I recently got my hands on an ordinary-looking iPhone-to-HDMI adapter that mimics Apple’s branding and, when plugged in, runs a program that implores you to “Scan QR code for use.” That QR code takes you to an ad-riddled website that asks you to download an app that asks for your location data, access to your photos and videos, runs a bizarre web browser, installs tracking cookies, takes “sensor data,” and uses that data to target you with ads. The adapter’s app also kindly informed me that it’s sending all of my data to China.
Just imagine what kind of stuff is happening that isn’t perpetrated by crude idiots, but by competent state-sponsored actors. I don’t believe for a second that at least a number of products from Apple, Dell, HP, and so on, manufactured in Chinese state-owned factories, are not compromised. The temptation is too high, and even if, say, Apple found something inside one of their devices rolling off the factory line – what are they going to do? Publicly blame the Chinese government, whom they depend on for virtually all their manufacturing?
You may trust HP, but do you trust the entire chain of people and entities controlling their supply chain?
I agree with the sentiment, it’s awful how many products today are engineered to track us. China is being used as a scapegoat here but the reality is that our own leading tech companies are hypocritically doing the same things. If you’ve got a google chromecast, it goes to google. same for Roku, amazon fire stick, etc. This has become the norm. Changing manufacturers changes who’s tracking us, but we’re in an era where most manufacturers are engaging in this tracking behavior.
Right with you here. I have no more (nor less) reason to trust the Chinese government to be honest about their intentions than to trust the USA government. Or the German one, FWIW. It is just more probable the USA one will be more interested in what I do.
In any case, aligned or not as I might be to their politics, I think individual companies such as Meta or Alphabet will have more data appetite for my daily activities than rooms full of goons plotting for world domination.
I’m not in the least worried about the Chinese government watching me; I’m not doing anything of interest to them. I’m much more concerned that my own government spies on me.
The real issue is that, by changing the operating system into a telemetry ridden monetization machines, every single thing around you now does exactly the same.
The world right now is a privacy nightmare turned real. And will not take long for the world to see first the techno totalitarian government rising, capable to inspect the life of every single citizen on a scale never seen before, one that will inspect you even dumping on your toilet. And the whole world will shit themselves with the monster they created.
I believe the only way to stop that is to go nuclear: we must mandate telecom companies to ship configurable restrictive firewalls to subscribers, capable to generate weekly reports to where the data on your network is going, with a easy interface to block domains and IPs directly from it.
And make mandatory that electronic devices ship with VERY SCARY, cigarette box style, warning labels, that some device collect and uses your personal data and track you (with a large photo of a disgusting stalker sneaking into a child, preferably).
And outright forbid OSs to have APIs and file system permissions that allows access to phone book, galery, SIM data (any kind), phone model data, network info and call history. Access to sensors, any kind (even localization)? Only truly, full, offline applications. Running in the background without a icon somewhere visible? That’s a no no. Opening links on “internal” browser? That’s a no.