[roenxi]

There is a reasonable argument that, as a minor nobody, we should rather use services from hostile countries. It isn't feasible for Russia to to compel someone in an English-speaking country to do something unpleasant. That is a lot more than can be said for the local police or politicians. Russian corruption doesn't generally touch Western governments - the atmosphere is too hostile to it.

[dindobre]

>Russian corruption doesn't generally touch Western governments

No offense but the fact that someone on HN could get to this conclusion is rather shocking to me. Western Europe has plenty of russian corruption and I'm afraid the ongoing war has unearthed only a fraction of it.

[slashdev]

For example?

[FirmwareBurner]

Austria is the lobbying arm and safe heaven of Russian banks, oil & gas and oligarchs in the EU, and vice versa, Austrian banks and companies are heavily invested in Russia, and you don't just get to be a major investor in Russia without the bribes, connections and blessing of some very high up people in the government.

Pretty sure plenty of German politicians were similarly cozy with Russia before.

[roenxi]

While there will be obvious corruption involved in that, voting for access to cheap energy and access to foreign economies for investment are both things I'm in favour of. Being warm in winter and being wealthy are both good outcomes. So corruption is bad in all its forms, but that corruption doesn't threaten me.

A pretty basic assumption about Google and Facebook is that the US 3 letter agencies use the data in coups. Speaking as an Australian, the next time we have a Whitlam-style dismissal I assume Google will be covertly involved. Yandex not so much. Similar logic would hold in the Americas, Asia, and most of Western Europe. It'd be fascinating to know what role US social media companies were playing in the 2014 Ukraine revolution too as a comparison to somewhere that is very much a place where Russia would want to weaponise Yandexq.

[FirmwareBurner]

>Being warm in winter and being wealthy are both good outcomes.

You can be warm in the winter without doing deals with "the devil", and most average Austrian people don't benefit from that corrupt "trade", just a few banks and oil execs and real estate moguls who get to become even richer, unless you're gonna tell that their immense riches will "trickle down" to us plebs, any minute now.

>A pretty basic assumption about Google and Facebook is that the US 3 letter agencies use the data in coups.

Sure they do, which is why maintaining tech supremacy is a national security matter of the US, and an issue Europe doesn't get, that the more you fall behind in mainstream tech products and services, the more you are at the mercy of the US (and China).

The fact that US companies own all the biggest cloud, social media and chat platforms, gives the US incredible leverage, that nobody else has.

[chpatrick]

The son of a KGB agent and oligarch is a British lord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Lebedev

[throw-ru-938]

There's probably no hard proof, but Russia is allegedly funding far-right movements like AfD and whatever Le Pen's party in France is now called. Also, see the career of Gerhard Schroeder, first German chancellor and then a top Gazprom official.

[com]

The FN or whatever it’s called loan from a little-known Russian bank sound pretty wild:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-rus...

[chpatrick]

The former chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder went to work for Gazprom afterwards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der

[dindobre]

Just by taking a look at EU politicians getting into russian companies (such as Gazprom) after their mandate should tell you a couple of things. Ever wondered how some countries became so dependent on russia?

[reducesuffering]

Putin spokesman’s daughter as assistant to French Member of European Parliament https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/25/daughter-putin-s...

[civilitty]

See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_and_Security_Co...

[suslik]

For example: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56280898 . She lives in Russia now.

[throwaway290]

Plenty of examples of corruption trickling out... Take Boris Johnson's granting peerage to some Russian not long ago. Corruption is a trojan horse in capitalism, money matters which is OK with honestly earned money but when money is obtained by exploitation/violence/theft it infects the system because ultra rich oligarchs can use money to get influence. Before 2014 west (UK is known for it) couldn't resist Russian dirty money much, now they are learning slowly but unfortunately there's crypto to work around sanctions etc.

[justinclift]

Properties in London? :)

[di456]

> Russian corruption doesn't generally touch Western governments - the atmosphere is too hostile to it.

Some recent parts of the government welcome the corruption.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-citizens-and-russian-intel...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/us/politics/election-inte...

[ClumsyPilot]

> Russian corruption doesn't generally touch Western governments

Russia has an asset in British goverbment, in the hoise of lords!

Have you neber heard of Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation??

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Lebedev

Current Government was taking political dotations from Russian oligarchs, officially, but somehow thos gets postes

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-58711151

[alwayslikethis]

I have a better way to frame this. A hostile country is less interested in low profile users and is not as able/willing to use the data it collects against the user. Committed tax evasion / breach of contract / fraud? Russia is much less likely to care than your own government.

[speed_spread]

You're framing it wrong. They _care_ very much. They even have a word for it!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompromat

[the-printer]

For what it's worth, the examples given on that page are either domestic instances or do not, as your parent comment describes, involve low profile individuals.

[0xDEF]

>Russian corruption doesn't generally touch Western governments - the atmosphere is too hostile to it.

Brussels, Vienna, and many other European capitals are full of Russian "lobbyists".

[AlecSchueler]

But it's a fallacy to see the concern being about them having your individual data, right? The concern is the power of the information they yield when they have access to our collective data.

[gostsamo]

check how many western politicians went to work for gasprom or other russian government companies and talk again.

[blackpelican]

The UK is significantly influenced by Russia. Brexit is a prime, recent example, as well as the frequent donations from oligarchs to the Conservative party

[mayd]

Your claim that Russia influenced Brexit, which the Cameron-led Conservative government opposed, has been thoroughly debunked, as has the Trump-Russia collusion hoax in the US. Indeed, a certain Guardian "journalist", who promoted the Brexit-Russia influence hoax, lost a defamation case against her for falsely promoting it. The UK, which is currently governed by a Conservative party majority parliament, has also been, from the start, one of the most aggressive and dependable supporters of Ukraine in her struggle to resist the Russian invasion. So, I am wondering, to what kind of "significant influence" are you alluding?

[barbariangrunge]

I don’t know, you’ve never heard of blackmail? $500 in Bitcoin to some wallet or we leak your search results to your church group?

[suslik]

How would they connect search results to an individual? Surely, a simple VPN, which is a basic internet hygene these days, prevents that.

[ludwik]

That's what AOL thought when they released the anonymized search data of their users (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_log_release). Turns out they were very wrong.

[Toutouxc]

Many Jews got killed in the 40s because they'd registered themselves as Jews many years back, way before Hitler was a thing.

A lot of Ukrainians suddenly found themselves on Russian [claimed] soil and under Russian jurisdiction just a few months ago.

There are certain nations before which I'm not going to incriminate myself, out of precaution, Russia and China among them.

[slashdev]

If my country suddenly becomes Russian or China occupied territory, them having my search history is very far down my list of worries.

[oneshtein]

They may send killers just for you. For example, they are killing Holodomor researchers around the world (genocide of Ukrainians in 1932-1934: 25 millions were starved to death, 20 millions are recorded as Russian, millions were killed or executed).

[slashdev]

No, they won’t, because I’m nobody to them.

If you’re some kind of public enemy of Russia, maybe don’t use Russian services of any variety.

[oneshtein]

> No, they won’t, because I’m nobody to them.

I can tell you more about Holodomor.

[winrid]

Your character arc is just getting started :)

[justinclift]

> No, they won’t, because I’m nobody to them.

Maybe today. Who knows about the future though? :)

[konart]

>they are killing Holodomor researchers

Any examples?

[oneshtein]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Jones_(journalist)

https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%BA...

https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A9%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%BD...

[konart]

>Gareth Jones

was killed almost a century ago..

>Volodymyr Manyak

car accident

>Volodymyr Shukin

murdered, no suspects etc. I understand the suspicion, but this is nothing but suspicion at this point.