Belgium has adopted an “official” app so that anyone can signal for help, so long as they belong to this exclusive group:
-
Must be a trusting patron of #Google or #Apple. Consequently,
- must needlessly buy a GSM subscription and surrender to surveillance advertisers who require¹ your 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.
-
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)
- must maintain recent hardware, buying a new phone every few years to keep up with the version requirement imposed by the closed-source app, thus:
- incurs needless hardware cost
- produces needless e-waste
-
Must be willing to leave Tor to access the access-restricted 112.be website.
① see attached image of Google demanding SMS verification for a new account. (untested: whether a mobile number is demanded when registering outside of Tor; please reply if you know the answer to that; #askFedi)
Can’t you call 112 the usual way to call for help?
Yes AFAIK, so long as you can remember all these numbers while your blood is spraying the walls (or whatever):
- 112 for emergency assistance from an ambulance or the firefighters (gratis in all European countries for urgent help)
- 101 for emergency assistance from the police
- 1722 in case of a storm or flooding when you need assistance from the fire brigade
- 1733 for the doctor on duty (non-urgent)
The app relieves people of having to remember those numbers. I’ve heard 911 is so commonly known from hollywood films that it has been made to work outside the US in some regions, but I’m not sure about Belgium. Looks like those numbers have to be remembered because of their differences (911 covers police+fire+medics).
The app works both over internet and over GSM. If you cannot speak for some reason¹, the app transmits a variety of useful info about you. There may also be situations in rural areas that don’t have GSM coverage but where wifi is reachable (not sure). Note as well foreigners visiting Belgium could have a CDMA-based smartphone in which case wifi would work but not GSM.
What I don’t know: 112 is obviously toll free, but does it work when you have no GSM subscription? In some parts of the world you can dial for help without a functional subscription but I’m not sure if that is universal.
- reasons you cannot speak could be physical (choking), or if you are being attacked or hiding from an attacker maybe you need to silently signal.
@ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io Why is the police not using 112 as well?
@Camus@jlai.lu
I’m not sure but I wonder if it has to do with the fact that 112 must work EU-wide. Although it seems that’s a big pitfall… when crossing borders you have to keep track of a separate police number.
Seems this app should just be scrapped and replaced with an open source one that works EU-wide.
Remembering 112 seems reasonable
And 101 if it’s the police that you need.
I’ve strugged with it because I’ve thought for years it was 4 digits (and I could not keep straight whether its 1212, or 2112), and apparently both are wrong. I’ll probably still fuck it up when i need it, and dial 211.
It’s really not the sort of app where exclusivity is acceptible.
Maybe try to think about it every week, or write it on a small piece of paper in your wallet?
About your questions about calling without having a subscription, you indeed can:
This is not a /me/ problem. I can solve the problem for myself by using a sharpie to write it on my phone.
Considering there is this rediculously big industry of selling cosmetic skins for smartphones (whole shops to just change phone cosmetics), not many people would likely mark up their phone with sharpies.
(edit) I appreciate the reference to the FaQ but it’s broken for me (Tor users). I can reach the faq via archive.org, but it’s dysfunctional (unfolding is broken).
not many people would likely mark up their phone with sharpies.
Most of the people in Europe probably remember 112
The primary benefit to the app is expressed as not having to remember the number. It’s the main selling point that justifies the app’s existence.
(edit) I appreciate the reference to the FaQ but it’s broken for me (Tor users). I can reach the faq via archive.org, but it’s dysfunctional (unfolding is broken
Why not use a VPN instead of Tor? Seems to prevent you from accessing a lot of useful websites
Mullvad allows to purchase VPN time using cash
That’s a useful tip about Mullvad taking cash. I have a gratis VPN which offers some degree of pseudo-anonymity, but generally VPNs do not give anonymity because there is just one relay and that relay sees both sides, and worse: VPNs have a limited number of users and browser fingerprints trivially distinguish users among the small pool of those using a particular VPN.
A VPN would be secure enough for the case at hand, but in my case the VPN blocks Tor, which means Tor and the VPN are mutually exclusive. Thus I have the hassle of disrupting Tor sessions to switch the VPN on. And again, it’s not a /me/ problem. This public service is discriminating against the Tor community in an obnoxious way (packet dropping). The problem is not whether or not one marginalised person can circumvent the blocks. The problem is that a public service is not serving the whole public.
