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by freehunter 2396 days ago
Yes all countries do it, but US intelligence doesn't just take into account the action, they take the actor as well. Australia is a friendly nation to the US and shares intelligence data with US intelligence agencies. What we see, they see and what they see, we see. Russia is not a friendly nation to the US and does not share intelligence with US intelligence agencies.

The FBI isn't saying "normal people are at risk from FaceApp" but "US intelligence is at risk from the use of FaceApp". In the (very short) linked letter, it specifically calls out "elected officials, candidates, political campaigns, [and] political parties".

Considering all US intelligence agencies unanimously agree that Russia already attacked US candidates and political parties in the past, saying "yeah but everyone does it" is about as off-topic of a remark as you can get. To my knowledge the FBI has never publicly disclosed Australia's efforts to meddle in US elections.
2 comments
_jal 2396 days ago
> saying "yeah but everyone does it" is about as off-topic of a remark as you can get

I've seen this sort of "argument" a lot lately. Not sure why people think it communicates anything other than lazy cynicism.

That everyone (to a rounding error) has sex does not mean that everyone has sex with everyone.

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winfred 2396 days ago
It's got an actual name: Whataboutism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

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LoLFactor 2396 days ago
How amusing that it's most often associated with Russian propaganda.
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ShorsHammer 2395 days ago
How any US serving member is allowed to use facebook or random apps is beyond me. The entire premise here is absurd. Of course it is a risk, just like the app partially owned by tencent that one of the most popular sites in the world insists you install when browsing on mobile.

Australians legally do metadata and spying better than everyone else on many metrics and then share it with the multiple eyes. Something to remember when the media is whipping up a threat frenzy. Given Australia's treatment of whistleblowers and slow descent into authoritarianism, I very much envy the few protections Americans take for granted.

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