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Chinese State Media Declares iPhone a Threat To National Security
MojoKid writes:
"When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden came forth last year with U.S. government spying secrets, it didn't take long to realize that some of the information revealed could bring on serious repercussions — not just for the U.S. government, but also for U.S.-based companies. The latest to feel the hit? None other than Apple, and in a region the company has been working hard to increase market share: China. China, via state media, has today declared that Apple's iPhone is a threat to national security — all because of its thorough tracking capabilities. It has the ability to keep track of user locations, and to the country, this could potentially reveal "state secrets" somehow. It's being noted that the iPhone will continue to track the user to some extent even if the overall feature is disabled. China's iPhone ousting comes hot on the heels of Russia's industry and trade deeming AMD and Intel processors to be untrustworthy. The nation will instead be building its own ARM-based "Baikal" processor.
Your ignorance is embarrassing. Please tell me you don't live in the US because we have already exceeded our quota for dimwits and morons for the remainder of the century. I suppose you believe only the US runs foreign intelligence programs and every other country on the planet is just standing around with their hands in their pockets? China is going after Apple because they have assimilated (stolen) all the technology they need to make their own iPhone and they really don't like any domestic competitors to their state owned enterprises. I can't believe the number of companies that even allow their products to be assembled in China because all foreign owned businesses are required to sign away their rights to proprietary technologies for anything built and sold in China and don't waste your time on copyrights. Google folded up shop after China wanted access to their data centers which for some reason Google considers proprietary and goes out of its way to keep secret. If Apple did not see and plan ahead for this turn of events it just shows how inept they are becoming. The US catches the Chinese stealing everything from EMP shielded computer chips to hybrid corn and soybean seeds from the US on a regular basis. And come to think of it their stealth jet fighter bears a striking resemblance to the F-22 and F-35 but that could just be a coincidence. And to be fair China is not the only country who couldn't build a stealth fighter until the US showed them it could be done, showed them how to do it, and finally showed them how to actually use it. Their cyber mischief is well documented but at least the US gives as good as it gets in this area and there is nothing wrong with a little spirited competition. Don't misunderstand me. I travel to China several times a year and have always been treated well and the people are very friendly. It is a very interesting country with a very long history. It is a shame the US and China relations crumbled after WW2. On the other hand the pricks I constantly run into in Europe think the President of the US personally consults me before deciding who to bomb. And for some reason they think they actually know and understand the US but every time they open their mouths they prove just the opposite. On the spying front I think it is past time for the US to start using some of that information they have collected over the years and enlighten the masses about what other countries get up to when they think nobody is looking. If the NSA and CIA do even half of what they are accused of doing they should have some pretty good stuff to release. They can start with Germany since they are really working hard to win the "Biggest Hypocrite in the World" award. They should count themselves lucky the US let them have their country back instead of just making it another US state. After all some one released a recorded conversation using an illegal phone tap on the US Embassy in the Ukraine and I am pretty damn sure the NSA or CIA did not do it. Everyone seemed to praise but woefully misrepresented the contents of the recording but no one brought up the inconvenient fact that the recording was actual proof someone was illegally spying on the US embassy and that someone released the information to specifically harm US interests at the time. The US should start returning the favor and really start shaking things up. If they take a smart and measured steps they can get WW3 kicked off ahead of schedule so I won't have to watch the war on CNN from the nursing home.