Google Play Store is rolling out a new badge for government-made apps ( www.androidauthority.com )

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14967490

Starting today, apps made by state and federal governments are getting a new government badge to help users better identify official apps.

The badge will first appear on over 3,000 apps for 12 different countries.

Brickardo ,

In the case of my home country, you could already tell because of the rating

lemmy_nightmare ,
@lemmy_nightmare@sh.itjust.works avatar

😂

BigDanishGuy ,

We already have one for the Danish government's apps. It's called 2.1 stars. /s but also not really /s because most of our official government apps are actually rated rather poorly.

But seeing how the best rated app by the Danish government is actually rated 4 stars on play store, a badge may be in its place.

shortwavesurfer ,

Oh good, now there's a good list of what to avoid.

XenGi ,
@XenGi@lemmy.chaos.berlin avatar

Depends, some of the government apps are actually pretty well done and you don't want to end up with an unofficial ID card app that steals your identity.
The German Ausweis App is a good example of a well done gov app.

shortwavesurfer ,

I'll take my ID in my physical wallet. Thanks very much. LOL. I get what you mean, though.

unexposedhazard ,

I think its actually open souce, but they recently had a really bad security problem in their application and never really admitted that it was critical. So yeah im good for now, i really hate the move to storing the exact same data that was on a chip before, in an app that can have software problems and analytics.

shortwavesurfer ,

That's my thought as well. Our phones really do not need to become absolutely everything because then it becomes really easy to track and really terrible to lose which you are bound to do eventually.

Turun ,

It provides the capability to authenticate yourself online, e.g. for banking services. It would also be able to prove to a website that you are over 18, without telling the website your birthday. I have yet to use it, but from a technical standpoint it's pretty awesome.

Edit: to clear up some confusion that may exist: as far as I know the app provides the bridge between the chip in the ID card and the application that needs the authentication. No data needs to be stored in the app.

vox , (edited )
@vox@sopuli.xyz avatar

btw, Ukraine's Diia (дія) app is pretty good too and mostly open source (both backend and frontend components are fully open source, but document microservices which directly contact govt registeies in order to fetch the data are kept proprietary; they would be useless without proper authorization anyway though)

it also provides seamless authorization using managed keypairs (i.e. instead of using your own hardware keys to sign electronic documents, you can just use the app, which also provides a convinient oauth-like flow. Signing up for a bank account literally turns into a single tap, a face scan, and providing e.g. salary info etc)

atrielienz ,

There's an IRS app that will help you to know when you'll receive a tax return if you live in the US. That's useful.

shortwavesurfer ,

I will receive my tax return when I receive my tax return. If it was a website, I might consider using it. But an app? No, thank you. I'm good. A web browser is more sandboxed and has less permission than any app does.

GarlicToast ,

You should sandbox your phone and assume the government may know everything that goes in it.

Pegasus and the like already shown it can be entered with no click zero days.

shortwavesurfer ,

GrapheneOS May solve some of these since it is a hardened android and does not activate the USB until its unlocked with the PIN.

GarlicToast ,

It is being done remotely, no need for USB.

atrielienz , (edited )

I also have an app for tolls in my state, and the VA. I'm just pointing out that not all government apps are terrible and I can certainly understand why some people would want or need to use them.

sbv ,

no no everything the government does is bad and malware and spyware and not foss and you should install graphene

evo ,

Not to be a dick, but how/why is that useful? It's not a package I need to physically go get or something. It's deposited into an account (super fast if you do your taxes early). This also assumes I'm getting a refund.

atrielienz ,

Depends on who you are probably. But a poor person who's only access to the Internet is via smart phone might beg to differ. This also might matter if you do taxes on paper rather than using an online service (paid or free). When you file digitally and supply a bank account you absolutely will receive a tax return pretty expediently unless you get audited. But if you file a paper tax return by snail mail and are expecting a check? Different story. What if they never received your return? What if it was lost in the mail? What if the check gets lost in the mail?

petrescatraian ,

@shortwavesurfer Guess you're not paying your taxes then.

@Blaze

shortwavesurfer ,

Now why would i participate in mass murder when i can avoid it by taking every handout possible and laugh as the government collapses under its own dead weight?

petrescatraian ,

@shortwavesurfer There's no way you compare something as mundane as this to mass murder. And be sure that every country's government has all the means necessary to prosecute you for stuff like this, sooner or later.

Anyway, for me there are some useful such apps that I use:

  • One is for my city's public transit - really useful, it even displays the vehicle position in real time so you can make up your mind on your route.
  • One is for train tickets (you can also do related stuff as well, like check if your train is late).
  • One is to check if there are any breakdowns in the heat distribution system to see if I won't have heat overnight.

I'm sure as hell there are some others, but I did not need them so far. If the government was to spy on me, it could install some malware or some sort without resorting to the Play Store.

shortwavesurfer ,

But taxation is mass murder. You are stealing time from people's lives and taking their wealth and then you are using it to build weapons that you then use against your enemies to murder them. So mass murder.

petrescatraian ,

@shortwavesurfer That depends on which country you fill your taxes in.

shortwavesurfer ,

All countries do the former. Taxation is theft of the individual's life. But most countries do a little less of the latter with killing people indiscriminately. Only the big ones like the US, China, Russia, etc. can really accomplish that easily. You don't hear about Brazilians killing Argentinians, for example.

petrescatraian ,

@shortwavesurfer Even when those taxes are going into the healthcare system?

shortwavesurfer ,

Yep, because to get you in the healthcare system they authorize the use of cancer causing Pasta sides on grown crops, which poison you over time. Then you come in because you don't feel well and they prescribe you pill after pill after pill and steal your money.

petrescatraian ,

@shortwavesurfer And they need taxes to authorize that. Makes perfect sense.

EinfachUnersetzlich ,

they authorize the use of cancer causing Pasta sides on grown crops

That's the funniest thing I've seen all day.

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