The future is almost here
Prepare good citizens, prepare!
Apple's Chinese app store has been suddenly shorn of privacy software as Russia and China are both clamping down on virtual private networks. Beijing seems to have had words with Apple about VPNs, because developers like ExpressVPN were suddenly told that their wares are “illegal in China” and breach the App Store guidelines. …
The banning of VPNs is just one of many steps towards the ultimate goal - where every single user of the internet will need to authenticate, because of whatever reasons government can think of. Be it to reduce hate on the internet, for our 'safety', usual excuses.
When I say authenticate, it could be through a national ID card, RFID chip implant, biometrics, etc. Baby steps are already being taken as we speak to ensure all government property (i.e., you), has some sort of government ID stamped on it.
You see, government allow various problems to grow, they then await the screams of 'please do something' from the serfs, and they then come up with 'solutions' such as this. Why do you think hate speech is allowed to proliferate, including illegal material? It could quite easily be stopped.. but why do that when the problems help to support the agenda of government?
Mark my words.
Well, when our government does it at least it's not to keep themselves in power artificially. Politicians in a democracy are going to lose their jobs at some point anyway, mostly to their great relief. Come to think about it, the basic definition of a democracy is a system where the national leaders can leave their jobs and retire quietly.
Politicians in a dictatorship use every trick in the book to keep their jobs as long as possible.
What you'll find is that when this shit comes to the UK (and it will) that you'll need to have a license to use a VPN. That way firms can still use them unaffected while us normal Joe Soaps will be denied access to the technology.
This will only come about via law firms and other companies (stock traders etc) that have the financial clout and embarrassing photographs of MPs to push through such a thing.
Then they must entrust the State with access to their data or they don't operate in the country, period. No unsanctioned encryption will soon be the rule with treason charges against those who try to get around it with things like steganography (which they'll sanitize to minimize).
.... you're no longer free to install what you like unless you find a way to hack your device.
Yes, app stores are more "secure" - but what "secure" really mean in this context?
Also, don't expect corporations fight for your rights when their own business is at stake. Apple knew it could challenge the DOJ and FBI without issues, but also knows it can't challenge the Chinese politburo without being kicked out of the country.
"Also, don't expect corporations fight for your rights when their own business is at stake"
I'm not a fan of Apple by any stretch of the imagination, but in this instance I'm not sure how they can be blamed for this. You seem to be under a bit of a misconception. Just because something is your right in the country that you live in does not mean it is a right of a person living in another country.
The difference between the DOJ/FBI case and the China case is in the former Apple refusing to comply was not breaking any law. Apple maybe a large powerful company, but even they can't disobey laws just because they don't morally agree with them.
Apple knew it could challenge the DOJ and FBI without issues, but also knows it can't challenge the Chinese politburo without being kicked out of the country.
Different legal aspects. If China bans VPNs, that is at that point the law, and as a normal business, Apple (et al, by the way) don't have any option but follow it. When DoJ and FBI demanded data, that was a process with legal recourse which Apple took. If that had played out all the way to the end and Apple was told to comply it would no longer have an option either - assuming that what was asked was technically possible.
They will if they risk being charged with terrorism or worse. As for packet inspection, if all unsanctioned encryption is banned, then they just have to inspect anything they can't parse or decrypt. Most Web content can then be sanitized to reduce the odds and rate of stego.
The people.
Saying things (not necessarily about them) authoritarians cannot hear.
Thinking things (not necessarily about them) authoritarians cannot know.
Doing things (not necessarily against them) authoritarians cannot stop.
If their behavior was not so draconian would it not be simply pathetic? The only real "terrorist" of such people is the one inside their own heads. As it was for Stalin, Putin and May.
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"So what is next, banning of such texts"
In the U.K. It's been illegal for a couple of decades now to publish instructions on how to circumvent many of our computer misuse laws. Yes you read that right, it's illegal to inform people how not to break the law, if the objective was originally to break the law.
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Hmm... Aqua Marina... exactly how does Reichfurher May and company plan to do anything if I were to, oh, create a few PDFs or RTFs or EPUBs of books containing such instructions and email them to people in the UK? Or placing them on a FTP or even a web site? Or just parking them on a USB thub drive and putting it in my pocket as I stroll past Customs? Is she really going to scan all inbound email, troll every site everywhere on the Internet, scan every thumb drive in every pocket, suitcase, or whatever? Really? Because I can see a few ways to have a lot of fun with them while remaining completely within the law.
I mean, there are always ways to avoid these kind of restrictions. If you cant download app from app store, then maybe providers have possibility for you to download from web page. I think China is a pretty big market, that companies would be interested in helping them out. For example, found this blog post that makes a tutorial of how you could access stuff that you want to see: https://nordvpn.com/blog/vpn-for-china/