I’m no expert but given the repeated efforts from governments around the world to get backdoors added to encryption and frequent pushback from big tech, or at least Apple, I’m more inclined to think there currently, or recently, aren’t backdoors. At least, not easy ones, not official ones. As an example, recall a few years ago there was a terror-related attack in the U.S. where someone tied to Muslim extremists went on a shooting spree before taking his own life (I’m not bothering to look up the details and my recollection could be flawed). The attacker used an iPhone and the U.S. government took the opportunity of strong public outrage to try to force Apple to create a tool to break the encryption on the iPhone so they could examine its contents. Apple resisted and the effort went to court, with the decision eventually being that Apple did not have to break the encryption. The government then revealed that they had access to a third party tool that they used to break into the phone and recover its contents. That’s pretty much been the pattern before and since: a government will try to find a cause that seems likely to gather widespread support and use that to get a backdoor they promise not to abuse, and the companies push back to varying degrees. All the while there seem to be third party tools that exploit various flaws, including zero-day flaws to gain the access the companies won’t provide. My impression is that at least a couple times a year there’s a story about an Apple security update patching these holes and notifying certain users if they may have been targeted.

It’s possible that’s all just theater put on by the U.S. and allies to help Apple or Google tell governments the U.S. doesn’t trust, “see, we can’t even give the U.S. government we’re subject to access, so we certainly can’t give you access.” Given some of the cases that have been used to try to force access, though, I’m more inclined to think the government really doesn’t have the easy access some might like.

Of course, it’s also possible that some of the flaws used by zero-day exploits to gain access are intentionally planted, either by the software companies or by an individual programmer acting at a government’s behest. The later patches could be to maintain appearances to outsiders, since there always seem to be additional flaws. Still, programming is hard enough and operating systems are complex enough that I’m more inclined to say that usually these really are just human error and not something malicious.

None of that is to say that anyone should fully trust these encryption systems. Used properly, they’re probably good enough against ordinary hackers, people just looking for financial rewards. You can keep your family photos, important records, school notes, etc. on them without worrying too much. Financial records you might want to doubly encrypt, just so they’re not so easy to exploit if there is a breach and data dump. If you’re doing something any government cares enough about to really investigate, they’re probably going to find a way into your computer, phone, or cloud service, depending on how motivated they are. Maybe not some impoverished “third-world” governments, but most of the big ones have some resources. I’d be extremely cautious about things that could actually send someone to jail, either in your own country or one that is less friendly.

Are they going to take the Amazon Kindle route? Pay one price for the car or pay a lower price for the car that shows you ads? Not that the car makers would use it to lower the price of the cars, but raise the price of ad-free cars I’m sure.

I suppose there’s a reason a Brit wrote 1984?

Your website hasa banner that says it uses cookies and that by using it I acknowledge having read the privacy policy, but if I click More Information it takes me to a page the wiki says want created yet.

Private messenger using something like Briar in a protest environment?

It’s for the “AI” no one was asking for in the first place

[email protected]

I kind of think going no encryption is arguably better than agreeing to a backdoor, since it should make it clear to consumers that they can’t trust it as safe and should probably use an alternative that would be more secure. I don’t know how many trustworthy alternatives really exist on iOS, though, not least because Apple has allegedly used their position to discourage competitors to iCloud.

Like back when they sold Time Capsules as a home backup solution? I could sort of see that happening. You can already backup the phones to a Macintosh. I don’t think that would stop the UK government demanding a backdoor to the product, though.

*stares at URL*

I think I’m starting to recognize that link

To me a physical keyboard feels much better than tapping away on a glass screen. Swiping keyboards are better than tapping, but I still preferred the tactile feel of physical. I’m probably faster with a swipe keyboard, but I could go much more by feel, not having to look at a physical keyboard.

I hate tapping away on the glass but swiping works okay, until the phone decides a word couldn’t possibly be what you’re trying for. My most recent frustration was New Zealand, which of course worked fine this time.

Yes, but then last year he started saying it had known vulnerabilities that weren’t being fixed, around the same time Telegram was attacking Signal’s credibility. I seem to remember him outright endorsing Telegram but have only done a quick search and that hasn’t popped up.

They say they’re going to propose some activity pub extensions to handle this. It seems to me like they should try to make this function in a way that works with how Lemmy handles cross-posts.

How could BuzzFeed be ruined when it was always bad?

As a solid outsider, this whole Rust thing seems like it keeps simmering under the surface in a way that could one day boil over and seriously damage the entire Linux project.

I don’t have a machine capable of running Asahi today, but I also don’t feel like I need it now. Reading this and reading marcan’s resignation makes me feel like I should find some way to chip in to Asahi now so that whenever Apple eventually stops supporting my hardware, Asahi will hopefully still be there and ready to keep the hardware going. I figure I probably have about 6 years of Apple support, but I’m also suspecting Apple might support the ARM hardware longer than they ever did Intel or PowerPC, so I might have even more time.

I’m guessing this is nothing to do with the plant that can grow on amusing terra cotta sculptures?

I never used to eat it but actually like adding it to oatmeal with maple syrup and blueberries

This is more to replace the digital signs that currently use LCD/LED displays. It’s more readable in the daytime because it doesn’t need a ridiculously bright backlight to compete against the sun. Compared to those signs this uses dramatically less electricity because it only uses electricity when the image changes (reading the article some of the options run off a small battery pack like you could use to recharge your phone a few times). Iirc you also don’t really have burn-in issues with e-ink. It looks like their color reproduction has gotten a lot better with the latest generation, so this could be a really good fit for a lot of outdoor digital signs.

The money you’re paying DoorDash isn’t going to the drivers, so I don’t know how driverless cars will reduce the costs. Having driven for DoorDash off and on over the past couple years, they typically only pay $2 per delivery, plus whatever tip the customer gives. I’ve read they additionally charge the restaurants around a 30% commission on all orders, which is why the prices are so much higher than in the restaurant; the restaurants raise the prices so that they still get roughly the same money after the commission is deducted.

I’m not really sure where all that money goes with DoorDash. They clearly try to keep support costs as low as possible. I’m guessing they lose a lot to refunds, legitimate or not. But I still don’t understand how the prices can be so high yet they always seem tight on cash.