Technology

This article and the one it links to from Forbes describe arrangements to access the data that is being collected through the app but I believe the Gizmodo headline is misrepresenting that as a request for additional invasive features. My comment is meant to point out how I perceive the drafted agreement and the pearl-clutching response from that headline.

I don't think they want that information purely in the service of Truth, Justice and the American Way™ but concerns about what the CCP has access to through their app are legitimate. Privacy invasion is unacceptable no matter who is doing it. There are cases where it is necessary but even then, it should be limited and subject to intense scrutiny to protect the rights of individuals. The Patriot act and things like it are an absolute disaster on that front, for example, but that's no excuse for feeding our information directly to a hostile foreign power.

I'd love to see hardware and software producers (as well as legislators) putting user privacy higher on their list of priorities. It's a huge problem that we're still coming to grips with and the people making the rules are generally woefully ignorant of the technology in use.