Google Removes Android App That Was Used To Spy On Belarusian Protesters (zdnet.com) 26
Google has removed an Android app from the Play Store that was used to collect personal information from Belarusians attending anti-government protests. ZDNet reports: The app, named NEXTA LIVE, was available for almost three weeks on the official Android Play Store, and was downloaded thousands of times and received hundreds of reviews. To get installs, NEXT LIVE claimed to be the official Android app for Nexta, an independent Belarusian news agency that gained popularity with anti-Lukashenko protesters after exposing abuses and police brutality during the country's recent anti-government demonstrations. However, the app contained code to to collect geolocation data, gather info on the device owner, and then upload the data to a remote Russian server at regular intervals. [...] While there is no official link between the fake Nexta app and the Minsk government, this would hardly be the first time that a government would try to spy on its citizens in the midst of anti-government protests, in attempts to identify protest-goers.
AOTS Reference (Score:2)
What Happens NEXTA....
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what happens next..... aaaaaaa.......
In a post-Soviet world they don't have access to Siberian gulags.
Unfortunately for the protesters, since there wasn't a revolution.
Re: AOTS Reference (Score:2)
"In a post-Soviet world they don't have access to Siberian gulags."
Old crusty stone prisons out in the middle of nowhere is so 20th century.
The cool hip trend is small secret prisons where you get to spend your waterboarding vacation. Who knows, there could be one operating right under your favorate kale and carrot juice joint!
Re: AOTS Reference (Score:2)
No, there isn't a Great Wall of China surrounding Siberia.
The buildings where prisoners were housed/locked up in were usually made of stone or concrete. When you want to lock somebody inside of a building, you normally use a strong material to prevent escapes.
Re: AOTS Reference (Score:2)
"120,000,000"
I doubt it was 120 million people at once,
and I'm sure the gulag had a very high
turnover rate, given the brutal conditions,
slave prison labor, beatings, maimings, disease and other conditions that made it very hard to survive long inside the gulag.
App that "was" used to spy on protestors? (Score:2)
Bit late ain't it?
Or is it just cleaning up after use?
Google Removed Google? (Score:2)
I'm confused.
Thats nothing (Score:2)
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The individual wasn't arrested for posting on Facebook, they were arrested because they were specifically calling for people to carry out an illegal act.
If I made a post on Facebook calling for people to break into a store and steal stuff en mass, its not that different to if I walked into the store and stole stuff myself.
As for whether protesting (or calling for people to protest) should be illegal or not, ask the relatives of the 500+ people who have died in Victoria as a result of this nasty virus (many
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If I made a post on Facebook calling for people to break into a store and steal stuff en mass, its not that different to if I walked into the store and stole stuff myself.
You'd have made a paragon Soviet apparatchik.
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You're a coward, replying as anonymous. Like I said, perfect Stalinist material.
You're also quite stupid, comparing two absolute numbers that are not comparable at all.
US population is 13 times that of Australia. The population density of US is 9 times that of Australia. Population density of NYC, where most deaths are happening, is 10,000 people per sq. km. Population density of Sydney - the largest Australian city, is less than 500 people per sq. km. Only NYC had 60 million tourist arrivals in 2018. Compa
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13 times the population, 200 times the deaths.
13 times the population, 20 times the density, yeah, about 260 times the deaths. Like I said, better than your country.
Enjoy your failed state.
My "failed state"? You sound desperate.
My "failed state" has less than a third the deaths per million that Australia has, with zero arrests for a Facebook post.
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LOL, thanks for the laugh, AC, have you tried stand-up comedy?
Re: Thats nothing (Score:2)
I don't know how this morphed from a stoey about protesting against police brutality and other government crimes, to her allegedly going WAA WAA because of Covid-19 restrictions, or how the fact that an app was being used to secretly track protestors movements was dropped from this discussion, but whatever.
And this brings up two things:
Governments can brutalize their citizens, and when a protest is held, a government can justify their retaliation with "Covid!".
People should be able to download an app withou
Hi! (Score:2)
"Download Super Happy Fun App! It's loads of fun!"
(Local Gestapo does that knock in the night on the door of suspected protestor who downloaded Super Happy Fun App)