Hbo really trying to pump their subscribers numbers.

Came here for an HBO joke, I am satisfied!

Mega messaging app with payment options

coerced to install by fomo

has government backdoor

Sounds like whatsApp

Daniil, a university student in St Petersburg, said he reluctantly downloaded Max shortly before the start of the academic year after being told students would be denied access to university buildings or dormitories without a QR code generated through the app.

Also includes GPS and push notifications: “Congratulations, you have been selected to join a special military operation, please do not move, your location has been reported and an officer will be coming to claim you”

Slightly unrelated, FUCK PayPal, bc I tried to change my phone number a few months back and they said they can’t use VoIP numbers bc of spam. I logged on recently to close my account and what do I see?? You can update you’re phone number OR use a WhatsApp account number??? Fuck that bullshit! Why do they get special treatment? I almost thought about making a special account, but I hate Meta more than PP, so no dice. I’ll just close my account.

Isnt watsapp number just your mobile number?

Idk, but anything Meta is toxic AF and I don’t feel like having its services spy on me or monetize my personal data without my consent. If anyone should profit off my data, it’s ME!

Preaching to thr Choir 🤛 Theyre off all my devices

Sounds like Twitter X, or what Elon Musk wanted it to be! Never mind messaging plus payment, it was supposed to be the only app you had on your phone.

Maybe he should have made a Linux based fork and used his money/influence to push for hardware support. It could have possibly helped some other distros by accident.

mine came w/ Google & vendor backdoor services.

My /e/os didn’t. Had to install my own backdoors ffs.

Not sure if they changed the original title or it was editorialised by OP, but the current article title is much better at highlighting the problem:

Revealed: how Russia uses mobile ‘super-app’ Max to spy on its citizens

Research shows tens of millions of people are being forced to use platform that amounts to ‘backdoor’ on their device

Inefficient and lame, they should just backdoor every single piece of telecom equipment in their country like the Americans

This guy is right! You got to treat every citizen like a possible terrorist and record and build a dossier on all of them. If there aren’t enough instances of actual terrorism just manufacture it to justify your totalitarian power grabs. The American way.

I wish I could install it just to see what they see