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As this post is trending quicker and more than I would have expected it to, I would like to add to this story: It appears to be a similar case across the MENA
by the-anarchist 1y ago
As this post is trending quicker and more than I would have expected it to, I would like to add to this story:
It appears to be a similar case across the MENA region. While the SMEX post primarily focuses on WANA, it is possible to find other reports (e.g. [1]) from the MENA region that describe similar practices by Samsung. There, however, the stories talk about "Aura", rather than "AppCloud".
[1] https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/06/212144/samsung-embeds-israeli-surveillance-app-on-phones-across-mena/ https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/06/212144/samsung-embe...
- eddythompson80 1y agoWhat is the difference between WANA and MENA. Sounds like the same territory
- the-anarchist 1y agoYes, but, no. It's one of these things where multiple terms mean the same thing but then again come from different times/areas and, upon closer inspection, mean different things. But they're the same. But not really. [1] A.k.a. I tried to be as politically correct and cite the term used by the respective reporting. The main point I was trying to bring across was that apparently there are two apps involved, not only a single one. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_and_North_Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_and_North_Africa
- eddythompson80 1y agoAh, I see. Trying to find a way to include Pakistani, Afghanistan, Somalia i.e non-Arab or Persian Muslim states in the vicinity.
- averysmallbird 1y agoSame same. SMEX is based in Lebanon — (S)WANA is an obnoxious term that’s going around for MENA.
- Mistletoe 1y agoWe don't know what any of these acronyms mean!
- hmcq6 1y agoMENA - Middle East & North Africa WANA - West Asia & North Africa SMEX - "a non-profit that advocates for and advances human rights in digital spaces across West Asia and North Africa." (from their website)
- more-nitor 1y ago"non-profit" doesn't mean "this guys are morally right and only conveys truths" it just means that they don't pay taxes
- bapak 1y ago"Arab countries"
- ehnto 1y agoWas installed on my device bought in Australia as well.
- nacos 1y agoI used to manage an enterprise fleet of mobile devices. This AppCloud crap has also been pushed to devices in the Europe Open Market. I also know that this shouldn't have been installed on enterprise devices (either Android Enterprise managed by MDM or E-FOTA managed - don't remember exactly). We had an akward conversation with some Samsung representatives..