The age of cheap Chinese stuff is ending in the USA? [includes politics, but shouldn't]

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neptronix said:
That's usually the case isn't it? Presidents usually accomplish a tenth of what they promise on the campaign trail.
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..shouldn't you say: usually only intend to do x% of what they falsely claimed to be needed? Creating fear and uncertainty certainly helps populist agenda's, it's a historical repeating occurence.

As to them walking back the tarriff claims, good.
rafalg said:
Maybe they just need some drama to confirm that the love is mutual and eternal and after that both sides can return to business as usual :)
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.. you could also call it extortion 😂

Nothing new under the sun.
 
I know, it's getting bad.. we don't have the right to not be spied on.. and for the spies to lose control over that data.. no accountability.

I'm really glad i bought a car that was made right before all this. If i had this crap in my car, i'd tear my car apart like a tweaker looking for antennas to rip out of it, or otherwise disable with tin foil.
 
neptronix said:
I know, it's getting bad.. we don't have the right to not be spied on.. and for the spies to lose control over that data.. no accountability.

I'm really glad i bought a car that was made right before all this. If i had this crap in my car, i'd tear my car apart like a tweaker looking for antennas to rip out of it, or otherwise disable with tin foil.
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neptronix said:
I'm really glad i bought a car that was made right before all this. If i had this crap in my car, i'd tear my car apart like a tweaker looking for antennas to rip out of it, or otherwise disable with tin foil.
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OTOH, you probably have your cellphone with you when driving.

Check out this huge PI leaker-- the MAID:

"The Mobile Advertising ID or MAID — the unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to each mobile device — was originally envisioned as a way to distinguish individual mobile customers without relying on personally identifiable information such as phone numbers or email addresses.

However, there is now a robust industry of marketing and advertising companies that specialize in assembling enormous lists of MAIDs that are “enriched” with historical and personal information about the individual behind each MAID."

"Babel Street’s LocateX platform also allows customers to track individual mobile users by their Mobile Advertising ID or MAID, a unique, alphanumeric identifier built into all Google Android and Apple mobile devices.

Babel Street can offer this tracking capability by consuming location data and other identifying information that is collected by many websites and broadcast to dozens and sometimes hundreds of ad networks that may wish to bid on showing their ad to a particular user."

Evidently there are data consolidators that are combining the constantly pinging MAID with PI from phone apps and selling that info to easily map users movements and locations.

From an informative KrebsOnSecurity article (much more info at the link):

The Global Surveillance Free-for-All in Mobile Ad Data


Is this getting too tinfoil hattish?
 
No, just right.
On my mobile phone i only install apps if i absolutely need them for work purposes and i use brave browser, which blocks a LOT of crap.
99.5% of my computer use is on a desktop that's locked down even more and runs Linux. + a neutered windows inside a virtual machine.

Why make it easy for them!
 
neptronix said:
On my mobile phone i only install apps if i absolutely need them
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Bingo!

I just told off RollingSquare for requiring me to install the Shop app to find out if what I paid for has been shipped. Manage the security risks yourself - don't try to make me take them on.
 
tweakers.net

BNR: locatiegegevens gebruikers van ruim honderd Nederlandse apps online te koop

Locatiegegevens van gebruikers die zijn vergaard door ruim honderd Nederlandse apps, worden online te koop aangeboden, zo claimt BNR. Onlangs werd bekend dat vergelijkbare locatiegegevens op basis van meer dan 12.000 internationale apps gestolen waren.
tweakers.net tweakers.net

Over a hundred Dutch apps which collect location data have been caught being part of data being sold by Datastream Group, now known as Datasys.

Many of the applications which seem to be involved have no reason to track user location, but a lot of them don't even really do so they 'only' transmit say the IP of the available wifi hotspots ( and their strength ).

That brokers then correlate these to a certain location just shows there is almost no prevention of this. Mostly because we don't opt to buy phones with an os which allows us fine grain control over what permissions applications have, so our 'faith' has to be in the app developers themselves. And then there are the brokers themselves, and they don't always seem to have security high on their priority list.

Just goes to show, be aware of what you install on your personal devices.

*this is going a bit off topic but since it was brought up.
 
neptronix said:
On my mobile phone i only install apps if i absolutely need them for work purposes . . .
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Yep. And along those lines, I am disappointed that newer inverters have no front panel controls at all - they have to be controlled by an app running on your phone. Which means another app AND a new failure mode (phone doesn't work, can't turn on the inverter to charge the phone.)
 
marvin78 said:
*this is going a bit off topic but since it was brought up.
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We can say it is supporting information to the issue mentioned in post #123, which added another data point to the topic title "The age of cheap Chinese stuff is ending in the USA?"

The banning of Chinese cars in the US because of security and privacy concerns (among others).
 
Mobile apps are the worst. All of them could be websites, and they're usually websites wrapped in a container anyway!

The reason why they want that app on your phone:
- they can harass you with notifications
- they have more access to your phone's hardware and data

That's why they're always bribing you to install the stuff.
 
99t4 said:
We can say it is supporting information to the issue mentioned in post #123, which added another data point to the topic title "The age of cheap Chinese stuff is ending in the USA?"

The banning of Chinese cars in the US because of security and privacy concerns (among others).
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True, since some westerners are losing access to Chinese stuff, the the OT actually works out 😅
 
Perhaps a bit OT, but there *are* phones with hardware kill switches for a number of functions; I suspect (but haven't researched) that those (or others) also have ways to nuke or block at least some of these privacy-piracy gotchas.
 
99t4 said:
You mean the Librem 5?

Purism– Librem 5

Introducing the – Librem 5 by Purism
puri.sm puri.sm
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I've also been looking at getting a Google Pixel 3a from ebay, and loading the somewhat-still-experimental Ubuntu Touch OS on it, see how that works as a daily driver.
 
If you use a non-android or non-iOS phone, you can't run the apps on it that require those Operating Systems - so no go to phone apps provided by 3d parties to interface with their equipment. Depending on the OS used, you may be able to write your own interface - it depends on what equipment provides as an interface on it's side. It might be easy. Librems and PinePhones run GNU/Linux.

brax.me sells de-googled android phones. Android itself is a free software project, licensed under the Apache license, and including some components under the GPL. Anyone can acquire the expertise and modify it within the terms of those licenses.

I have not done the analysis to say whether this can address all the concerns listed above.
 
.... you guys haven't been paying attention have you?

It's not China which is the issue, they are the solution.... that's why orange guy 'delegated' peace for Ukraine to Winnie the Pooh...

And Fentanyl is a real issue... but it's not China's fault, it's CANADA''S fault, those darn Canadians

Yeah not the Chinese which makes the precursor chemicals... or Mexico which is the major hub in synthesizing and distribution...

But hey, need to attack Canada because they we can't have Murican's thinking Canada is better for their people then the US is for Americans.

fill said:
there are emulators that allow you to install and run android apps..
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But unless the emulator / host os allows you to set custom rules for what those apps are capable of doing in the emulator, there is no actual benefit?

offGridDownUnder said:
If you use a non-android or non-iOS phone, you can't run the apps on it that require those Operating Systems - so no go to phone apps provided by 3d parties to interface with their equipment. Depending on the OS used, you may be able to write your own interface - it depends on what equipment provides as an interface on it's side. It might be easy. Librems and PinePhones run GNU/Linux.

brax.me sells de-googled android phones. Android itself is a free software project, licensed under the Apache license, and including some components under the GPL. Anyone can acquire the expertise and modify it within the terms of those licenses.

I have not done the analysis to say whether this can address all the concerns listed above.
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For ( casual ) end users, e.foundation is a better approach. It's also actually available, unlike the 'preorder' phone from the youtuber.

e Foundation - deGoogled unGoogled smartphone operating systems and online services - your data is your data

your data is YOUR data
e.foundation

murena.com

Smartphones - Murena - deGoogled phones and services

murena.com murena.com

Brax is seen as a bit of a 'hustler' ... E.foundation is fully open source, available as download to try on your own device/emulator and there are multiple devices you can buy with the OS installed, right now.

None of this btw is going to help me when the store I order from has a data breach...1737542906559.png

.. you don't need location tracking data if you get the literal address.

Anyway, I am really curious how the tariffs will actually go at the end of the week... or maybe he will just ask Canadians'to buy his memecoin, they he'll leave em alone.
 
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/03/trump-presidency-news/

President Donald Trump said Monday that he has agreed to pause sweeping tariffs on Mexico for a month following a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum said in a tweet that Mexico agreed to fortify its border with 10,000 national guard troops to try to block the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, across the border. Trump said “high-level” negotiations will ensue on a permanent deal. Trump is also speaking Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before tariffs aimed at the country are due to take effect early Tuesday.
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and this...

1738621081900.png

Maybe Canada and Mexico are spared from tarriff-palooza... hope this all blows over!
 
Chalo said:
a rapidly unfolding stock market crash that talked some limited sense into the Rapist In Chief.
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The USA's very own Liz Truss.
 
Just 10%? wow, that got watered down.

1738648881882.png
 
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