The US Customs & Border Control apps ("CBP Home" and "Mobile Passport Control") could check for blacklisted apps and flag you to be deported to an El Salvadorean gulag without due process.
This is likely in reference to a recent deal the US (Trump) has made with El Salvador, allowing them to ship US citizens off to prisons in El Salvador, whether this is actually possible is not clear at this point though [1].
Here is some more information about the conditions in these prisons in El Salvador, CECOT being the most notable one:
> Able to hold 40,000 inmates, the CECOT is made up of eight sprawling pavilions. Its cells hold 65 to 70 prisoners each. They do not receive visits. There are no programs preparing them to return to society after their sentences, no workshops or educational programs. They are never allowed outside. [2]
I believe the term gulag makes sense in that context despite it not being a forced labor camp. Not sure how this relates to Russia at all (apart from the origin of the term obviously).
I can imagine knowing the apps someone uses might be a telling thing to someone looking for leverage on someone (who might not want to disclose what apps they use). Apps can expose your orientation, your lifestyle, your income level, your habits, and even where to look to find you (imagine you have an app for a gym, that narrows down the list of gyms to find you at and is better than nothing)
Politicians, law enforcement, high value targets, etc. A list of apps on their phone could totally be used against them and is better than no list of apps.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that feels pretty similar to fingerprinting. Usually that's why online services try to fingerprint you, for advertising and data revenue.
The US Customs & Border Control apps ("CBP Home" and "Mobile Passport Control") could check for blacklisted apps and flag you to be deported to an El Salvadorean gulag without due process.
Does El Salvador do gulags? I thought that was more of a Russian approach to imprisonment.
Parent commenter doesn't mean literal gulags, but a similarly bad place sent people to by a similarly bad government.
2 replies →
This is likely in reference to a recent deal the US (Trump) has made with El Salvador, allowing them to ship US citizens off to prisons in El Salvador, whether this is actually possible is not clear at this point though [1].
Here is some more information about the conditions in these prisons in El Salvador, CECOT being the most notable one:
> Able to hold 40,000 inmates, the CECOT is made up of eight sprawling pavilions. Its cells hold 65 to 70 prisoners each. They do not receive visits. There are no programs preparing them to return to society after their sentences, no workshops or educational programs. They are never allowed outside. [2]
I believe the term gulag makes sense in that context despite it not being a forced labor camp. Not sure how this relates to Russia at all (apart from the origin of the term obviously).
[1] https://apnews.com/article/rubio-trump-deportations-usaid-f7...
[2] https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-us-rubio-prison-de912...
1 reply →
I can imagine knowing the apps someone uses might be a telling thing to someone looking for leverage on someone (who might not want to disclose what apps they use). Apps can expose your orientation, your lifestyle, your income level, your habits, and even where to look to find you (imagine you have an app for a gym, that narrows down the list of gyms to find you at and is better than nothing)
Politicians, law enforcement, high value targets, etc. A list of apps on their phone could totally be used against them and is better than no list of apps.
Targeting and profiling. Reselling the data.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that feels pretty similar to fingerprinting. Usually that's why online services try to fingerprint you, for advertising and data revenue.
That is what the fingerprinting is for.
Fingerprinting is just for identifying user, not getting user data. You can potentially resell things like app usage to credit rating company.
1 reply →
Does fingerprinting necessarily imply reselling that data?