• Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    I doubt that is what is going on here since it’s their military using this. That Anom story is terrifying. Entrapment techniques like that make me sick. For. Every “criminal” they caught think of how many innocent people were violated by this.

    • sbv@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      3 months ago

      Entrapment techniques like that make me sick.

      What was the entrapment? The FBI sold phones to suspected criminals and monitored the conversations, didn’t they?

      • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        Nonsense. How do you market an encryption platform exclusively to criminals? That may have been their target but there would be a large number of innocents that downloaded this as a secure messaging system.

        • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          3 months ago

          Yes, it was marketed in the dark web marketplaces as “the phone for criminals”

          That app could run only on a special custom ROM. It was a dedicated phone, a Google pixel 4a with locked bootloader and a custom ROM that exclusively allowed to communicate with other anom users. You don’t buy a $2000 phone that could only communicate with other $2000 phones if you don’t have something to hide.

          It might have happened that maybe a millionaire with disposable income bought a set to talk with his secret girl affair but those were definitely the minority

        • sbv@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 months ago

          How do you market an encryption platform exclusively to criminals?

          Apparently through word of mouth and suggestions by undercover agents.

          innocents that downloaded this as a secure messaging system

          The app wasn’t made available for download. The FBI bought a few thousand Pixels, flashed a custom ROM onto them, and then installed the messaging apps. In theory they cost thousands of dollars to buy.

          It’s entirely possible some innocents used the system, but it’s unclear how selling rooted hardware to alleged criminals would induce them to commit crime.

          See https://www.npr.org/2024/05/31/1197959218/fbi-phone-company-anom