alt Hacker NewsSerious question, what is gained from this move? Why would a government care? Are rooted phones really that much of a problem?
Surely most people running a rooted phone are tech enthusiasts. Cybercriminals will just use regular phones bought under false names and dispose of them afterwards.
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it's not about rooted or not, but rather who controls what OS you run.
and that's enormous power for those who want to centralize power into their hands.
> Why would a government care
Viet Nam is in the process of rolling out mandatory biometric identification and verification as part of the VNeID project [0], and mobile operators are in the process of rolling out identity stamping if mobile devices using VNeID [1]
Viet Nam is also an authoritarian state who's current leader (To Lam) spent his entire career in Viet Nam's KGB (MPS/BCA). Unlike Westerners, Vietnamese know the red lines - this is why I and my SO (much to her chagrin due to my insistence) never travel back to VN with my personal accounts or devices, and why we keep some friends of friends on speed dial.
[0] - https://vneid.gov.vn/
[1] - https://vtv.vn/nha-mang-ho-tro-kich-hoat-sim-truc-tuyen-bang...
They gain credibility with overseas banks. Otherwise, the banks can just say "why do we need to support Vietnam? Too much fraud" and block access from Vietnam and VPNs.
the banks would care. less money spent on security or dealing with clients who had their money stolen