How To Escape App Store Censorship
Liberation via PWA's and Webassebly
Although Covid 19 is fading into memory, tech censorship continues. For example, the startup Damus announced that Apple will soon be booting the Damus app from the Apple Store.
Damus is a social networking app built on the nostr protocol. Among other things, the Damus app allows users to "zap" bitcoin to other users on the platform via the Bitcoin Lightning network. Apple says zaps are not allowed on their platform because they could be used by content creators to sell digital content.
Behind the scenes, large tech firms continue to collaborate with the US government and other states to censor (4) and spy upon their users (3).
Search for "PRISM spy program" and "Twitter files" for more information on tech collaboration with government censorship / spying. ( The Congressional Dish podcast, in particular, does an excellent job of summarizing the degree to which Twitter was in bed with the government. (5) )
Baliji Srinivasan points out that if the US financial system collapses, tech firms could be commandeered by the government to start keylogging and sending crypto passwords and other financial information to the government. (2) Governments could then sweep the crypto from any wallets stored on your computer without anyone noticing until it was too late.
When the Greek currency collapsed, the Greek government seized the bank accounts of 500,000 Greek citizens and drained them. (1) The Canadian government seized the bank accounts of people who donated money to the trucker protesters. (7) If the USG became desperate for cash, I could imagine the US government trying to do the same to crypto holders. Kill two birds with one stone: seize a hard asset, and hobble a hotbed of likely government dissidents.
IMO, so long as Apple, Microsoft, and Google dominate the operating system ecosystems, we're at risk of censorship and seizure from companies and apps that don't align with our financial / ideological interests.
In order to avoid such censorship / spying / theft, we need to use software that bypasses or replaces those companies.
Ideally, everyone would
Switch to Linux (on the desktop)
Switch to Calyx / Graphene OS on the phone
Switch to progressive web apps (PWA's) that rely on WebAssembly in the browser. ( PWA applications can be deployed anywhere that can run a modern browser (such as Chrome or Firefox), thus bypassing Google/Apple/Microsoft app stores.
For example, the company Start9 converted their Embassy Companion App to a PWA after Apple banned the app from the Apple Store in May of 2020.
"Today we are proud to announce the launch of Ambassador 0.2.0. With this release, the entire Embassy experience has been re-imagined and re-architected to resist interference from Apple and Google. It is now possible to purchase an Embassy, discover and install open source services, and use those services in total privacy from anywhere on Earth — all without permission from or reasonable means of being stopped by Apple or Google."
Now, I'm aware that switching operating systems on all of your devices is a big step, and not likely to be done by most people. However, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing affair. And not all apps are equally subject to censorship / theft. In most cases, you can continue to use your familiar apps and operating systems as before.
However, for your crypto holdings, and for apps/services that are politically sensitive (such as donations to politicians or non-profits working against efforts to censor/expropriate you), you can do the following:
Buy an inexpensive laptop (an adequate laptop can be had for $200 or so)
Install Ubuntu Linux
Install Tails Linux on a thumb drive
Install the wallets of interest on Tails/thumb drive
Use this laptop for your trades, creating your cold storage wallets, etc. Yes, I know it's a cumbersome process. But given how governments have behaved recently (unrepentant censorship of dissidents, asset forfeiture, 15% or more inflation), it's worth the hassle.
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_(software)
(3) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/us-tech-giants-knew-nsa-data-collection-rajesh-de
(4) https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/right-or-left-you-should-be-worried-about-big-tech-censorship
(5) https://congressionaldish.com/cd270-the-twitter-files/
(6) https://start9labs.medium.com/becoming-uncancellable-9f14071a8d8d
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