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I'm a MA resident and this app was on my (Android) phone...until a few minutes ago when I read about it on Hacker News, found it, and deleted it. I have no mem

I'm a MA resident and this app was on my (Android) phone...until a few minutes ago when I read about it on Hacker News, found it, and deleted it. I have no memory of ever opting into the program you describe, and it isn't the type of thing I would normally do. It's possible I guess. In any case, the way they did this is creepy. There was no icon for the app; I had to look in Settings/Apps & Notifications to find it. And neither the official state press releases nor the few local news stories about it mention that the app was installed without notice. They use vague, lawyerly language about how it can be "enabled".

arpstick 5y ago
MA resident as well, what worries me more is that someone thought that this method of installation was a good idea and even more worrying is that they were also able to execute on it. It feels rather shady and nefarious the lack of public announcement on it. Shenanigans like this how you get the populace to trust the local government less, which is the last thing this country needs.
- dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
  It's actually great it's happened. It showed everybody that the government can install whatever they want on your phone without your consent and knowledge. In this case they decided to leave you the option to uninstall but in the future they might not and spy on you at will. Another reminder you are not the owner of your device.
  - tunap 5y ago
    -In this case they decided to leave you the option to uninstall but in the future they might not and spy on you at will. Then they'll be just like Google, Fecebook, Amazon, etc, etc.
    - dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
      Which leads to the question: if anyone powerful or wealthy enough can take total control of your phone, how comfortable do you feel with that? There are two routes here. One way is to deal with it the European way, i.e. to try to fix it by a legal framework. The other one is a technical solution like Purism, which is very far from mainstream still. The sooner people realize they have a problem, the sooner they start organizing to find a solution.
    - underseacables 5y ago
      My kids really want an oculus but I absolutely refuse to let Facebook into our house, anymore than I knowingly have to; I’m sure they’ve weaseled in other ways I don’t know about yet.
- serial_dev 5y ago
  I don't see anything bad with people not trusting their local government... Exhibit A
  - marvindanig 5y ago
    Well, given that a significant percentage of citizenry is anti-vaxxer-level-stupid, there isn't much improvement over people trusting their local Government either…
    - tunap 5y ago
      Considering in a not too distant yesterday(pre-Covid) the "anti-vaxxers" were all liberal/granola types and now they are magically all conservative/racist types, perhaps you may want to re-assess your 2-dimensional view of the real world. I believe a cogent example was on the front-page of HN just a day or two ago, but IANYG.
      - slumdev 5y ago
        "Not too distant" means only five years ago. The "anti-vaxxers" were people who lived in primarily white, primarily wealthy, primarily urban or suburban environments and who refused (usually) the MMR vaccine. You don't find measles outbreaks in rural Mississippi. You find them in Washington, New York, and California. [1] So it's pretty rich to label someone as an "anti-vaxxer" for refusing the experimental, emergency-use, mRNA jabs, when that person has never demonstrated even the slightest hesitancy about receiving or administering every other approved vaccine. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_Unit...
      - underseacables 5y ago
        Labels like anti-vaxxer just seems to be weaponized propaganda to me. It’s a cheap, easy way to discredit someone you don’t agree with. Hopefully as time goes on and disparaging groups throw these accusations back-and-forth of each other, that it eventually dilutes their meaning and impact.
      - 5y ago
maram 5y ago
> In any case, the way they did this is creepy. There was no icon for the app; I had to look in Settings/Apps & Notifications to find it. And neither the official state press releases nor the few local news stories about it mention that the app was installed without notice. They use vague, lawyerly language about how it can be "enabled". This incident and your comment reminded me of a story Bezos mentioned in his interview about the time Amazon deleted 1984 from kindle. The analogy he made makes me wonder how can we compare what happened here to what Amazon did.. “Without any notice or warning just electronically go into everybody’s Kindle, who had downloaded the book and just disappear it…so it would be as if we walked into your bedroom in the middle of the night, found your bookshelf, and just took that book away” 19:48 https://youtu.be/SCpgKvZB_VQ https://youtu.be/SCpgKvZB_VQ
meragrin_ 5y ago
Did you get vaccinated? If so, did you supply your email address related to your Google account on the form or enough other information to link the two? Did you read all of the related documentation? I wouldn't be surprised if they slipped somewhere on the form that you were agreeing to it.
- shados 5y ago
  I did supply my email but it's not a Gmail or Google for Work email address nor a domain tied to those. Exposure notification is clearly off. Still got the app.
abnry 5y ago
Wow, I thought I was someone who didn't get the app when I checked the icons but once I went into settings, there it was. I even have a NH phone number but live in MA.

arpstick 5y ago

MA resident as well, what worries me more is that someone thought that this method of installation was a good idea and even more worrying is that they were also able to execute on it. It feels rather shady and nefarious the lack of public announcement on it. Shenanigans like this how you get the populace to trust the local government less, which is the last thing this country needs.

dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
It's actually great it's happened. It showed everybody that the government can install whatever they want on your phone without your consent and knowledge. In this case they decided to leave you the option to uninstall but in the future they might not and spy on you at will. Another reminder you are not the owner of your device.
- tunap 5y ago
  -In this case they decided to leave you the option to uninstall but in the future they might not and spy on you at will. Then they'll be just like Google, Fecebook, Amazon, etc, etc.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
    Which leads to the question: if anyone powerful or wealthy enough can take total control of your phone, how comfortable do you feel with that? There are two routes here. One way is to deal with it the European way, i.e. to try to fix it by a legal framework. The other one is a technical solution like Purism, which is very far from mainstream still. The sooner people realize they have a problem, the sooner they start organizing to find a solution.
  - underseacables 5y ago
    My kids really want an oculus but I absolutely refuse to let Facebook into our house, anymore than I knowingly have to; I’m sure they’ve weaseled in other ways I don’t know about yet.
serial_dev 5y ago
I don't see anything bad with people not trusting their local government... Exhibit A
- marvindanig 5y ago
  Well, given that a significant percentage of citizenry is anti-vaxxer-level-stupid, there isn't much improvement over people trusting their local Government either…
  - tunap 5y ago
    Considering in a not too distant yesterday(pre-Covid) the "anti-vaxxers" were all liberal/granola types and now they are magically all conservative/racist types, perhaps you may want to re-assess your 2-dimensional view of the real world. I believe a cogent example was on the front-page of HN just a day or two ago, but IANYG.
    - slumdev 5y ago
      "Not too distant" means only five years ago. The "anti-vaxxers" were people who lived in primarily white, primarily wealthy, primarily urban or suburban environments and who refused (usually) the MMR vaccine. You don't find measles outbreaks in rural Mississippi. You find them in Washington, New York, and California. [1] So it's pretty rich to label someone as an "anti-vaxxer" for refusing the experimental, emergency-use, mRNA jabs, when that person has never demonstrated even the slightest hesitancy about receiving or administering every other approved vaccine. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_Unit...
    - underseacables 5y ago
      Labels like anti-vaxxer just seems to be weaponized propaganda to me. It’s a cheap, easy way to discredit someone you don’t agree with. Hopefully as time goes on and disparaging groups throw these accusations back-and-forth of each other, that it eventually dilutes their meaning and impact.
    - 5y ago

maram 5y ago

> In any case, the way they did this is creepy. There was no icon for the app; I had to look in Settings/Apps & Notifications to find it. And neither the official state press releases nor the few local news stories about it mention that the app was installed without notice. They use vague, lawyerly language about how it can be "enabled". This incident and your comment reminded me of a story Bezos mentioned in his interview about the time Amazon deleted 1984 from kindle. The analogy he made makes me wonder how can we compare what happened here to what Amazon did.. “Without any notice or warning just electronically go into everybody’s Kindle, who had downloaded the book and just disappear it…so it would be as if we walked into your bedroom in the middle of the night, found your bookshelf, and just took that book away” 19:48 https://youtu.be/SCpgKvZB_VQ https://youtu.be/SCpgKvZB_VQ

meragrin_ 5y ago

Did you get vaccinated? If so, did you supply your email address related to your Google account on the form or enough other information to link the two? Did you read all of the related documentation? I wouldn't be surprised if they slipped somewhere on the form that you were agreeing to it.

shados 5y ago
I did supply my email but it's not a Gmail or Google for Work email address nor a domain tied to those. Exposure notification is clearly off. Still got the app.

abnry 5y ago

Wow, I thought I was someone who didn't get the app when I checked the icons but once I went into settings, there it was. I even have a NH phone number but live in MA.