I don't care what people say, the ethics, or legality, you should consider dumping fake identifying info.
Use apps from other app stores, in my case F-Droid.
Google collects metadata from Android phones
51–60 of 263 posts
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#52But what is the paid alternative of all this privacy invasion? Even Apple is doing it now.
If not enough people are willing to pay, nobody will create an alternative.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#53For what it's worth, I have my doubts that this applies to a generic call/sms on any old Android device. I would think it's more likely to apply to services such as the Hangouts calling or Google Voice, and probably Google Fi, all of which make sense to collect that data, but the privacy policy doesn't absolve itself of that. > When this Privacy Policy applies > Our Privacy Policy applies to all of the services offer…
For what it's worth, I have my doubts that this applies to a generic call/sms on any old Android device. Does it matter? This is completely in line with their privacy strategy the last few years. Slowly add new terms to the privacy policy, so that people find it acceptable. When asked, point to some unharmful or obvious application. At any rate, it makes it possible to do what the article stated. And since a lot of s…
Their "Machine learning first" position[0] makes them even more dependent on data collection, even for basic things. I doubt the two trends are unrelated.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#54I know that at least Sprint already does this. You can typically see your call log on the bills, but getting text messages requires a notarized form.
https://support.sprint.com/support/article/Get_your_text_mes...
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely not since we've learned that (some) webpages send each keystroke while on the login page.
What is this referring to?
At least eBay https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12000820 and Twitter https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12002103
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#56Is there an Android fork where this isn't a problem and which you could suggest?
It's called Replicant. It is aggressively free in the GNU sense and has a limited installation base because of strict requirements in hardware due to blobs and general functionality.
If you want a compromise, like me, Cyanogen with out GApps. What other options do you have?
The more I got into Android, the sooner I realized it was a crap shoot when addressing your question and my core interests in hobbyist computing on phones just like computers.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#57Just go on activity controls and disable "device information": https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols?hl=en&pli=1&ot...
I disabled every control on this page months ago.
Unfortunately, the Google Maps app won't remember searches unless you're logged in and share your entire location history. There's just no way to keep a local history of places in Maps.
I'll get rid of Google Maps as soon as Maps.me let me stream OSM maps instead of downloading packages one-by-one.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Anonymity on the internet is dead All thanks to advertising companies. What a rotten state of affairs.
All thanks to the users of advertising companies who trade privacy for free or cheaper stuff. We used to have paid, more private tech. Still do actually. Almost no money in it with bankruptcies and acquisitions by shady firms more common than getting on Global 2000.
This feels a bit like blaming unsafe working conditions and 12-hour work days at the beginning of the industrial revolution on workers, because they signed the contracts (this was the prevailing narrative from factory owners at the time too).
At some point, society came to the conclusion that the workers and factory owners were not on equal footing, and so rules were instated, despite strong protests from the factory owners that contract law was sacrosanct and workers should be free to agree to anything.
Perhaps it's time for regulation to solve this dilemma?
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#59For what it's worth, I have my doubts that this applies to a generic call/sms on any old Android device. I would think it's more likely to apply to services such as the Hangouts calling or Google Voice, and probably Google Fi, all of which make sense to collect that data, but the privacy policy doesn't absolve itself of that. > When this Privacy Policy applies > Our Privacy Policy applies to all of the services offer…
For what it's worth, I have my doubts that this applies to a generic call/sms on any old Android device. Does it matter? This is completely in line with their privacy strategy the last few years. Slowly add new terms to the privacy policy, so that people find it acceptable. When asked, point to some unharmful or obvious application. At any rate, it makes it possible to do what the article stated. And since a lot of s…
> Does it matter?
Well, yes because that's the accusation, but no because you're correct in the sense is that you have to assume the worst if they aren't making it clear. Once the catch-all is in place they can do what they want and there doesn't have to be a clear indication that anything has changed.
I attempted to find something that would indicate they had to suddenly include that clause, but the closest I found was the introduction of Google Voice to the iPhone[1] a month before the SMS[2] was first mentioned. Apple's site makes no mention of metadata collection so I assume this has nothing to do with it.
The more I try to defend it the less convinced I am.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Voice#Rejection_from_th... Mentions Sept. 2010 and Nov. 2010 as being important dates around the iPhone release.
[2]: https://www.google.de/intl/en/policies/privacy/archive/20101... First mention of SMS in Privacy Policy.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#60Is there an Android fork where this isn't a problem and which you could suggest?
Depending on how it is implemented. If it's coded into Android OS that's a bigger problem, if it's included in Gapps, you can just remove them of block their connections on firewall. If I correctly understand `Last modified: June 28, 2016, they are writing`, this feature should not be available before that date, so either it comes as an update to a gapps or to Android.
Well when you first boot a custom rom like cyanogenmod or replicant or self-compile android, there is no such terms that you have to agree to. So this privacy issue is not with Android Open Source Project, but rather with the proprietary google apps.