The worrying part is that it was installed without consent.
This app can actually save lives without sacrificing any privacy, pushing it to users is something that has no drawbacks.
The largest trouble for the German version of the app was that not enough people installed it. Choosing to install it automatically isn’t something nefarious under these circumstances.
That is different. They are pre-installed and I can list them and disable them. They do not install suddenly by themselves months after buying the device. If they did so, there would be an outrage.
> This app can actually save lives without sacrificing any privacy, pushing it to users is something that has no drawbacks.
Yeah, "for our own good". Next time it would be an app that sends an alarm when an excon is near you. And next time it would be an app that sends an alarm when someone who shows dangerous opinions (ie. against government) is near you. No thanks, please unsubscribe me of this Chinese dystopia.
They absolute can do that, and do that. For example, if you switch SIM cards, the phone can (and in some situations will) install whatever crap the ISP chooses.
In my case, inserting a SIM card from ALDI’s carrier used to auto-install some weather, news, and similar stuff. Luckily that stopped recently.
This can happen at any time, actually.
> Yeah, "for our own good".
Sometimes it is actually for your own good. I agree that it can be a slippery slope, but using the available means to save lives is sometimes necessary.
The only risk is governments not returning the power they got during this pandemic, but that’s more of a worry in 3rd-world-dictatorships.
Surely there is a prompt. I never had apps silently auto-install in my phone. If that is true, one more reason to go with the custom rom way.
> The only risk is governments not returning the power they got during this pandemic, but that’s more of a worry in 3rd-world-dictatorships.
In my life I've seen a lot of just-for-emergency-temporary-only laws that become permanent once the outrage subsides. In supposedly first world countries
Nope, Google Play Services does this all in the background. The same happens if Google thinks you’ve reinstalled your device (e.g. by wiping the Play Services data) and it starts installing some of Google’s default apps again, without prompts
So you are putting this app in the same category as spam, at least that's good.
> This app can actually save lives without sacrificing any privacy, pushing it to users is something that has no drawbacks.
I have an app that can save your life, trust me. And give me your email so I can send it to you ;)
Great, send me the source code, I’ll get it released on f-droid and then I’ll install the f-droid version of it, just like I’ve got the f-droid and microG version of the Corona Warn App installed :)
This app might have absolutely no privacy leaks; honestly, it’s too early to know that yet. The code is not published; there’s been no public auditing of the backend data handling practices.
Given that, I see drawbacks.
I did not opt-in to the MA one when prompted on iOS (and it did not install [as far as I can tell]).