App, email address and mobile phone number should never be mandatory
You must use our app
Some companies, such as Optus, ANZ Bank and Bank of Queensland, are now requiring the customers to install and use their apps in order to be able to use some of their services. What's more shocking, some Australian government departments, such Department of Home Affairs with their ETA app, as are doing the same.
To be able to download these apps, the person must have a relatively new Apple or Android device with one of the latest operating systems. The person must also have an Apple App Store or Google Play Store account, which inevitably means giving personal data to these overseas companies. Essentially, Australian businesses and Australian government are forcing Australians to keep buying the latest mobile devices and to throw their privacy and personal safety at the mercy of foreign corporations in order to be able to do something that until now they have been perfectly able to do in any web browser, including any laptop and desktop computer, which is particularly important for those who require a larger screen. This disadvantages the elderly, the visually impaired, the people who can't afford keep buying new smartphones every couple of years, and the privacy-conscious people. This is unacceptable in a fair society.
Apps must never be mandatory. At the very least, Australian government and businesses must always provide a web-browser alternative. Ideally, there should also be a paper-based, phone-call, or in-person option for all essential services.
It is actually easier and cheaper to create one web-page that would work in any browser on any device than to develop multiple apps for different platforms and then jump through hoops and hurdles in Apple and Google. In most cases, businesses ans governments take their webpages down and peddle their apps instead because (a) they think that having an app is cool and modern; (b) an app can show ads that most browsers successfully filter out; (c) an app can harvest much more personal data about the user and do much more tracking than any browser.
Despite Apple's attempts to look very privacy-oriented and requiring all apps to ask user permissions, it doesn't help the person if using a certain app is mandatory and the app requires certain privacy-intrusive permissions.
You must provide an email address and a mobile number
Emails and mobile phones are convenient communication options we all became accustomed to, but until there are email and mobile phone services that are subject to strict privacy laws, are free, reliable, accessible, secure, and don't harvest personal data from their users, every request to supply an email address or a mobile phone number when filling out any form or application or creating an online account is yet another step towards erosion of safety and privacy of Australians. Nobody is legally required to have an email or a mobile phone, so there always should be an option to say I don't have (or don't want to give) either of them
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An option not to give a phone number or an email address adds an extra security layer: if someone receives a message or a phone call from scammers claiming to be from the Department of Human Services, Taxation Office, Medicare, Centrelink, Child Support, myGov, Bureau of Statistics or any other government agency (these types of scam are very common), and the person knows they have never given this phone number or email address to this agency, they will immediately know it is a scam and will not become a victim of it. Unfortunately, as things stand, both government agencies and private enterprises often demand email and/or mobile number as mandatory, even when it is unnecessary, and then shirk any responsibility by forcing the person to agree to terms and conditions that deny the person privacy and safety, or shun the consequences by simply posting scam warning on their websites, like Department of Human Services scam page, or ATO scam alerts, or ABS “beware of scammers” page.
If phone numbers or email addresses are absolutely essential for communications between the public and the government or businesses, the following two conditions must be met first:
1. There must be a free, reliable, secure, 100% Australian owned and operated email service
You have to be a rare and lucky exception if at any point in recent years you haven't been nudged by some organisation to go online and switch to electronic bills/statements/notices/etc. myGov, myTax, myPost, AEC, Medicare, Centrelink, banks, local councils, insurers, electricity suppliers, phone companies, utility services — all want you to create online accounts or switch to eStatements, eBills, eEnrolnment and eAppointments. And while reducing paper mail may look like an eco-friendly idea, and given the increasingly slow and unreliable Australian postal service, there is a tricky step in this process: to create an account or do anything online with any of these entities you must have an email address.
The problem is that there is no free, secure, reliable, 100% Australia-hosted and Australian-operated email service that respects user privacy and is not tied to any specific Internet provider. This means that Australians are essentially forced by Australian companies and the Australian government to use foreign services like Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail or Yahoo, and thus hand their personal data and private communications over to foreign entities that have no responsibilities under Australian law and can use the collected data for their commercial benefit in any way their laws permit. Considering that documents like utility bills or bank statements can be used to confirm, or to forge, identity of any Australian, the risks are very significant.
Besides safety implications, there are serious privacy concerns. Foreign services don't care about Australian privacy laws and instead comply with mass surveillance directives of their own governments. In addition to foreign intelligence agencies, privacy can be violated by the email service providers themselves. For example, Gmail reads every message the user sends or receives, and extracts information about the person's contacts, family, work, bills, travels, hotel bookings, ticket purchases, car rentals, online shopping transactions, and any other movements. Email providers analyse every email, allegedly to create a “better user experience”, such as to remind about appointments and reservations, to suggest autoreplies, to predict the importance of each email, but does anyone still believe they would do anything for the user convenience if there was no profit for the company in it? These corporations greatly benefit from the fact that every institution now pushes for online communications: emails now contain highly sensitive information such as doctor appointments, hospital forms, bank statements, passport and visa applications, utility bills, and so on. From the contents of ordinary emails, the provider will quickly harvest your name, date of birth, address, names of your relatives, friends and colleagues, your place of work, your salary, your health status, your bank accounts, where you go, where you stay, where you shop, what you buy, what you look like, when your children were born, what they look like, what school they go to... All that data is read, analysed, compiled and stored somewhere overseas. It is used for advertising and marketing trickery. It can also be shared, sold or hacked at any time.
2. There should be no ID requirements for prepaid mobile numbers
Another growing issue is with various government departments and private enterprises demanding that the person gives them a mobile number. Most people regularly have to fill various forms where mobile number is marked as mandatory. For example, ATO keeps pestering taxpayers to use their online myTax facility, but demands a mobile phone number in it. Recently, they offered an option to use the myGov Code Generator app instead of a mobile phone number, but downloading that app from AppStore or Google Play means creating an account with Apple or Google and inevitably giving personal and contact information to those corporations. It also means disclosing and tying your device ID to those companies and to myGov.
In addition to extra costs imposed on the person by this demand, as mobile phones and services are not free, this has significant privacy ramifications. Unlike in New Zealand or the UK, it is impossible to legally obtain an Australian mobile phone number without a photo ID. This means that those government departments and businesses are essentially forcing each person to hand over their identity and money to a telco, which is often a foreign corporation, and to allow them to track the person's private life, communications, contacts and daily movements.
This also means the mobile number cannot be changed easily and without losing one's privacy even further in the event of some spammers, scammers or hackers getting hold of the person's contact details, often by stealing them from the very businesses and government institutions that demanded those details in the first place.
22 September 2022 update: the “No ID, No SIM” policy of the Australian government created identity data honeypots at every telecommunications provider, and, as a result, the latest data breach at Optus led to the personal information of millions of Australians stolen by hackers. This disaster could have been easily averted if Australian customers weren't forced to give their personal details every time they got a new SIM card.
It has always amused me how whenever it comes to doing something unpopular, out govt is quick to point out a similar practice already in place in the UK. 'Look, the UK are doing that, and so we should too!' But when it comes to stopping requesting ID checks for prepaid numbers, we suddenly cannot have it the UK way.
Ros, 29 April 2017
Being forced by our own authorities to use foreign corporations like Google for our email correspondence is only one part of the problem. The other problem I've been battling with lately is Google trying to wrench incrementally more personal information out of me. When I created my Gmail account, they asked my name only. Later, they demanded to know my phone number, or risk being locked out of my own account. Now they want my home address, apparently "to serve me better". And of course closing that account with Google and opening a new one somewhere else is now a major headache, as I had to give this email address to a huge number of departments and services.
Anonymous, 3 July 2019
Good point!! It seriously pisses me off that the government requires mobile phone number for covid vaccination. In Queensland at least, you can't register on their stupid site without a mobile number. The government didn't give me the phone or paid for it to have the right to demand it. Last time I gave my number to the authorities I was inundated with unwanted messages, so I'm not going to give it this time. If they keep insisting, then they can stick their vaccine up their ***. They are worse than scammers, because if scammers are caught misusing our data, they will be punished. The government never will be.
Anonymous, Queensland, Australia, 24 June 2021
The covid surveillance and data grab is another example. You must give your phone number to covid contact tracing, you must give your phone number when entering venues and shops, you must give your phone number for covid testing, you must give your phone number for covid vaccination, you must, you must... When Australian government lets me get a phone number without being forced to give my personal data and photo ID to a telco provider, then and only then they can ask for it.
Greg, 1 July 2021
Same situation for me: I would like to get a covid-19 vaccine, and I am eligible, but it looks like I won't be able to because I can't agree with the scope of personal data the government wants to collect and with how that data will be stored and used. Email and phone number were made mandatory for booking a vaccination through the state program. Ridiculous! Basically our government is saying that unless I give my personal information and money to a phone company, I can't get a vaccine. A photo ID is another ridiculous condition. I am not going to agree to have my ID details stored with my medical records. Then they demand to know the language spoken at home and the country of birth. What is that for? For discrimination? For targeting certain population groups? For "statistics"?? No thanks, we already have the ABS with its surveys and census for the outrageous assault on privacy that is passed for statistics in this country. You would think that vaccination during a pandemic should be all about doing is quickly, safely and keeping people healthy, not about hoovering private information to the maximum. But no, not in Australia!
Anonymous, 10 July 2021
Be very careful if you are booking covid-19 vaccine online. Many clinics and medical centres dupe you into making the booking via HotDoc, HealthEngine, 1stGroup sites, etc. So you will be creating an account with a commercial entity and giving your personal and medical information to them, and then your data can be used for advertisement, marketing and financial gain of those businesses and their "partners". Just read Health Engine Privacy Policy. It is outrageous that an official government web site even links to such companies, let alone tells people to actually use those systems!
Greg, 13 July 2021
I saw an article on one of the news sites spinning a yarn that the info about the country of birth and language spoken at home is allegedly collected for covid tests and vaccinations because community leaders pushed for it. Now see, I am an overseas born Australian speaking another language with my family, and I have no idea who these community leaders are, nor does anybody else I know! I don't accept their authority, and I certainly don't want to be told to supply additional personal data just because some *** leaders want it.
Anonymous, 18 July 2021
Hear hear! It is sickening and alarming how mobile number became mandatory for almost everything in Australia. We can't even get an appointment for covid vaccination without it. Fine. In this case, we won't be booking until a phone isn't required, or until Australian government changes its spying tactics and lets people purchase sim cards without photo IDs.
Chris, 11 August 2021
It's not difficult to see why Australian government is gradually tying everything to a mobile phone number thus making it a de facto Australia card. For their purposes, it is even better than Australia card. An identity card is passive, it doesn't tell more than is written on it, while mobile phones are ideal for 24/7 spying on everyone everywhere.
First, the government made it mandatory to show a photo ID when you buy a sim or get any mobile service. Then it passed data retention and surveillance laws that allow it to watch everything you say and receive in all your communications, know all your contacts and trace your location. Now it is simply making sure that everyone is forced to have a mobile phone by making it impossible to access the most essential things without a mobile phone.
The pandemic just made this process much faster and mush easier for the government. Just wait and watch how we lose the last traces of privacy in the upcoming months with something like vaccine passports, and will never get it back even if the pandemic ends.
Anonymous, 12 August 2021
It still seems impossible to get covid vaccine without online booking, which requires that we must to provide unique email address and mobile number that have not been used to register before. My husband and I share one email account that is a paid service hosted in Australia. This means only one of us can get the vaccine. Contacting the government health department was a waste of time. Their response was that we should create another email account on Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo. Which is them basically saying, go and give your personal data and private correspondence to an overseas corporation that will spy on you. This is totally unacceptable! Email address or phone number should not be mandatory for any taxpayer-funded vaccine or service.
Anonymous, 6 September 2021
It looks like it's time to ditch mobiles in Australia. Just think, who is actually using your phone the most? You pay for it, sure, but it is mostly used by the government to track you and by corporations to advertise to you and make huge profit from your data and your use of "your" phone.
Anonymous, 15 November 2021
Mandatory mobile phone numbers would be tolerable if we could get them anonymously here in Australia, like people can in the UK. Otherwise our phones are like police GPS monitors that we carry with us almost voluntarily and make the government privy to our every move and contact.
P., 14 July 2022
It is actually even worse than it looks on the surface. When you buy a new SIM and go online to activate it, you will have to enter your photo ID number. Do you have any idea what happens to your data after that? It gets sent to identity verification companies like GBG, which is overseas. And it will pass many different hands along the way, will get shared with many other entities and gets stored in multiple places from which you will never be able to delete it.
And that's just one number entered by you for one purpose - to let the government attach your phone number to your identity and facilitate life-long spying on you. Because you know... terrorism\child sexual abuse\money laundering\yadda yadda yadda... all the usual bullshit pretexts. Now try to estimate what happens over your lifetime of using your mobile number. How much spying, surveillance and data accumulation that leads to. Nothing you do or say is private.
That's why the government created this system. Mobile phone number is required almost everywhere for almost everything. And identification documents are required for getting that number. So we literally micro-chipping ourselves and then carry that device\number around while the government surveillance machine is having a field day. You go anywhere with your mobile phone in your pocket - they know where and when you've been. You call anyone - they know that. You send a message to anyone - they read it. You open any website - they know that too...
The only way to privacy is to be able to purchase SIMs anonymously, which the Australian government will never agree to, for obvious reasons.
Anonymous, 22 July 2022
A few days ago AUvodafone sent a message promising "more protection for user account and personal information". To that end Vodafone wanted its users to add more personal information into MyVodafone account. The irony of it!
Basically all prepaid mobile users who haven't previously given Vodafone their email address precisely for the reason of maintaining the privacy and security of their information are now forced to do so. Why? Because Vodafone allegedly wants to bring in multi-factor login. However what happened in reality was that Vodafone removed the password protection from user accounts. Instead they now send a login link in an sms or email. So anyone who takes or steals your phone can now login into your Vodafone account as well. No password is required anymore. That's "more protection" by Vodafone standards. It's still one-factor login. Only now it is way less secure. Besides the sending of the link to the email doesn't work. Vodafone site simply shows an error. Typical Vodafail.
So it looks like Vodafone simply wanted a reason to grab everyone's email address for other purposes because it doesn't work for the purpose it was grabbed for. This also means that users cannot login into their accounts on a computer anymore. Instead they are forced to manage accounts on a phone screen. This is a disaster for the elderly and visually impaired people. So as usual under the pretext of "more security" we've got less security and more our personal information snatched from us.
And ufortunately there isn't a better alternative in Australia. All Australian telco provide mediocre quality service that is grossly overpriced. The main function of Australian communication providers is aiding the government in mass surveillance. That's why they always require identification documents when you purchase a sim. So that they can tack your movements and your contacts and your calls and your messages and your data usage. Unlike in the UK or NZ it is impossible to purchase even a prepaid sim anonymously in Australia because the Australian government doesn't want Australian people to be able to communicate privately and anonymously. And telco companies are happy to oblige.
Susan, 26 July 2022
I agree with Susan. It is a growing problem with telco and other companies. Their websites are getting ever more buggy. Instead of making sure that their websites work properly, they all want us to download their apps. Which of course means that you have to have a smartphone and you have to have an account at Google Play or Apple App Store. Which means giving your name and your contact details to those overseas corporations. Besides, apps can have additional tracking and spying features that normal websites can't have. That was the reason why I left Optus for Vodafone. The prepaid plan that I wanted with Optus could only be managed through Optus app. And I absolutely don't want to install any such app. Now sadly it looks like Vodafone is going down the same path, making their website buggy and instead peddling their app. Oh well, I have ditched one mobile provider before, I will sure do it again. Until I find a decent one, if such exists in this country.
Dino, 29 July 2022
Amazing that nobody's saying anything about this. But because we're constantly told to download this app or other by our banks, Medicare, Mygov, phone providers and so on, Google and Apple have obtained personal details of nearly the entire adult population!
Because we can't download apps without a Google or Apple account. And Google now wouldn't allow to create an account without a mobile phone number. And we can't get an Australian mobile number without identification....
Do you see where all this is going??
Anonymous, 30 July 2022
When was this article written? Years ago!? Now 9 million Optus customers, including myself, are in a shitcreek because our government didn't read this or blatantly decided to ignore this.
Here is another reason why mobile phone numbers shouldn't be mandatory: telcos will gobble a mound of your personal details because our spying government requires it, and then hackers will steal it all and scam you. Just happened to Optus. Will happen again to another telco.
Nobody can keep data 100% safe and secure. Therefore Australian government should quit its addiction with mass surveillance and allow Australians get SIM cards without giving their ID or any other personal details. People in NZ and UK can do that. But in Australia for some reason we keep getting the crime/terrorism excuse.
Angry Customer of Hacked Optus, 23 September 2022
I'm bloody sick of this!!!! Everywhere they require that you have a phone number. Every government agency and most companies demand it. So you have no choice other than to get a number. And in Australia this means you have no choice other than giving a telco a shitload of your personal data. Then they store it forever and let hackers take it.
After this catastrophe with Optus the government should change their stupid laws. Either don't require phone numbers like they are compulsory, or let people buy prepaid phones anonymously.
Anonymous, 25 September 2022
The fun continues. Now Medibank joins Optus at the cyber attack party. Another 4 million customers turned into potential hacker victims. First, our government blackmailed half of Australia's population into paying for private health insurance. Then the insurers grabbed customer money and personal data. And then they spent the money on idiotic ads instead of proper security.
I left Medibank 3 years ago and yet I received an attack warning from them. Why are they holding onto my data for so long? Especially if they are unable to keep it secure.
If the Australian government has half a brain, they should rewrite all privacy laws ASAP and mandate that all corporate dimwits delete all ex-customer data immediately after the customer had left. And by DELETE I mean wipe it out properly, without any chance or restoring it later. Not just mark it as 'hidden' or 'deleted' in their shonky apps.
Angry Customer of Hacked Optus and Super Angry Ex-Customer of Hacked Medibank, 14 October 2022
The problem with giving anyone [except trusted friends and relatives] your email or phone number is that it will inevitably be added to dozens of different marketing databases and reminder services, and you will never be able to remove your data from all of them to stop that spam. And of course any and every of them can at any moment be hacked and all your data will be stolen.
Anonymous, 2 December 2022
I could not believe that Australian government has made Australian ETA app mandatory for tourist and short-term visa applications. This is a shameful and totally stupid decision by our government. Zero consideration for the elderly, the people who don't have a compatible device, and the people who what to protect their privacy and not be forced into signing up for Google or Apple just to able to download this app.
Judging by App Store and Google Play reviews, this app is buggy, extremely difficult to use, and demands unnecessary permissions such as location. At the very least, Australian government should bring back the website alternative for ETA applications, like New Zealand does. But so far, the attitude of Australian Department of Home Affairs is, "Can't use the app? You can't get the ETA!" This is modern day electronic discrimination and one of those occasions when one feels ashamed for one's own country.
Sincere apologies to all those people who wanted to visit our beautiful country and were unable to do that because of this moronic app mandate.
Anonymous, 26 January 2023
That seems to be unacceptable indeed.
At least —for now— they have ditched that disastrous Digital Passenger Declaration app and went back to paper Incoming Passenger Cards. These work fine for everyone who can write. No Apple, no Google, no glitches, no hackers.
By collecting and storing information they do not need, the government and the companies like Medibank and Optus created problems for themselves and for all of us of course at the same time.
The Optus hack wouldn't have been so devastating hadn't our government demanded that we hand our ID over to telco. And the Medibank hack wouldn't have been so devastating hadn't our government bullied us into taking up PHI and required the data of all ex-customers to be stored for 7 years or even longer.
I feel that we are just pawns in their mass-surveillance and money-making games. Our privacy and safety is an afterthought for them, if a thought at all.
Anonymous, 12 February 2023
Would be interested to get your take on the new requirement to register a personal account in order to access the ABC's iView on-demand services.
Andre, 15 February 2023
I think that the ABC iview account requirements were intrusive, unnecessary (which in an ideal world should have made them illegal under the Privacy Act), and created yet another potential place for hackers to break into.
If the ABC wants to provide extra features that require user identification and tracking, such functionality should be offered as optional and voluntary, not mandatory.
As I could not agree with their new mandatory sing-in policy, I had to stop using ABC iview the moment it was locked behind a sign-in. Now I am just paying for this service via taxes while being unable to use it.
And....apps make your device do lot of work for them that would've otherwise had to be done by their servers. That's why they drain your phone battery. And....apps can grab more personal data than any browser. Data is gold in modern corporate and mass surveillance world, and we are the constant free sources of it.
Anonymous, 21 February 2023
Yesss! Why do we suddenly must have apps for everything that until recently could be done on WWW without any trouble? It's ridiculous! And it's a major PITA!
Anonymous, 3 March 2023
Companies must be gaining something from having their apps downloaded instead of their websites visited. Every social media and streaming service is deliberately making their websites completely useless on mobile so you have to download the app. These apps take up space on your phone, they drain your batteries, and they track you.
Anonymous, 4 March 2023
Another problem with compulsory mobile phones is that the providers now seem to be forcing the customers into using their apps. Basically you have to install their app, or you can't do anything. Which of course means that you have to get Goggle or Apple account, or you can't download the damned app. Which of course means that you have to give all your contact details to those spying corporate monsters.
First it was Optus who made their crappy app mandatory. So I ditched them and went to Amaysim, and was quite happy there. But now Amaysim is about to do the same. They said that from the next month their international roaming will work only if you purchase their roaming pack, which "can only be purchased via the amaysim app". I contacted them and asked them to make these packs purchasable via web interface or with vouchers too. They responded that they will look into it. But I'm not counting any chickens yet.
Because otherwise to those who can't or don't want to use that totally unnecessary app, Amaysim has the most unsatisfactory advice, "we recommend picking up a local SIM in your destination". Meaning, they recommend their customers to give personal information to a foreign telco as well! Unless you are lucky to travel to one of the few countries that don't demand a photo ID for each SIM purchase, you can say goodbye to your privacy. And to your safety if/when that foreign telco gets hacked like Optus. Only in that case, being a foreign victim, you will get zero assistance.
My brother reckons that these compulsory mobile provider apps like My Optus are rammed down our throats to make policing easier. In the past the police had to get a warrant or make an official request to get the history of your calls and texts. But now they just need to grab your phone, open that app and whoosh! all details of all your communications are there.
Hayden, 15 March 2023
I really hate that every major website is trying to force apps on us. I don't want hundreds of apps on my phone draining its power and tracking me. A browser has been a perfectly acceptable alternative for 25 years.
Anonymous, 15 March 2023
Unfortunately this app trend is spreading like a virus. And the only way to reverse it is for every person to abandon the transaction in response to every mandatory app installation roadblock.
Anonymous, 19 March 2023
Australian government's requirement to use their ETA app for tourists is downright cruel. My mother is 87. She barely knows what an app is! How is she supposed to download, install and use this ETA app that even some IT professionals have trouble using?! When the old application form was on the website, we could do it for her. But the app must be used by the applicant because it logs the location and takes a photo of the person in real time.
She wants to visit us in Melbourne for a few weeks, most likely for the last time in her life, to see her grandchildren and the little great-grandchildren. Now she either has to apply for a different visa that requires much more paperwork and hassle, or we have to travel to the other side of the planet with two toddlers and a newborn! But the government doesn't care. They've made their app and they are determined to force it onto people no matter what.
Anonymous, 20 March 2023
The only entities that benefit from compulsory apps are Apple and Google (because they control all app accounts and downloads), advertisers (because they can track you and bypass ad-blockers), and the surveillance arms of the government (because a user has much greater privacy options in a decent desktop browser, whereas an app can simply refuse to work unless it gets full access to all user files, contacts and location).
Anonymous, 29 March 2023
There is actually an article on Forbes, "91% Of Us Hate Being Forced To Install Apps":
I hope that more people ditch apps and abandon the companies that ram their app into our throats/phones. Only then we will see a positive change in respect to our privacy and freedom of choice.
Hayden, 1 April 2023
Amaysim has just locked their international roaming inside their app. Until yesterday I was able to pay for the roaming by using my credit in My Amaysim web account. Not anymore. Now I have to download their stupid app. And if I can't do that, I'm f*cked.
To those who can't use apps Amaysim suggests to buy a local SIM. Which is an epic pain in the ass because,
1. I don't want to give my ID to an overseas telco. Giving it to an Australian telco is already bad enough - hello Optus and their hackers!
2. I can't receive SMS security codes from my Australian bank to a local SIM.
So I would have to juggle my Australian and local SIM all the time. And trying to get one SIM out of the phone and get one in while you are walking through tourist locations is super unsafe. It's too easy to drop and lose this tiny thing. Or drop and smash the whole phone in the process.
So now thanks to Amaysim's "improvements" I have to be either without mobile communication or without money.
I am furious. I dumped Optus when they made their app mandatory. I switched over to Amaysim and everything was fine until some idiot there decided to do the same stupid thing as in Optus.
I can use WiFi in my hotel for internet browsing. But of course it is of zero help when I am out and about or when I need to receive SMS.
Thanks Amaysim for ruining my overseas trip that I have been saving for for years.
B., 6 April 2023
I have an old iPhone. I use it only for calls and text messages. No apps. And up until now everything was fine. But now an Australian entity is forcing me to install their app.
They say, "it's just one app and it's free!"
But it doesn't matter if it is just one app or ten. To let you download any app, Apple demands an Apple ID. And to create that "free" Apple ID, they want my full name, date of birth, home address, email address and phone number! My personal data is the real price for their "free" ID and their "free" app.
How is it even legal for Australian government and Australian companies to force Australian citizens into giving so much personal information to a foreign company?!
And what if Apple gets hacked, like Sony was, like Opus was? Then what? How will Australian government give me my security and privacy back?
Anonymous, 12 April 2023
The requirement to download an app always presumes the ownership of an Apple iPhone or Android device. This is a very unfair and monopolistic view. It discriminates against all people who don't own such devices.
Ian White, 19 April 2023
All those apps, besides being annoying clutter, also negatively affect phone performance and drain the battery.
Anonymous, 20 April 2023
You will laugh or won't believe me but I actually saw a water dispenser that wanted an app. Get the latest phone and the damned app or die of thirst. FCOL!!
Anonymous, 24 April 2023
Apple Inc is really infuriating me with their lies and bullshit. They advertise and tout that user privacy is the centre of everything they do. But in reality they belong to the same spying brigade as Google, Microsoft and other corporations, telco and governments. And it's getting worse.
Some years ago it was possible to create an Apple ID without a phone number. Now Apple made phone number mandatory.
So to get a new mobile number with Optus, it is mandatory to download Optus app. To get the app, it is mandatory to create an Apple ID. And to create an Apple ID, it is mandatory to give them your phone number! Catch-22. For f***'s sake!
I chose iPhone over Android because I didn't want Google spying on me 24/7. But unfortunately I was too naive to believe that Apple and its iPhone would be any better.
I really hope someone takes this corporate mob to court for extortion, privacy abuse and creating a monopoly.
Anonymous, 3 May 2023
Unfortunately Apple doesn't seem to regard its own harvesting of user data as an intrusion of privacy:
• Apple demands users to create an Apple ID even just for downloading free apps;
• Apple device users are forced give their full name, date of birth, email address, phone number and home address to Apple for the mere access to apps, which they often neither need nor want, and have been forced to download and use by their bank, their telecommunication provider, their government or some other entity that doesn't care about user accessibility and true privacy;
• to take advantage of full iPhone functionality the user must be permanently signed into their phone thus placing themselves under permanent tracking and surveillance;
• Apple uses everyone's iPhone for tracking and mapping even when the user signed out and disabled all location services (just go to iPhone Settings > Mobile Data > System Services and marvel at how many megabytes Mapping Services pull out of your phone even if you have disabled all location services and all tracking features, and how much of your data is used by other iOS services, even those that you have never used);
• Apple still doesn't offer a way to opt your WiFi network out of data gathering. Even Microsoft and Google offer the "_optout_nomap" directive to add to your WiFi SSID to stop their data collection. But Apple doesn't abide by this policy, ignores these directives, offers no other option, and grabs data about every WiFi network, not just Apple users.
All this leads us to the logical conclusion that Apple's marketing about user privacy is just that: marketing.
Does anybody know if Amaysim has any plans to stop forcing their app onto those who need international roaming?
Do they have any plans to sell their roaming packs via the account on amaysim.com.au that we can access with a normal web browser without installing the app?
Or is there any other way to get international roaming packs from Amaysim without downloading their app?
Chaz, 11 May 2023
July 2023 update: the app is no longer required. Amaysim have added the international roaming feature to web user accounts on www.amaysim.com.au (new self-service beta). Big thanks to everyone who made an effort to send their feedback to Amaysim and thus caused this positive change!
According to what some Amaysim users say, here is how you can get Amaysim international roaming packs without downloading the app:
1. Decide which roaming pack you want (do an online search for Amaysim Critical Information Summary International Roaming Packs PDF document and see which pack suits you best).
2. Add sufficient funds to your Amaysim credit (you can do that with recharge vouchers, direct deposit via BPay, or a bank card payment in your amaysim.com.au web account).
3. In your amaysim.com.au account, go to yor SIM plan settings and enable international roaming.
4. Contact Amaysim support and ask them to add the roaming pack for you.
5. Enable international roaming in your phone settings before you leave Australia.
Be super patient with amaysim.com.au website — it is veeery slow and sometimes buggy, but it nevertheless is good to have this alternative to being forced to use the app.
From Amaysim replies to similar user requests on sites like ProductReview, it sounds like they may have plans to make international roaming packs available via My Amaysim (amaysim.com.au) web account. However it is impossible to tell whether those are real plans or just empty promises aimed to appease the users and buy some more time to ride out the problem.
Either way, it is worth contacting Amaysim with your feedback and request them to stop forcing people into downloading the app. All the vital features that are available in the app must also be made available in the web account. The more people tell Amaysim about this, the higher is the chance that the app will become an option, not an obligation.
LMAO I really don't understand why my new fridge and oven need an app and access to my home WiFi. I thought that "Internet of Things" buzzword had died years ago. But apparently not. Everyone wants our data in every way they can get it. So why am I not thrilled by this new technology that made it possible for my vacuum cleaner to eavesdrop on me and for my toaster to be hacked?
Anonymous, 8 June 2023
I refuse to clutter my phone with one-time app nonsense just so the people selling me a T-shirt can make even more money off my personal data. Some organisations want to be pestering us 24/7/365 in every possible way, and apps give them an opportunity to do that.
Rikki, 25 June 2023
After my personal information was stolen from Medibank, I had to change my mobile phone number because I was bombarded with scam calls.
Now I'm getting text messages intended for the previous owner of my new number. And the fact that many of these messages include that man's full name and his other personal information is most disturbing. Against my will, I now know so much about him that if I were a criminal, I could easily forge his identity.
Sadly, this is like a chain reaction. My old mobile number will soon be given to someone else, and that person will most likely receive my personal details in exactly the same way.
Unsubscribing from all marketing and telling all those companies not to contact you doesn't always help. They do it anyway. And for some reason they feel the need to begin all their messages with "Dear FirstName LastName...". This is such a hole in the security of our personal data!
Anonymous, 28 June 2023
Thank you for the info about how to get amaysim international roaming without their app. This procedure definitely works. I've done exactly that and got my roaming pack.
Anonymous, 28 June 2023
Modern browsers have many security mechanisms for shielding private data. Apps on the other hand can do whatever they like. I think that this is the main motivation behind pushing people into using apps instead of web pages.
Anonymous, 10 July 2023
I once had digital scales that required an app. Can you believe it??? The big brother wants to know how fat I am :))))) I didn't look properly when I was buying that shit, so I didn't notice that the f***ing scales won't work unless I download their app and give them my data. I immediately dumped the scales in the electronic waste bin when I discovered that. F*ck that shit!
Martin, 13 July 2023
Apps allow more data collection, which of course is then sold to the highest bidder. So everyone is now incentivised to build apps because they can get more cash from adtech that way.
Anonymous, 20 July 2023
I always make sure that I buy a product that doesn't require an app. If something says 'app' on the box, it immediately goes back on the shelf.
Anonymous, 26 July 2023
I totally agree with everything here! I have a principle. I never buy or use anything that requires an app. Sure I missed out on some "special" deals. But I saved a lot of time that I didn't waste in those useless apps, I saved a lot of money that I didn't spend on buying unnecessary crap, and I avoided all the grabbing and selling of my personal data that those apps do.
Din, 27 July 2023
It is really sad that free travel is becoming practically non existent. Many countries that used to be visa-free travel destinations now increasingly require that tourists obtain a travel authorisation. They say it's "not a visa", but in reality it is. It has all the hallmarks of a visa: you have to do it in advance, you have to give a lot of your personal data, you have to pay, you have to wait, and there is always a risk of getting a refusal without any meaningful explanation. And any one such stupid refusal can create massive problems in the freedom of travel for the rest of your life. So yes, all those ESTA, ETA, ETIAS and so on are visas in disguise. And that sucks.
But what sucks even more is that some of those authorisations must be applied for through an app. There is no web application option. So in addition to some other country grabbing my data, they made it mandatory for us to let Google or Apple grab our data too, because we cannot get those apps without a Google or Apple account.
I love to travel, and I used to do it very often. But because of all this, my travel destinations are now exclusively the countries who haven't yet joined this grab-data-under-any-pretext club.
Why do they want to know the names of my parents? Why do they want to know what other citizenship I might have? The only reason for such questions would be to discriminate against people who happened to be born in some "wrong" place. This is racist and this should be illegal to ask, just as it is illegal to ask about religion or sexual orientation.
I have my valid passport. Why was it perfectly enough yesterday, but today it is suddenly not enough anymore??
Anonymous, 15 January 2024