I am an American citizen. I have a smartphone. That means I can use it to send a message to the U.S. Embassy in Germany. That means I can use it to send a private message to my girlfriend. That means I can use it to send a private message to my grandmother. I can use it to get my news. I can use it to send a private message to my friends. And so on. I am an American citizen. I have a smartphone.
It goes without saying that the U.S. Embassy in Germany uses a phone, and when they do, they use a code that allows the phone to access the Internet. The U.S. State Department was not amused. In fact, they wrote a public letter to Apple (who own the phone) asking them to stop using a phone that allows citizens to do that.
The U.S. State Department letter included this gem: “I feel it is important for you to know that we will not take any steps that threaten the freedom of the American people.” That’s right, they’re not going to allow Americans to use their phones to do what they do now.
The letter from the U.S. State Department was very specific to Apple. It asked them to stop their iPhone apps that allow citizens to access the Internet, which is what the U.S. State Department called “a form of communication that serves as a central communication medium for millions of users.” Apple is not amused. The letter asked the State Department to “immediately cease these types of communications.
The State Department is asking the government to restrict “the use of its telecommunications services to the purposes of domestic law enforcement and counterterrorism, including the provision of communications services to and from the intelligence community, other law enforcement agencies, and the Armed Forces in the conduct of such activities.” The use of government phones to spy on citizens is completely illegal, and the State Department is asking for it to be stopped.
The whole thing started after a German citizen, Andreas Schulz, was apparently hacked into by a Russian hacker who used SMS messages to send him threatening letters. He got out of the country, but the hacker continued to send him letters to make him think the letter was from the government. In response, the State Department decided to ban the use of smartphones in Germany, and now citizens are allowed to use them without a government ID.
It’s weird that it’s German people who are the ones who are getting the most of this. In fact, it’s as if Germans are finally figuring out the implications of smartphones. The State Department says that while the ban is in effect, it is only for a limited time.
Also the State Department says that it can only be enforced after the end of the year.
I would say it’s a bad idea if it were enforced. To me, at least, it feels as if the government want to use this as a way to intimidate people. For example, the government wants to use it to monitor citizens’ phone calls. But I think the government is only pretending to be good guys now so that they can use this as a weapon against the other side. Perhaps they don’t think they’re going to get caught.
I wonder how many other governments have this same idea. If you are in Germany and you are on your phone, then I don’t know, maybe they want to track you. They may use this as a means to keep track of where you are… and where you are you aren’t.
