Comment by stevenAthompson

Comment by stevenAthompson 12 hours ago

5 replies

> Respectfully, I should be able to install whatever the fuck I want on my phone.

Like every other right, your freedom ends where other peoples freedom begins. You can install whatever you'd like on your phone... unless it prevents others from exercising their rights. That's how we all get to stay free from the "might makes right" crowd.

Joining your phone to a botnet belonging to a hostile foreign power might very well prevent others from enjoying the very rights you're trying to preserve.

You have a point about avoiding the slippery slope though. I do hope that the deciders are taking that risk seriously.

archagon 11 hours ago

Nobody has thus far provided any evidence of a “botnet.”

  • stevenAthompson 11 hours ago

    Sometimes we aren't the boss and we don't get to see the evidence. That doesn't mean there isn't any.

    Can you think of any reason a government engaged in cyberwarfare might want to ensure there was informational asymmetry? I sure can.

    • archagon 11 hours ago

      OK. Has the government indicated that there is classified evidence?

      • gpm 11 hours ago

        Yes. It was even submitted to the court here ex-parte (without letting TikTok see it), though the court apparently declined to consider it.

        What exactly it says... obviously we don't know.

  • ethbr1 11 hours ago

    To me, the 'profiles on the next generation of leaders, throughout their formative years' argument is stronger than the botnet one.

    I don't particularly trust Google or Apple to firewall a malicious and determined nation-state actor (0 days being 0 days), but it seems lower probability than the technically trivial data collection.