Please . I'm going to stop short of saying you should not install the #ICEBlock app, but you should know that you're painting a giant target on your back if you use it, and it does not protect your information adequately. The Trump administration is not being coy about how they see this app and it's users, citing charges of obstruction of justice and general threats of prosecution.
The developer ignorantly insists the only way to safely use it is through iOS app store. That ignores the fact that Apple collects data on what users are installing what apps. It also ignores that the gov has been intercepting push notifications for several years now, so it would be as simple as comparing that data against those who receive push notifications at specific times to determine who is using the app.
The app is also closed-source, so the community cannot inspect it for vulnerabilities.
If they distributed through a 3rd party app store on Android, such as #fdroid (which you cannot do on iOS), they could allow users to run their own notification system using #unifiedpush. Google would not be involved at any stage.
Yes, this would be a high barrier to entry for use, but I think the usecase demands it. Almost certainly we will soon see prosecution for the apps' users and probably also removal from the App Store. Apple most certainly does not care enough to fight the government over this.
That is, unless, as I suspect, this app is actually a #honeypot.
Further reading:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-secretly-giving-governments-push-notification-data/
https://www.iceblock.app/android
https://www.newsweek.com/kirsti-noem-iceblock-deportation-immigration-app-2092878
#privacy #security #foss #fossdroid #ice #infosec #boostsappreciated
