Felicitas Pojtinger 🌅So, it turns out the German implementation of eIDAS (electronic ID wallet for e.g. age attestation) will require an Apple/Google account to function
Absolutely pathetic
If a German citizen gets sanctioned by the US government, once this is implemented (later this year), that means they will no longer be able to be a participating member of German society, e.g. to show their (digital) driver's license to traffic police
I've said it before an I'll say it again: This entire project of identity verification with Apple/Google-account bound mobile devices is going to lead the continent down a dark, dark path into full technological submission to the US
https://mastodon.social/@pojntfx/116345725515845020
A bit of an explanation
Tom@pojntfx that Google dependency is unacceptable. That said, there is no reason (other than "they want to") to require a Google account to use the Play store (to download free apps). From a GDPR perspective, that is already a breach of the law, and already should have been fixed.
@tdelmas The whole remote attestation thing should be dropped from the proposal. The rest of it is unfortunate (no ZKs at all, just signed credentials), but the remote attestation part is truly asinine. I have no idea how and why that decision was made. The people behind this are adding a path dependency on Google/Apple on something as simple as showing your ID to buy alcohol.
EloPup
Marcel Geveler
Hanno Rein
theHastyOne@hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas never attribute malice to that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Lea
zombiecide　馬雄@ahasty any reasonably advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice
@zombiecide the real malice is how society seems to give the most power to the stupidest people
@ahasty I gave you a light-hearted way out of that direction, would've been nice if you took it
Hanlon's razor, while considered philosophical, is basically an emotional coping skill used to counteract certain types of rumination (caused by seeing current negative interaction as threat because of past trauma or learned behaviour)
emotional coping on its own, however, is of little use when dealing with current threats
and Hanlon's razor is not actually a very good emotional coping skill either
@ahasty so while I empathize with the resignation and despair I would feel if I said what you said (and I might've said at one time), I also think society isn't in itself an entity that can think and give power to anybody, it's people who looked at the laws and the media and who decided to play as dirty as they could to gain power, and they're self-serving and some, actively malicious, and I need to do what I can to counteract this - in this case, help ensure access to services without eIDAS
algol
Lillian Violet@GLaDTheresCake @hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas
By stating that the requirement to have a google/icloud address is not malice, I am not condoning the actions. Stupid decisions by those in power are harmful. Those in power making stupid decisions are at best negligent. But i also believe that many in power simply do not grasp the technology they regulate.
To be clear, I am an American, currently living through a fascist take over powered by techno-oligarchy, due to the fact that my countries elected officials failed to create laws that govern technology appropriately
higgins@hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas There were several comments from the public to the EU about requiring google "phone home" APIs when the EU Commission published a reference implementation for digital wallets. Met with shoulder shrugs about "it's only a reference implementation, no state is forced to use it". Which is an astoundingly strange comment about a _reference_ implementation. So they knew and were told repeatedly. Either they are criminally incompetent, corrupt, or both.
Mark Koek@higgins @hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas I don’t think it works to cry “corruption” any time there is a proposal you disagree with. In a democracy there are always proposals you disagree with. Argue against them. Forcefully if you have to. You will find that often, your opponents will take the opportunity to improve based on what you are saying. Unless of course you start out by calling them criminals.
Hannah@higgins @hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas @mkoek people might be mixing up lobbyism and outright corruption. But your generalisation is still flawed. If there is a huge power imbalance between the access different sides of a position (like let's say big tech and privacy activists) have to politicians and people complain about that, that's not just "crying out corruption on every proposal you disagree with". Such power imbalances destroy the intended democratic process.
@higgins @hannorein @unnon89 @EloPup @pojntfx @tdelmas @mkoek Also I think most of those lobbyists walk a fine line where we would morally call it corruption but maybe not legally. There are many ways to corrupt people. (Use their ego against them, install ideas by repeated misinformation while inviting them to settings where they feel good and safe, etc.)
Krzysztof Sakrejda
Nicole ParsonsTech companies writing their own rules is a "regulatory hijack"
What happens if their age verification app is hacked?
Or if these corporations are sold, bankrupt, amalgamated, or nationalized by the state?
Privatization or financialization of the means for assuring identification is a very bad idea.
Remember who invests in both Google & Apple.
https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html
This is just another effort by fossil fuel funded fascism.
oriYes, but the tech companies have the ability to pay the right experts to walk by them all day and provide explanations about how this is ok, really.
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