Our app simplifies the process of scanning barcodes and searching for products that is listed for the boycott movement.
ben and jerrys, original owners tried to fight UNILEVER on thier ice cream being sold in israel? unilever ovverulled them.
And both men are Jewish men who are supporters of Palestine.
Jewish antisemites I imagine they are being called by some of the baddies
After Unilever apparently guaranteed not to interfere in their political activism when buying the brand. I believe they’re currently in court about it
This is the sort of app that really needs to be open source or at least open dataset. Right now there’s no way to see if their data is reliable. Aurora Store tells me that app has tracking in it (minor, but still, ewww), which is also concerning, so I’m not going to install it to find out if that information is at least provided in-app.
Oh also it’s developed by this super generic-looking company BashSquare. Overall not very confidence-inspiring.
I don’t know anything about BashSquare, but the developer is Ahmed Bashbash, a Palestinian software engineer from Gaza residing in Hungary.
Here’s the About page:
As far as what’s on the boycott list, it follows the official boycott list from my knowledge and gives an explanation on why a brand is boycotted
It works without camera access if you have no need to scan barcodes, it does need network to access the boycott list information. It doesn’t need notification or sensor access to work. At least on grapheneos
That’s quite compelling but I still can’t find any official confirmation of that information. The BashSquare website doesn’t mention any employees but does mention the app (and their website is on the G Play store). IMO the information you’ve provided is enough to confirm it uses some of the public boycott list, but could still be omitting things (though very unlikely; that would be a wild Israeli misinformation campaign).
The boycott website doesn’t provide barcode prefixes for companies to boycott, which means there is still some information that isn’t verifiable, and it’s one of the more crucial parts of the app’s functionality (if you’re not scanning barcodes you could just use the website). I did manage to find a way to look up barcode prefixes but there was no mention of a public API so it makes me think that either they’re part of the app (see qualms about open/verifiable dataset) or the app is using some proprietary API/scraper to get that info.
Thanks for the info!
It looks like he’s the founder of BashSquare from his profiles, I found his website. https://ahmedbashbash.github.io/ Looks like it has contact information, you could possibly ask clarifying questions if you wanted to.
I’m pretty certain it’s not some kind of Israeli honeypot or something like that. They’ve also done a few donation drives in the past.
The barcodes themselves provide the information for the business the product is from, at least most of them. There is also community input, where people can request a product be added if it is on the boycott list but they find the barcode not identifying it. They are also working on community additions to alternative products to boycotted ones, that should roll out in a future update
I know grapheneos does sandboxing which is really nice. You can also further isolate by setting up a new profile or using the private space, depending on what your threat level is. I just have it on my regular profile myself
You can’t trust those “app has tracking in it” flags because they usually have scary wording for extremely basic and normal things that wouldn’t impact your privacy.
An app anonymously tracks if an user clicks a button or not. This becomes “ThIs APp pHOnEs HomE tRaCkiNg uSErS”
I’d be inclined to agree if it wasn’t broken down into more detail than what I actually shared. The app includes ads and one of the trackers is Google AdMob, so that’s definitely not anonymous tracking. It’s also impossible* to be sure whether the other two trackers, Google Crashlytics and Firebase Analytics, are anonymous.
*without reading the source code, at least
Edit to add the report that Aurora Store used
The ads are not present in the app unless you voluntarily watch one in the Support tab by clicking ‘Watch Ad’
Unfortunately that has no bearing on whether the tracking is active
An app anonymously tracks if an user clicks a button or not. This becomes “ThIs APp pHOnEs HomE tRaCkiNg uSErS”
That is not normal and I absolutely object to it! Fuck anybody who wants to normalize that.
does it contain information on the leadership of these companies
a lot of lemmy commenters support further action against chief executives and particularly genocide supporting chief executives
but that’s illegal!
In Texas, government organizations not only can’t divest from Israel, but also can’t award contracts to anyone who divest from Israel or speaks ill of it.
It’s insane. When analyzing bids for janitorial services for City Hall a few weeks back, I was required to vett them for their stance on Israel.
I want to know why no one has challenged that in court, it’s clearly bullshit.
Because the restrictions is technically on the city, not the organizations we aren’t allowed to hire.
It’s bullshit.
Perhaps because of fear they will be mistakenly and immediately labeled anti-Semitic?
I wouldn’t install it in the US, since boycotting Israel is apparently antisemitic. Especially not if you’re not a full fledged citizen.
I’m a citizen and I have it installed. Agree that visiting guests shouldn’t have it for safety.
Ah so cool, but is there an open source alternative?
Make sure you don’t have this app installed if passing through US Immigration.
Just turn your phone off ffs. And use a strong passphrase.
If they ask, just say no. Encryption works.
That’s how you get turned away at the border. Happened already.
Its highly unlikely, but worth the small risk. If they turn me away, that’s on them.
Your emails and download details have now been passed to the IDF.
I wish there was an alternative for soda stream compatible gas tanks around me.
You could potentially save yourself some money and get yourself a food grade CO2 tank and refill the cartridges at home.
That seems like a bit too much for my personal use…
Have you looked into DrinkMate?
Honestly, it’s super easy and saves you a ton of money
Alright then. I’ll look into it. Thanks 😬
Sorry NGnius already posted this but interested if you folks like exodus. Its pretty sweet.
I’m new to this but my app store uses exodus to rate privacy of apps. It rates this app at 6/10. You all trust or use exodus? Wouldnt use this app anyway as I agree it should be open sourced. Especially using camera to scan items.
Could it not just be a website? Trying to minimize the number of apps on my phone.
Right? Why does everything need to be a goddamn app
https://boycott-israel.org/ looks to have a search option, otherwise there is the BDS website https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide
iirc you just have to memorize a few numbers at the start of the barcode
For iOS users https://apps.apple.com/us/app/no-thanks-app/id6476206516
Fuck Israel, genocidal scum!
Stop right there, genocidal scum!
You’ve violated international law! Subject yourself to the ICC and pay your fine!
[resist arrest]
“Then pay with your blood!”
Looking at the list of brands it is not realistic to entirely avoid them. What I wouldn’t mind is almost a traffic light system where I could avoid companies with ties to Israeli defence sector, illegal settlements etc as well as products manufactured in Israel.
For my Canadian peeps, use Buy Beaver to boycott Israel AND US products.
Or whatever other shit-ass country you dont want to support.
I’d buy beaver
I’ve bought beaver.
I know waze is but I’m keeping it
Waze was sold to Google though.
I think the devs that built it still manage it and are Israeli. Google just owns the company. I haven’t really looked it up much since I read the news of the sale years ago but that’s how it was then. No matter I’m keeping it.
