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Everyone knows all the apps on your phone

(peabee.substack.com)
1192 points gniting | 2 comments | 29 Mar 25 21:26 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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DevKoala ◴[30 Mar 25 01:13 UTC] No.43520286[source]▶
> How is knowing whether I have the Xbox or the Playstation app installed on my phone essential to their Swiggy's core functionality? How will knowing if I have the Naukri or Upstox app help them deliver groceries to my doorstep?

It is for fingerprinting purposes

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wutwutwat ◴[30 Mar 25 04:08 UTC] No.43521250[source]▶
fingerprinting is the best case scenario
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_heimdall ◴[30 Mar 25 04:12 UTC] No.43521269[source]▶
What's the worst case, in your opinion?
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em3rgent0rdr ◴[30 Mar 25 05:26 UTC] No.43521595[source]▶
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.
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_heimdall ◴[30 Mar 25 06:35 UTC] No.43521874[source]▶
Does El Salvador do gulags? I thought that was more of a Russian approach to imprisonment.
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1. __jonas ◴[30 Mar 25 12:13 UTC] No.43523507{5}[source]▶
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...

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2. pavel_lishin ◴[30 Mar 25 17:32 UTC] No.43525904[source]▶
> despite it not being a forced labor camp.

Well, not yet, anyway.