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Comment by fludlight | Hacker News Reader

Every native app made by a Chinese company could also provide a backdoor to the PLA. Same could be said about apps from other countries and the NSA, FSB, GCHQ, Mossad, ASD, whatever the Germans are calling the gentler, kinder, totally-not-spying-on-everyone-anymore-we-swear successor to the Stasi, etc.

There is no specific evidence for this, but it is a possibility. Balancing remote possibilities and accepting some that are beyond our control is what separates the sane from the tinfoil hat crowd. Personally, I would try to stick to apps by companies headquartered in your home country. This is difficult outside of the USA and probably impossible outside of the next 5 top software hub countries.

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>Personally, I would try to stick to apps by companies headquartered in your home country.

Why is that? It seems like the opposite would be the best advice: make sure to use something from a company not headquartered in your country. Most people probably have more to worry about from their own government than anyone else.

the gentler, kinder, totally-not-spying-on-everyone-anymore-we-swear successor to the Stasi, etc

I like it! I'd totally give that TV series a try!

That'd be the BND as an FYI

I think that's technically incorrect. The BND (and it's military sibling MAD) are mostly concerned with foreign intelligence, while the Stasi was mostly used for internal surveillance. The subdivision HVA inside the Stasi would be the equivalent to the BND, while the larger and infamous internal surveillance of the Stasi is now in the responsibility of the Verfassungsschutz.

> I think that's technically incorrect. The BND (and it's military sibling MAD) are mostly concerned with foreign intelligence, while the Stasi was mostly used for internal surveillance.

Of course they are. That's why they are happy to work with NSA which get everything that is routed through frankfurt.

>The subdivision HVA inside the Stasi would be the equivalent to the BND, while the larger and infamous internal surveillance of the Stasi is now in the responsibility of the Verfassungsschutz.

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