03-26-2023, 04:04 PM
(03-26-2023, 02:41 PM)Westslope Wrote: Hello, I stumbled upon something here in the US that might be a concern to Pinephone and users of non Android/iOS phones.
There are organizations and people pushing for US States to pass legislation to mandate "smartphones" and "tablets" come preloaded with family-friendly content filters by default.
While I'm not against the idea of having content filters to prevent minors from accessing hardcore pornography (labeled as "obscene material" in legislation), the way the proposed legislation is written makes it a criminal/fineable offense to sell devices that don't have such filters in place. While this may be a simple thing to do for Android and iOS, it seems like it may be a problem for librephones like Pinephone.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/po...-rcna73626
Here is the bill from Utah, which became law:
https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/hbillenr/HB0072.pdf
Here is a similar bill in Montana, which is in the legislative process. It has passed the House and is currently in a Senate committee.
https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billhtml/HB0349.htm
I wanted to post this here because my legalese is not great and to see what others think.
Maybe this won't be a problem for Pinephone and it's users, but if my understanding is correct, it could be.
one reason i am shying away from android is preloaded stuff from google and oem, also bootloader (half-)locks. usually i'm more worried about corporate power rather than government power. however, this starts to sound going too far. even those preloaded stuff could be used for innocuous purposes, it is still more power to the government and corporations. sooner or later, it will be abused by powers. also i don't think those preloaded stuff work as intended, meaning does not do the job or blocks too much.
someone pays for these controls, ultimately it will be device buyers.
u.k. tried to establish a law which put pornography content filters to internet service providers. it could be deactivated, but default would have been activated. (that law never passed, in my knowledge.)
these controls have to be done at software level, so how it relates to pinephone. pine org may not be directly liable for software.
i said it here some time ago. in case of coronavirus apps, i think government has temporary right to track users. but it needs to happen with separate devices with open specs and open source software with own cloud without no connection to private corporations. (that temporary time has passed). however, forcing some third party apps to our devices is just wrong.
in regards to 18 years old and older, these laws are just totally wrong. what is about pornography, politicians score cheap points trying to play a good guy. i think there are more worrisome things than this.
disclaimer:
parents have right to supervise their minors and their devices, but it isn't necessarily good idea in all cases.