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Comment by zirgs | Hacker News Reader

If the app is not illegal elsewhere then sideloading it is trivial. The UK can't force app stores in other countries to take down e2e communication apps.

Repos like F-Droid will keep hosting them.

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"Sideloading" is the likely next target. "We have to protect our people from dangerous Russian hackers spying on people, so we will make sure only clean and safe applications from $CORPSTORE are used".

You say that like it's a bad thing. We actually do protect our people from dangerous products (lead water pipes, asbestos insulation), dangerous medications (Thalidomide and friends), dangerous food additives, dangerous environmental toxins (Zoning regulations, environmental and industrial waste regulations), physical dangers (OHSA, hard hats, fencing, car and pedestrian infrastructure design). And from informational dangers (VBScript email attachments, et al). Why not from this also?

Government measures protecting country from attacks are fine as long as they don't erode individual liberties. When they do, the official rationale becomes suspicious.

Forbidding installing apps from non-official sources is obviously bad and I don't think most people want it.

That means that custom Android roms should be banned. Oh and desktop PCs too, because you can "sideload" anything there. Banning sideloading is unrealistic.

"It wouldn't work 100%, so they won't do it." Most naive argument ever.

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