A Russian state-backed messenger application called Max, a rival to WhatsApp that critics say could be used to track users, must be pre-installed on all mobile phones and tablets bought in the country starting next month, the Russian government said on Thursday.
The decision to promote Max comes as Moscow, locked in a standoff with the west over Ukraine, is seeking greater control over the internet. The Kremlin said in a statement that Max, which will be integrated with government services, would be on a list of mandatory pre-installed apps on all “gadgets”, including mobile phones and tablets, sold in Russia from 1 September.
Lmao joining north korea in having an “encrypted” messenger pre-installed I see.
lool
Oh no! 😟 Why do they not just use state trojans and other hidden government spyware like the west? 🤔
Because they aren’t smart enough to
They don’t need to lie about it.
They lack the necessary faith… They rely on weak sauce westoid propaganda 🐸
Got to ensure the right guy is data mining
spyware in
Russian companies order all new devices to be wiped and installed fresh.
Does this mean HBO needs to change their name again?
I wonder how bad it is compared to whatsapp.
Depends on how you rate Putin reading your messages against Zuckerberg reading your messages.
WhatsApp uses the Signal protocol for end-to-end encryption, so Meta only collects the metadata. Still enough to convict, but better than anything from Putin.
Not when Meta works with NSO group to backdoor the app. Then they can read all your messages.
Has there been any evidence of that? Intercepting the traffic or disassembling the app would show some signs if true.
Yeah dude, tons. Look at Citizen Lab’s work. They did an very detailed exposé with Amnesty International too
A vulnerability allowing to exploit an app is not the same thing as a backdoor. Moreover, being able to gain full access to someone’s device does not prove that an app’s end-to-end encryption is faulty. The same kind of exploit most likely could be used to read messages from Signal and definitely other apps.
That’s my point. The e2ee is worthless marketing because they work with cybermercinary groups to ensure they have exploits to gain access to the device.
NSLs require backdoors. Meta is a US corporation. But, sure, you can pretend that these exploits aren’t intentional. That’s their plausible deniability.
Not sure why this got downvoted. Was there any real proofs that WhatsApp msgs can get decrypted and read by the central server?
Besides the AI shit that is optional. Not advocating for WhatsApp but we need to keep the conspiracy theory out of the equation.
Lol. Never heard of a National Security Letter in the US?
In one case, your data gets sold, but in the other you get thrown out a window.
Oh, no, Russian government ends up leaking each and every piece of information it has for 50 rubles per person through sheer incompetence. So, you are both flying out the window and getting your data sold.
Oh yeah, so it’s a 2-for-1 deal.
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WhatsApp with extra steps
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with extra spyware
Apparently you don’t know about Meta?
“Extra” spyware implies there was already spyware, so they’re still correct
Just funnels the data to different people.
Does it come with state mandated AI like WhatsApp?
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If we can all understand that, say, criticizing the policies of the state of Israel is not automatically anti-semitism, and indeed that that is often a bad-faith dismissal of legitimate criticism, we can make the same distinction here.
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There’s no russophobia when that country would want you killed for opposing authoritarianism. Or when that country routinely invades Europe. Or when it shoots down a plane and doesn’t apologise nor extradite the criminals who did it (Girkin and Putler).
Or when it opposes your very existence as a person. Or when it infects your people with the disease of far-right hatred. And I could go on. Fuck Putler’s Russia.
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is no better than the news about Chat Control
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The app is definitely fully encrypted and not reading your messages!
Sadly EU goes this way too
In Russia app installs you.
Look at this normie having a solid jk 🤡
It definitely won’t lead to any surprise defenestrations.
rival to WhatsApp that critics say could be used to track users
What other reason could they possibly have for requiring this?
Both can be true at the same time. Countries want to be able to spy on their citizens, and don’t want their geopolitical rivals to be able to spy on their citizens.
I didn’t read anything beyond post title but this reminds me of how hard WhatsApp was getting ad-time on everything because more than likely the US gov could use it to spy on people even though they’ve been caught using actual privacy app, Signal.
No word about it not be allowed to be frozen. You can freeze apps; still there but can’t run. Don’t even need root for that.
