Smartphone Required (digital exclusion of people without smartphones)

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This community collects stories, cases and situations where people without smartphones are excluded from society.

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[EU] ~~Wifi4EU makes a network of public-funded Wi-Fi APs exclusive, only for Playstore and Apple store patrons~~ I was wrong! (fedia.io)

submitted 1 month ago by ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io to c/smartphone_required@lemmy.sdf.org

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[–] TurtleTourParty@midwest.social 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Is this a new requirement? I spent several months in the EU in 2022 and 2023 and never had to download an app to connect to the Wifi4EU networks.

[–] ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io 1 points 2 weeks ago

I’m uncertain. The EU’s words 3 weeks ago were:

“Now, with the #WiFi4EU app, enjoy free, high-speed WiFi in public spaces across Europe.”

That seems to imply that it is. A few replies seem to suggest opposition to a smartphone app requirement:

https://freesoftwareextremist.com/objects/0f42d401-7c57-4f78-a73c-c42278ffb0ed https://piaille.fr/@aaribaud/113260758404320106 https://sns.neonka.info/@nk/113261087148349618 https://westergaard.social/objects/8d4873c1-e674-4403-9f0a-b0adb5dd4246

But this post comes from someone who apparently believes the app is purely for finding the hotspots, not using them:

https://wetdry.world/@cyrus/113264605839060934

If you find something solid let me know. I’ll correct the post if needed. The branch started by @aaribaud seems to have the most insight, implying that the EU is distrusting WPA and using an app to do TLS.

(update) I think you are right. I just heard from someone saying it’s a regular hotspot with captive portal. Still not good but not as bad as an app mandate (like we see with eduroam).