I have an escalating concern as it relates to using Chinese software, but it's becoming increasingly unavoidable. My concerns are rooted in 3 principal reasons, among others:
- Within the last 5 years, our governments (USA/CCP) have begun openly referring to one another as adversaries, even enemies.
- China functionally plays a completely different game than the rest of the world. Every Chinese company is subject to extensive pressure and tie-ins with CCP demands/objectives
- Their software is often quite invasive
As a Western consumer, it's becoming very difficult to avoid. Insta360 mobile app, Insta360 studio desktop app, DJI drone mobile app, Bambu labs 3d Printers (with insistence on network connection). These products are best in class with no reasonable alternatives.
These applications are often very aggressive in their permissions (DJI app was also removed from Google App Store, and now needs to be downloaded off-store). They're all capable of OTA arbitrary updates, and are often sending data. Bambu printers send encrypted data back in frequent intervals.
Not only is my concern for the current situation, but if tensions were to escalate between China and the west, is it not a reasonable expectation that OTA updates could be pushed that would potentially cause serious issues?
Are my concerns justified? What can be done to avoid/mitigate risks? I use things like VMs and old devices when possible. The more the west loses out on being able to actually make quality things at reasonable prices, however, I only see this getting harder.
