Ask HN: Will you switch to FOSS following Trump's reelection? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Will you switch to FOSS following Trump's reelection?

9 points_npid30 comments

I’m German and deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, using a MacBook and iPhone with all my files and data synced to iCloud. With Trump’s reelection as U.S. president, I worry the country might drift toward a surveillance dictatorship, one that even Apple’s advancements in encryption and privacy couldn’t counter.

So my question is: Is it time to cut ties with U.S. tech companies and finally switch to alternatives like Linux, Nextcloud, and others?

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I’m considering it for future purchases. I doubt anything will happen, but if it does it’ll be better to have something that can run GrapheneOS or similar rather than being stuck with something they can only run iOS. As far as computers go, you can already run Linux on your Mac so it’s not like you have to do anything about it. If nothing happens, which it probably won’t, then it’ll have been a waste of effort. The cloud is similar, there is no reason to leave iCloud now and you should already have backups outside of it anyway.

I’m far more interested in what will happen with enterprise organisations and their reliance on Microsoft. Breaking they reliance would be a good thing though, regardless of who leads the US.

I think the biggest thing is actually going to buying your hardware before the tariffs.

What is it with these questions? People need to get a grip. Your already in a surveillance dictatorship

Too true. This is all of modern society.

I would argue that Apple had an easier time defending its system against government surveillance under the Biden administration than it might under the next one, depending on how far Trump’s team extends their vision of control.

Utter nonsense. What are you basing this on?

Why do you think Apple does anything to defend it system against government surveillance, beyond token gestures to provide plausible deniability? It's a PRISM company.

Anything the American intelligence or law enforcement apparatus wants from any American company, it gets. Anyone making claims to the contrary is naive or a liar.

If you’re concerned about these issues, please consider donating to a civil liberties or legal defense fund.

FWIW there's E2EE for iCloud data. Not sure how robust that is. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651

I already have this activated, but the issue is that you still essentially have to trust Apple that their encryption is as robust as advertised and that there’s no secret backdoor the next government could misuse.

I switched a long time ago. It is past time! - but better late than never.

Hi, German here as well - there are plenty of political news for us to sit through these days...

I personally don't feel compelled to move away from my Apple devices as of yet, but this'll certainly influence my future purchasing decisions.

Why? - With politicians like Trump you'll always have to draw the line between campaign talk and real politics - When actions start or the relationship between the EU and US starts to deteriorate it makes more sense to jump ship.

From a bureaucratic standpoint I hope that the EU takes this as a wake up call to finally deregulate - to allow more innovation and trade with other parts of the world if it comes down to it.

It all boils down to your threat model, your use cases and whether you truly feel like your privacy would’ve been less at risk had the Trump lost the election and whether the idea of the U.S. becoming a surveillance dictatorship was any less feasible between in the fifteen years before Trump first took office.

Great blog by the way. I don’t care for the subject matter per se, but the fact that it reads like it is written in a way that is indifferent to public perception despite being public is a good trait for a blog I reckon. It reads like a human wrote it and as a human you owe me nothing as far as a blog is considered, because I don’t know you I just know that you’re a human, that I can tell.

The problem is that I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes at American tech companies or how secure their systems truly are from their own state agencies. Can I safely upload furry porn and torrented anime to my (by Apple encrypted) iCloud Drive without worrying that it might be used against me in the future? How much does the Trump administration seek to tighten control over people compared to the Biden administration? At what point is it wiser to sacrifice convenience, time, and appealing design for (presumably) safer but more labor-intensive software?

Also, thank you for complimenting my blog. I love hearing (or in this case reading) comments like that because it’s exactly what I aim for: writing as a human for other humans who might find something of interest in my thoughts on both important and (mostly) less important things.

If you think Apple will obey Trump orders to spy on its users, but that they wouldn't obey Biden/Harris orders to do the same; I think you have an unrealistic view.

the corporate stance is irrelevant: all it takes is one low level schmuck with access and enough police record to be subject to "pressure".

I do think Apple would comply with either administration, but Trump might change the laws enough to make it harder for Apple to protect its system integrity.

> all it takes is one low level schmuck with access and enough police record to be subject to "pressure".

This isn't the case with advanced data security, the true E2EE mode. OTOH, then it's you that gets the rubber hose.

https://xkcd.com/538/

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