4 ms·

Seems silly to call it a security issue when the bulk of the day to day activities for many state department employees is working closely with local nationals.

Seems silly to call it a security issue when the bulk of the day to day activities for many state department employees is working closely with local nationals. Do you really want to make your average Ugandan caterer make an international call to the US in order to coordinate food delivery for an embassy event?

kingcharles 5y ago
And the fact that you're not likely to answer a call from an international number because it'll probably look more like spam. Also, for them to have a +1 number outside the USA means they have to be on a USA network and then roaming onto a local network. This presents dozens of problems, such as often not being able to get the best connection, not being able to get data connections, not being able to get any local support, and it costing a small fortune. All the embassy employees I have ever known have gone full native with all of their technology etc.
hervature 5y ago
Having a "caterer and friends" local dumbphone and an international phone for actual business doesn't seem unreasonable.
- ufmace 5y ago
  Presumably, linked to what the sibling said, any actual business probably ought to go over high-security data connections anyways if it's going to go over any mobile network at all. No telling who's tapping into telecom systems in third-world countries, and normal phone calls probably go in the clear no matter what the registered phone number or roaming agreement is for the device.
- bobthepanda 5y ago
  It's not unreasonable, but people get sloppy with cell phones. Like the whole business around US military bases and Strava.
  - hervature 5y ago
    To be fair, I think many (most?) people use Strava without a cellphone. At least in cycling. The problem there was everything being public by default as it is a social network of sorts.
shmatt 5y ago
Does the US State Department trust the local Ugandan Best Buy employees not to run a swim swap for $50? or $10,000? With an Ugandan sim comes the security of the Ugandan mobile network and its employees

kingcharles 5y ago

And the fact that you're not likely to answer a call from an international number because it'll probably look more like spam. Also, for them to have a +1 number outside the USA means they have to be on a USA network and then roaming onto a local network. This presents dozens of problems, such as often not being able to get the best connection, not being able to get data connections, not being able to get any local support, and it costing a small fortune. All the embassy employees I have ever known have gone full native with all of their technology etc.

hervature 5y ago

Having a "caterer and friends" local dumbphone and an international phone for actual business doesn't seem unreasonable.

ufmace 5y ago
Presumably, linked to what the sibling said, any actual business probably ought to go over high-security data connections anyways if it's going to go over any mobile network at all. No telling who's tapping into telecom systems in third-world countries, and normal phone calls probably go in the clear no matter what the registered phone number or roaming agreement is for the device.
bobthepanda 5y ago
It's not unreasonable, but people get sloppy with cell phones. Like the whole business around US military bases and Strava.
- hervature 5y ago
  To be fair, I think many (most?) people use Strava without a cellphone. At least in cycling. The problem there was everything being public by default as it is a social network of sorts.

shmatt 5y ago

Does the US State Department trust the local Ugandan Best Buy employees not to run a swim swap for $50? or $10,000? With an Ugandan sim comes the security of the Ugandan mobile network and its employees