Is there an Android fork where this isn't a problem and which you could suggest?
Cyanogen?
Seconded. Does anyone know if the phone home "feature" has been removed from CyanogenMod?
Google collects metadata from Android phones
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Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#62But what is the paid alternative of all this privacy invasion? Even Apple is doing it now.
source?
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#63So we need a fork that runs sans Gapps
Already exists: Use cyanogenmod or replicant, and don't install google play services or any google apps.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#64I 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...
Pretty much every telecom company keeps call logs for the sake of verifiability of the billing.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#65Half the enterprise apps I know stop working on cyanogen. Is there an alternative? Also is there a way to separate work and personal phone usage on a single device? Tools like mobile iron seem to demand all of my info be made available for whatever it deems fit for the corporate I work for.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#66Half the enterprise apps I know stop working on cyanogen. Is there an alternative? Also is there a way to separate work and personal phone usage on a single device? Tools like mobile iron seem to demand all of my info be made available for whatever it deems fit for the corporate I work for.
The alternative is a physically distinct work and personal device. This has been the solution for many years. Only recently have people wanted to "BYOD" and use their personal device for work purposes.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe not surprised, but they begrudge everyone else for this more than they do google, and that's what I think sucks. It seems OK for Apple/Google to do whatever they need to do to have a competitive app store with all its analytics and understanding its customer to sell it advertising but if other companies do it, its all the sudden the sky is falling
It's probably because Google is perceived as giving you something like search, email, maps etc, which is very valuable, and "in exchange" it does stuff that does not directly impact your life. Similarly with Apple, which also works as a status symbol. The sequence is also important: first they build services and products, sell (or give away) them on their merits, and then turn the analytics to 11. Doing both at the s…
The products are very nice. And to a point I have started to trust Google innately. Not that that is necessarily a good thing.
I understand their need for data. It makes business and technical sense. I just wish they made more of an effort to anonymous it. (but that won't happen as long as ads are the primary market of the web)
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#68For 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.
Why would you have such doubts? Companies are not in the business of making you comfortable and ensuring you have the privacy that you value, they're there to maximize shareholder value. Because you trust a corporation to not make money off of you by personalizing even further, if they can?
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is a challenging definition, but I would argue that it is not. Because while the core OS is open, you are not effectively able to fork it. Google's developer advocates heavily encourages the use of proprietary Google APIs in app development, which binds those apps to Google's proprietary packages. I guess the question is how you define a platform or an operating system, but I think that the platform apps on it run…
Is there a page to check what popular app does not work on F-Droid or Cyanogen? Say something like Nokia's mapping app.
You can be pretty certain that any free software apps found in F-Droid will not require proprietary Google APIs. Every other app in the Play Store can be assumed to require them.
Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones
#70But what is the paid alternative of all this privacy invasion? Even Apple is doing it now.
source?
From a recent HN article:
http://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2016/06/what-is-diff...
"Starting with iOS 10, Apple is using Differential Privacy technology to help discover the usage patterns of a large number of users without compromising individual privacy."
To paraphrase, Apple has been collecting telemetry all along and is announcing that they're starting to a new proprietary algorithm to obfuscate it a bit.