This is what I like to read: switching from stock Android (or iOS) to eOS. I don’t care about who switch away from eOS for somewhat reason because I think eOS is a good choice for that person who want an alternative.
And “Gael suggests” looks to me an alternative.
mihi,
Dropped the phone in the subway and the train runs it over. Drop the phone and the glass cracks. Have one too many at the pub and the battery goes dead, can’t call ride company or pay for it if you could. No I will stick to my card.
Then there is the big one, a solar flair that knocks all non-hardened electronics out across the planet… Just saying, technology isn’t the all. I always have $50 in my wallet.
3 Likes
I am totally with you on that matter 
.
1 Like
Or you loose your wallet and Curve makes possible to get back home with a taxi 
3 Likes
Seemingly some privacy hole I don’t know how to address:
As with many on here, I tried the curve app after reading the newsletter. I didnt see it as a recommendation but, I have been looking for an alternative to the 3 main digital wallets and this is the first one I’ve found.
Downloaded and installed and immediately the app says it isn’t available yet in my country. I’m in Asia at the moment and the app accurately reflected that.
My question is: how did that app know where I am? My VPN is set to a US location and the trackers are supposed to be blocked I thought. Anyone know how this is possible for a newly installed app which hasn’t been granted any permissions, to have access to my location?
@mod feel free to move if this is a hijack
It’s only available to residents of the European Economic Area and the UK, that’s why the app indicated its unavailabilty. I’m not too technologically minded so I don’t know how apps check geolocation but you could try using an EU located VPN connection.
Correct. I don’t want to use the app. Just want to know how its able to access this information on my phone
I guess this is a nice example of the position /e/OS is in, there are purists and there are people looking for alternatives to monopolies. They overlap to some degree. Our family uses /e/OS because it is practical and better than google/apple duopoly. We did not pick it because it is prefect for privacy, for that there are better options, GrapheneOS for example. From my POV, /e/OS is better for privacy while being still fully integrated with the rest of the society. It is a trade-off and one has to decide where is the boundary. Curve is a way how to get NFC payments, you want that cool, you don’t cool as well. If you hate that there is such option, I’d suggest find a different OS for your phone. In our family, we all use it because it is convenient, fully aware that we are participating in a business with a less than perfect track record.
10 Likes
Hello @nanabanaman
did you already try GNU Taler ? How to know merchant that allow such app ?
thx
I haven’t been able to try it myself since the deployments for actual payments were mainly around Basel in Switzerland I believe. The system is rather new and not widely available yet, but I it is my understanding that they got some kind of EU funding.
It is the only free and open source payment system I am aware of and the most privacy friendly one, so I think it would be worth supporting.
They do offer a demo bank and a ficticious currency that you can test the technology with on their demo page.
The rollout plan is detailed here.
If Murena partnered with the project as one of the first deployments, /e/ users would be able to send money to each other (and anyone who installs the Taler wallet app on iOS, Android or Desktop), accept payments and purchase phones or cloud plans in the Murena store.
Then Murena could go on to find merchant partners such as online shops who offer the payment system and in exchange get listed in a directory for /e/ users to buy from, possibly in exchange for a small fee for referrals similar to affiliate links. Local retail businesses accepting it could be added as a search filter into the Maps app.
For the businesses: Free advertising to /e/ users and savings in transaction fees compared to traditional payment systems
For the users: Privacy friendly payment options
For Murena: An income source because of the affiliate commission
For the GNU Taler project: Increased awareness and faster adoption
The wider the adoption of /e/, the more attractive this would become for everyone involved – and it wouldn’t just be /e/ users, the shopping directory could just be a website and generate affiliate revenue from people interested in privacy in general, which in turn could generate new users for /e/.
3 Likes
In Germany, digital vehicle registration documents and digital driving licenses are currently being tested on smartphones. Together with the health insurance ID card and the ePA, a passport on a cell phone and even payment cards, this is a further step - towards a smartphone as the obligatory key to a civic identity! Which can then be restricted, stolen or switched off completely at any time.
This is a dystopia of total control and power over people that will very soon become reality - at least in Europe.
People will only realize it when it is too late. It’s so convenient and practical!
2 Likes
Like I said in another post. Our electronics will fail with a large solar flair or with a widespread black out of power, even for a few days.
Why are we so dependent on a stinking phone? I think governments and corporations what us to carry them even at the expense of our own safety.
I will stick to a paper passport and some cash on hand. My phone is great for other things but to depend on it like it’s they only source of currency is insane!
I realize this is a conversion about cashless payment, but just keep some cash on hand or a debit/credit card. Keep in mind debit/credit can fail too.
1 Like
It works well for me, looking for a pragmatic NFC solution for a while.
Probably not perfect but better than google apple or saumsung
thanks for the advice !
3 Likes
I’m with you on that one. I’m in the USA where it’s not required to use a phone for any type of payment, but seeing what’s happening in the EU is rather disturbing for what may come to pass here.
Personally I don’t use my phone for making payments and I’ll avoid it long as possible. As long as I can use a web browser with my debit/credit cards I’ll be okay. Honestly I don’t trust any kind of phone app with my personal and financial info. Phones and the apps they run are inherently insecure, much as they try to convince you otherwise.
There’s also the critical reliance on infrastructure which is vulnerable to natural disaster like solar storms. The Carrington Event demonstrates how bad it can be. If that happened today it would wipe out most satellites and severely damage the power grid.
1 Like
With regards to cashless payments taking over, Sweden has recently started to see the downsides of relying overwhelmingly on digital payments.
However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have a privacy friendly way to pay cashlessly or that digital payments and all the associated data should be in the hands of a handful of giant corporations.
1 Like