searches to phone numbers >Google’s secret prototype search engine for China reportedly links users’ mobile phone numbers to what search terms they’ve used. >This feature would allow the Chinese government to simply associate searches with individuals, thereby putting Chinese citizens at increased risk of government repression if they search for topics that their government deems politically sensitive, according to the Intercept.
- cromwellian 8y agoHow sure are you that if Baidu is set as iPhone's default search in China, it can't be tracked to your phone?
- thrway190326 8y agoNot at all. But the relevant analogy would be Apple proactively sending that information, since that's what the outrage was over about Dragonfly.
- O1111OOO 8y ago> Dragonfly was this outrageous So Apple allowing China what is essentially unrestricted access to iCloud data is not[0,1]? For honesty's sake, let's not cherry-pick. That high-horse you're on only works when applied evenly and without prejudice. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/04/apple-users-icloud-services-personal-data-china-cybersecurity-law-privacy https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/04/apple-... [1] https://qz.com/1176376/apples-icloud-service-in-china-will-be-managed-by-a-data-firm-started-by-the-government/ https://qz.com/1176376/apples-icloud-service-in-china-will-b...
- thrway190326 8y agoWe were talking about the outrage over Dragonfly, versus the smaller outrage over lack of availability of Apple news. By the way, can you be more specific about iCloud? The Dragonfly claim is that Google would be sharing a list of search queries per telephone number with a state company, to use however they want. Can you be clear regarding the equivalent iCloud functionality? (I don't doubt you, just interested in where the abuse would happen.) Could you give an example?