I think the focus on China with respect to privacy is misplaced. This is a problem with many tech companies now. Just look at how smart TVs hoover up data from their customers. There's a danger to painting this as a problem with China's tech industry because it implicitly lets other tech companies off the hook for their horrendous privacy practices.
> What we call cheating or stealing is a standard business practice there.
What about "move fast and break things"? Or Uber's skirting of labor and taxi laws in many jurisdictions worldwide? I get that this is literally whataboutism, but the above examples are considered virtuous by many here. What's the fundamental difference? To me it seems like China has just perfected the tech "hustle" culture invented in SV.
> I think the focus on China with respect to privacy is misplaced. This is a problem with many tech companies now.
Yes and no.
Yes, it is a problem with many tech companies, I agree.
But the way China does this is something completely different. Tech companies do this for their profit. China as a country exploits every single avenue to steal information and protect their position.
Stealing information and protecting their position is pretty common in the corporate world, in fact that's how many corporations ensure their continued profitability.
What you have in China is equivalent to "US Government" + "Big Tech" - "Bill of Rights".
Given the erosion in the bill of rights here, I suspect things are on a similar playing field. The main difference is the US government only censors using indirect means or by attacking the providers of information like Julian Assange.
Did we forget that the NSA is collecting most of the traffic on the internet?
I still say there is a big difference between intercepting the Internet traffic and saying that giving unlimited access to the information is a prerequisite to doing business.
Just think US government decided to imprison Apple executives and put their own in place of them unless Apple gave unlimited access to all their devices to US agencies.
Also the way China uses this information -- to control minorities, punish "thought crime", erase historical events and uncomfortable topics from public.
> Given the erosion in the bill of rights here, I suspect things are on a similar playing field.
Not even close. Ready?
Joe Biden is suffering from worsening dementia. It was obvious before he took office. He's incompetent for the office. His aids constantly have to protect him from the public spectacle of his declining mental condition. The media also constantly does their part to artificially shield him. Biden was probably the candidate most capable of beating Trump (the Biden campaign mostly let Trump punch himself out), perhaps the only candidate capable of it, however he was also not mentally/physically fit for the office.
Have you seen some of the super creepy videos of him on YouTube? How about all his various embarrassing gaffs (fella from down under)? They're still on YouTube. It works in a similar way in China with Xi and the party in general, right?
I've placed this comment on a public forum, anyone can read it.
When do the authorities show up to disappear me? How many years shall I spend in prison for my comment? Will my family be safe?
Did you see what the media did to Trump during his Presidency? Did you read social media during those four years? And there is a similar playing field in the US as in China? Ha.
Very few of us can read Chinese (which explains why no one treats China like a country made of people), but I expect that in a country of a billion people many people have all kinds of rude opinions for and against the government expressed all over the internet.
Appreciate your perspective here, you're right. The insidious "filter list" in the dictionary is sensational and the meta-story is around the worldwide invasion of user privacy.
> What we call cheating or stealing is a standard business practice there.
What about "move fast and break things"? Or Uber's skirting of labor and taxi laws in many jurisdictions worldwide? I get that this is literally whataboutism, but the above examples are considered virtuous by many here. What's the fundamental difference? To me it seems like China has just perfected the tech "hustle" culture invented in SV.