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Google collects metadata from Android phones

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Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#181

Post by RhodaLs »

JTenerife wrote: post #76

And people freak out about some Microsoft telemetry collection.

For the same reason people freaked out about a very easily disabled Amazon search integration in Ubuntu. People had higher expectations of Microsoft (and Canonical) than Google. Plus, the desktop / laptop environment is one in which regular monitoring outside of the browser is something usually only done by malware.

Microsoft should have recognized they were considered more trustworthy, in one sector anyways, than Google or Facebook. Building on that trust by building a Windows 10 with great privacy would have helped their reputation and stemmed the bleeding a bit. At any rate, I have no idea why MS doesn't just allow a "disable all tracking and telemetry" option on all versions of the OS. Would kill most of the complaints immediately, and most people wouldn't bother opting out so Microsoft would still have the data they think they need.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#182

Post by nickpsecurity »

lostlogin wrote: post #157
cmdrfred wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also remember that the factory owners at the time screamed that they could not afford any changes and it would bankrupt them and destroy the economy.

I dont defend the creepy advertisers but banning their crap would bankrupt and destroy them.

And imagine the online world loosing both Google and Mozilla. Or development of Firefox, Chrome, and Android slowing to a crawl as they went paid or donation-only. Big companies would win in browser and mobile market by default.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#183

Post by morganvachon »

lost_name wrote: post #23

For 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…

The regular phone dialer and Messenger app are Google products. Therefore technically you are agreeing to allow them access to your regular call/SMS data.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#184

Post by 616c »

gvurrdon wrote: post #171
616c wrote: post #51

I don't care what people say, the ethics, or legality, you should consider dumping fake identifying info. http://xposed.info/ http://xprivacy.eu/ Use apps from other app stores, in my case F-Droid.

The functions of which xprivacy is capable seem excellent. Unfortunately, when I tried it I found it to be an enormous hassle to use. The UI was bad enough but upgrading Cyanogenmod with xposed and xprivacy was more of a nuisance. Cyanogenmod's Privacy Guard is easy enough to use though its protections don't go as far as I'd like. Pdroid seemed to be a reasonable compromise in ease of use and protection between the t…

Privacy Guard will not allow API calls and stuff them with fake data, which I imagine is not possible with Cyanogen or any conventional outfit for legal and regulatory reasons.

I do not think the UI is great, but articles like this are not either. I made my choice.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#185

Post by Sylos »

nextos wrote: post #137
gcb0 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

gotta love the double standard. when verizon did their super cokie, everyone went crazy (as they should). now that its google (doing that since before verizon it seems) the top coment is a googler throwing the issue to the side in a hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy way ("you should have checked the alpha centaury records in 2012")

I think the right reaction to this is moving to Android without the mothership. That is an Android stripped from any Google services. I was quite sceptical about Android, partly because it has a foreign userspace and partly because there were no nice vanilla Android forks without Google code and with a focus on privacy. I'm now tired of waiting for any Maemo successor to catch up and I reckon F-droid has become a pre…

I've gone the Google-free route a little while ago, and it's really been not nearly as bad as even I thought myself. The only thing that I'm still sort of missing, is the automatic calendar and contact backup. You could do that with something like OwnCloud/NextCloud or a CalDAV-service, but yeah, it is a non-trivial effort.

Otherwise, in case you do try it, here's some things that I found useful: If the apps on F-Droid aren't enough for your taste, you can also use Aptoide [0] to access a big portion of the apps that are available on the Play Store.

The Amazon Store is also an option, although their store is also not really the greatest when it comes to not invading your privacy.

And if you cannot live without some of the apps on the Play Store, or if you've paid for some apps there and would prefer to not lose access to them, I can recommend Raccoon [1] for accessing them.

There's also some online-services, like for example Evozi [2], which can download unpaid apps from the Play Store for you, but well, for one, usually only unpaid apps, and secondly, I have yet to find one of those services which is not hopelessly overloaded.

I think, if you look more into app-piracy tools, you might also find a web-service which let's you download paid apps, but I've personally just stuck to Raccoon, so I can't make any recommemdations there.

Finally, if one of your apps really does need Google Play Services, there's a project aiming to reimplement the functionality without the privacy problems, called microG [3]. I haven't personally tried it yet, but I think, it's somewhat hit-and-miss, so while it's probably worth trying, you shouldn't expect too much from it...

[0]: http://www.aptoide.com/

[1]: http://www.onyxbits.de/raccoon

[2]: https://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/

[3]: https://microg.org/

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#186

Post by tdkl »

Spivak wrote: post #173
tdkl wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I voted with my wallet, bought an offline navigation app and disabled Maps.

I'm interested, what app?

After testing couple trial apps, decided for Sygic. Found it reliable enough for EU, gets updated quite often. Main feature that was also important is that it supports downloading maps per country. Some other navigation apps at the time didn't, so you had to store multiple GBs for whole EU, which was a PITA on the Nexus phone at the time (no expandable storage - another display for Googles crazy bubble of downloading everything). On a phone with optional SD storage I own now, it asks where you want to put maps at install, so no space wasted on internal storage.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#187

Post by tdkl »

ucaetano wrote: post #150
tdkl wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I voted with my wallet, bought an offline navigation app and disabled Maps.

And I applaud that, even if I wouldn't do the same. People need to understand that in a competitive market, you vote with your wallet. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

I guess people don't want to bother or say it costs money and yet they spend more on clothes/booze/magazines per month.

Same for email/calendar/contacts, 10 GB hosting + own domain = couple less beers per year and don't miss Gmail a single bit.

Machine learning/AI active on phone? By someone with policies like this? I'd rather use a fliphone and carry a small laptop around. Oh wait, maybe all we'll be left with will be Chromebooks sigh...

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#188

Post by okgooglestop »

To me, this is no different than someone from Toyota demanding I tell them where I'm going, who I'm going with and for how long every time I drive somewhere because I drive a Toyota and those are the terms.

Google is kinda like having a psycho girl/boy-friend that wants to know your every move. Creepy.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#189

Post by tdkl »

Sylos wrote: post #185
nextos wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the right reaction to this is moving to Android without the mothership. That is an Android stripped from any Google services. I was quite sceptical about Android, partly because it has a foreign userspace and partly because there were no nice vanilla Android forks without Google code and with a focus on privacy. I'm now tired of waiting for any Maemo successor to catch up and I reckon F-droid has become a pre…

I've gone the Google-free route a little while ago, and it's really been not nearly as bad as even I thought myself. The only thing that I'm still sort of missing, is the automatic calendar and contact backup. You could do that with something like OwnCloud/NextCloud or a CalDAV-service, but yeah, it is a non-trivial effort. Otherwise, in case you do try it, here's some things that I found useful: If the apps on F-Dro…

As for calendar and contacts you could pay for a provider who hosts them for you, usually with email. Unless that's not enough and want to get more self-hosted route, not just Google-free.

Re: Google collects metadata from Android phones

#190

Post by [deleted] »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #92
jeromeflipo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah, this is one of those extreme punitive peeves about the way Google has written it's products. It's either "we get all your data" or "even you don't get your data on the same device". There's no good reason not to let location history work on the local hardware.

[deleted]
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