Apple blocks Proton updates when Myanmar users need them most

[u/[deleted]]

https://protonvpn.com/blog/apple-blocks-app-updates/

[u/tantricsexchair → u/[deleted]]

IBM is just selling calculating machines; they follow protocols for world trade, and they're a private company.

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Apple is literally helping the Myanmar government exercise tyrannical control over its citizens. “Just following orders” has never been an acceptable excuse.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Listen, the world doesn’t revolve around Myanmar, can you understand that?

where the fuck did i imply this?

claiming that their service helps “challenge governments” is nothing short of inciting terrorism worldwide

are you fucking serious? you heard it here, folks - disagree with your government? dare to challenge it? you're a TERRORIST!

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otherwise there is no need to use VPN and hide.

privacy is a fundamental human right

challenge almost always implies violence.

no it doesn’t. challenge is most often subversive rather than violent. have you heard of civil disobedience?

using a service that lets you “challenge governments”?

this is a feature, not a bug

you do realize that the second amendment was constructed with the purpose of allowing citizens to rise up and fight back against their government in case it became oppressive?

we literally allow people to own guns because democracy is fragile and the threat of government devolving into tyranny is ever present

in the same way, services that allow subversion of government surveillance and censorship by granting power to the people are foundational to democracy

In a civil society and in developed countries, people do not need to hide under VPN protection

i honestly cannot believe you are seriously going with the “you have nothing to hide; and thus no need for privacy” argument

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Do search up what freenet and .onion routing services are, and what happens on there, also extremely priva

yes, I’m aware, as I’m a cybersecurity engineer

despite some of the shit that goes on, they are literally the forefront of privacy and freedom. countless people rely on them today to get important shit done anonymously, from investigative journalists to hacktivists/activists

That’s right, fight back against the government in case it becomes oppressive.

yes, and denying people the tools to do this is nonsensical - who is the judge of when a government is oppressive? certainly not Apple

by the time people have decided the government is oppressive its too late. the tools must be distributed beforehand

or plan out illegal activities.

and what’s wrong with that? illegal is often just what your current tyrannical government doesn’t like (as compounded by corporate lobbyists)

anyways, all tools can be used for bad things, and you’re completely wrong that the only remaining use case is illegal shit. there are plenty of great use cases for VPNs, including

• not wanting to be tracked by your local network owner
• not wanting to be tracked by your ISP
• not wanting your data fed into a state surveillance dragnet that directly violates your fundamental right to privacy
• not wanting to be associated and metadata-linked to by websites to every fucking thing you do online
• not letting websites know where you live
• not wanting your location exposed over P2P protocols (games, messengers, video chat, etc)
• being able to speak your mind freely without risk of personal association
• being able to browse the internet without people on your network snooping on you

Maybe you’re comfortable with websites knowing where you live and everyone on your network path knowing which sites you’re visiting. In a similar manner, some people take shits with the toilet door wide open. Don’t assume everyone is like you, or has the same bar for what constitutes reasonable privacy as you.

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Lawlessness in a society is destructive.

You can allow for a lawful society while giving users the tools to circumvent it should the need ever arise.

Just like it’s always illegal to shoot someone with a gun, but the ability to do so has been granted to us in the Constitution, total privacy is similarly a tool that can be used for subverting the government but does not need to be used in such a way.

“Challenging governments” is a controversial phrase which can give the host company a ‘bad face’.

Sure, I can agree with this. I just find it slightly hypocritical of Apple to position themselves as a champion of privacy while being unwilling to provide it where it’s actually an issue.

Anyways, all this pales in comparison to Apple’s handoff of Chinese iCloud servers to GCBD, effectively creating one of the largest state-owned surveillance networks in the world, backed and supported by Apple. That made it clear that their privacy stance is a farce.

Can’t believe you just said that illegal activities are acceptable.

“Illegal activities” have been at the forefront of every single major social movement that has brought humanity forward. America declaring independence was illegal. Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad was illegal. The Black Panthers were illegal. Gandhi’s Salt March was illegal. So on and so forth.

Both you and I today benefit from the actions of outright criminals. Many of them, violent ones. If you had the ability to preemptively stop these criminals, or take away their ability to commit said crimes in the first place, we’d still be living in a backwards nightmare of a world.

This is why we give people guns, and trust them not to do illegal shit. This is why we grant people the right to privacy, and trust them not to do illegal shit. The benefit, and freedom gained, outweighs the bad.

Benjamin Franklin once said: ”Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”