alt Hacker NewsI'm shocked by people and state using the crutch of cyber crime or scams to push a totalitarian solution to a problem that is better solved by improved education and targeted campaigns against common security pitfalls.
I abhor any decision that robs even a grain of my individual freedom.
Replies
FYI two years ago, the Indian government shut down mobile service in the state of Punjab to catch one person:
> improved education and targeted campaigns against common security pitfalls
Good one. Do you see how dumb the average consumer is? They don't know or care even if you try to educate them.
Well, we are talking about a government that declared 95% currency in circulation as invalid to nullify “black money” and rationed out currency for months. Currently they are doing an electoral list validation by asking everyone to submit a form so they can keep their voting rights. The policies are made with a strong “ruler” attitude.
> solved by improved education
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Delhi_car_explosion
Planned and executed by highly educated, qualified, doctors.
the fact that this is being done privately shows they know it's dirty and immoral.
The problem iscontrolling people at intimate thought level. Sure education is part of it. But state controlled device tracking everything they say, where they go and who they are exchanging with is also a tool to leverage on in that perspective.
I share your abhorrence but are you really shocked? "Think of the children", "Stop the terrorists," these have been the foundations for the erosion of personal liberty for the past thirty years.
> solved by improved education
Now you have at least two problems
You're assuming the problem the govt is referencing is their actual goal.
Assuming it would do the stated job in addition to being a state way to your phone - it is a better solution, you ain't gonna educate you grandma easily, but if she can buy phone that protects her without having to look for it...
...of course, it won't work and even if they honestly tried it will be outpaced by scam industry. Or at worst case be state exploit that then will be exploited by other state (or just malicious actors) coz of lack of security in "security" software
> improved education and targeted campaigns against common security pitfalls
Which doesn't work. At all. A familiarity with the last 40 years of computing makes that clear.
The only things that have worked: ios/android walled gardens so users can't install spyware. yubikeys which can't be phished. etc.
> problem that is better solved by improved education and targeted campaigns against common security pitfalls
Will take decades if not more than a century to implement in India. Let alone old people, even the boomer generation is immensely tech illiterate.
wow even a grain? you must really love your freedom
First they came for the etc, etc...
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> I abhor any decision that robs even a grain of my individual freedom.
Living in a society already means giving up more than a grain of personal freedom.
Try entering a store naked.
The real deal is the balance between loss and gain
As a non-Indian, the amount of scams and other external negative impacts coming from the country are extremely disproportionate, so if this evens things out a bit, I'm for it.
> I'm shocked
India is currently run by a nationalist regime headed by the so called "butcher of Gujarat"[1], there isn't much that would shock me wrt to that lot's totalitarian tendencies.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_image_of_Narendra_Modi