cross-posted from: https://fedia.io/m/Brussels/t/556987
Belgium has adopted an “official” app so that anyone can signal for help, so long as they belong to this exclusive group:
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Must have a smartphone (presumably recent).
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Must be a trusting patron of #Google or #Apple. Consequently,
- must needlessly buy a GSM subscription and trust surveillance advertisers with the mobile phone number (which in Belgium must be registered to an ID) — even though the app can make emergency contact without phone service… thus imposing a needless cost on users and also causing a #GDPR minimisation breach.
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Must install and execute proprietary closed-source software. Consequently,
- must trust closed-source software (by #Nextel or #Telenet?)
- must be ethically aligned/okay with running #nonfreesoftware (which does not respect your freedom)
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Must be willing to leave Tor to access the access-restricted 112.be website.
Yes, and it’s coming quite fast considering how few people are working to fend it off.