from Hacker News

Replika app is Russian spyware (in Finnish)

by feider on 2/18/24, 7:28 AM with 6 comments

  • by Arech on 2/18/24, 2:05 PM

    I can not comment on the gist of the story, I didn't read it as one thing at the very beginning of the text basically tears it apart for me. They claim, that her name was "Ženja" and upon relocation she "changed her name to the closest 'Eugenia'"... What the problem here? In Russian language/culture Ženja is just a diminutive form of the name Eugenia - https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%B2%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%B... i.e. it's just two forms of the same name (and this is very common with names in that language, - many if not all "official" names might have lots of informal variants). I'm 100% sure that the full name form Eugenia was always written in her official documents, so she didn't need to change anything.

  • by justinclift on 2/18/24, 10:49 AM

    Google Translate version: https://yle-fi.translate.goog/a/74-20069654?_x_tr_sl=fi&_x_t...

    Seems like a pretty bad translation though. Both the name and gender of the person they're talking about change repeatedly in nonsensical ways.

    Unless I just needed more coffee or something before reading it. ;)

  • by Quinzel on 2/18/24, 7:30 AM

    This is really really really old news.

  • by feider on 2/18/24, 7:28 AM

    A finnish journalist uncovers that Replika AI assistant is made by company of Russian emigrant who has close ties to Putin. The company is a front that appears as US entity, but is actually operated from Moscow.