Trump regime wants to force ALL visitors to the U.S. to install government-controlled spyware on their phones, and submit detailed personal data -- even DNA, apparently -- to the authorities.
(If they're trying to wreck tourism, including the World Cup, this is the way.)
https://papersplease.org/wp/2025/12/10/cbp-wants-all-visitors-to-install-and-use-its-smartphone-app/
Too bad they don't have Wechat he he... Make an app ubiquitous and a spyware is no longer needed.
Demanding a slew of invasive new data from visitors to the USA in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup is a fantastic way to broadcast that foreign money coming in is fine, but not foreign visitors. (Except for those who can buy Trump's Gold and Platinum Card visa benefits.)
Visitors to the World Cup are welcome to Canada and Mexico. They should give the US a pass. No sports match is worth what Trump wants them to give up for the privilege.
@dangillmor Just wait till Disney World hears about this.
And US international airlines.
And hotel chains.
And car rental companies.
The list goes on…
Ask businesses in the northeast about the number of Canadian visitors they already have lost.
Did I mention the jobs that go with this?
@dangillmor surely Disney must ne worried?
@dangillmor I have an old dump phone, barely use it, struggle to type on it, so just use for two factor authentication. So good luck with that. If I go to North America it will be Canada.
@dangillmor Shame that website apparently doesn't work on mobile, I had to select the Desktop site to not have most of the page out of the screen.
But, may every sensible person decide to just stay away from the US.
Every Aussie right now- “yeah, nah”.
Interpretation: I see those rules (yeah) and I’m not doing it / going there etc (nah)
Leave your phone at home, and purchase a cheap phone on arrival in the USA. One might foresee Verizon kiosks popping up in major airports to facilitate this.
Annoying, certainly. But legal, and hard to force people to bring their at-home phones to be contaminated.
Just make note of apps and passwords so that you can load things on once in the States.
And yes, this will further suppress tourism.
@dangillmor
i thought china would do something like this.
actually there is social accounts, but even chinese social accounts are not this invasive.
at which point, we can call this orange regime's surveillance as a former east germany.
Who tf is going to do all that just to come to this dump?
FUUUUUCK NOOO! Time to get the US off the world maps and travel brochures I guess...
@dangillmor with NSPM-7 arrests having started, it's hard to imagine coming up with any good reason to be in or travel to the US. 😵💫
Saudi Arabia paid $100 billion for an international state surveillance system with spyware embedded in everything.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/13/trump-tech-execs-riyadh/
https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4
https://www.techinasia.com/news/saudi-arabia-launches-statebacked-ai-firm-humain
The fossil fuel industry funds fascism & is gearing up for world war.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2025/07/17/bill-gates-charles-koch-and-three-other-billionaires-are-giving-1-billion-to-enhance-economic-mobility-in-the-us/
https://www.desmog.com/2025/12/11/the-koch-network-is-pushing-trump-to-accelerate-ai-documents-show/
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-saudi-deal/
https://www.agbi.com/defence/2025/12/us-clears-defence-deals-with-saudi-arabia-bahrain/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/us-saudi-arabia-arms-deal-trump-meeting-syria
~tourism heading right down the toilet, because who the fuck wants to do that?~
Re: wrecking tourism
At the moment, I tend to be in favor of that. Generally, but especially in the case of the World Cup. It would be nice if we could also get rid of the Olympics.
This is not a country one should come to absent an urgent purpose.
I did go on occasion to the Soviet Union, and on the whole I think that was just as well, but such things are delicate. Something rather different happened in Prague, when we wrote some letters and then the meeting was canceled ...
@dangillmor I remember joking about it some time ago, but it’s even more pertinent now: if you examine everything Trump does through the lens of him being a Russian asset, it makes perfect sense.
@dangillmor i see a business on selling dumbphones at the airports...
@dangillmor Next up all Americans?
