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nairboonyesterday at 1:10 PM8 repliesview on HN

Just for reference, stuff like this is exactly why some people oppose the forced Apple/Google requirement in government systems like the new eIDs (eIDAS) in Europe. If you're forced to use Apple/Google for digital identification, playing around with your Google account and get it banned can have disproportional consequences. Suddenly you're locked out of all online government systems.


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throwaway13337yesterday at 5:55 PM

Maybe we should reframe how we see the big gate keepers like Google and Apple as they seem to be a new concept. They are not governments but have properties of them.

Governments are defined as having a monopoly on violence. And we, through a lot of struggles, were able to attenuate this power such that this power was not granted to a single person alone but both distributed to the judgement of many and codified so that, in theory, no one is above the law. Even imperfect, this cultural belief that governments should behave as such has caused it to be, in a flawed way, more true than it used to be.

These digital gate keepers have special powers that control identity, the algorithms deciding your information awareness, and access to what society now requires to live a normal life. So, what are they? And where is our enlightenment stage? What sorts of human rights are there in this world that we agree on, at least culturally.

I don't believe government regulation is the answer - it has both failed and centralizes again in fewer hands. The thing we need is cultural understanding first of this new sort of entity. And an ethics system that we can agree on that can constrain them as the Magna Carta once described.

How should our collective values shape this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta

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giancarlostoroyesterday at 2:53 PM

At that point, Google and Apple should be legally barred from fully banning you if it impedes you identifying yourself unless your account is hacked.

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exe34yesterday at 6:36 PM

It's actually why I will never use any of Google's paid services like compute or LLMs or storage. I will not risk my access to important services. "Free" Gmail and search is all I will use.

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LorenPechteltoday at 1:03 AM

And there's the problem that they can do this with no recourse and no defense permitted.

I'm reminded of the guy who lost his Google access over "child pornography"--a picture sent to his little boy's pediatrician that got automatically uploaded. The police agreed he had done nothing wrong, Google didn't give him his account back.

wmfyesterday at 7:28 PM

In that case you should be able to create another Google account.

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shevy-javayesterday at 1:13 PM

It is a very clear act of total betrayal for europan governments to use taxpayers money from Europeans, to invest into US mega-corporations that proxy-enslave Europeans. Lobbyists in Europe are getting rich right now.

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verisimiyesterday at 6:29 PM

We already live in fascism - governments and corporations are just wings of the same bird.

megagpt1yesterday at 6:49 PM

Which is funny because the government can't legally ban you from the government. If you suffer any consequences from this, the government is at fault in every case. Of course, good luck proving it while you're in jail.