By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026There's India's subprime phone lenders, who pre-install usury-tech on their phones. This is a tool that spies on the phone's owner, building a dossier of the owner's most frequently used apps. 39/ 1212
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026When the owner misses a payment, the phone starts disabling the user's favorite apps, working its way up the list to the most indispensable ones: pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/i... 40/pluralistic.netPluralistic: 02 Apr 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 1242
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026It's tech's version of a mob loan-shark who breaks a finger, then a hand, then an arm. The more graduated the threat matrix, the more payments it captures. A borrower with a broken finger can go to a pawn-broker to sell their wedding-ring; a borrower with two broken legs has a harder time. 41/ 1182
