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Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

fortune.com

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Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#201

Post by kakarot »

unicornporn wrote: post #195
kakarot wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use NoScript, uBlock Origin AND uMatrix on most of my instances. Noscript as the first line of defense against 3rd party scripts, uBlock in advanced mode for fine-tuning what content goes through, and uMatrix for being the safety net as well as providing cookie control and spoofing/referrer masking, since Cookie Monster still cannot work with multi-process mode. I really wish uMatrix and uBlock would just combine f…

Don't you find that your surfing is a configurational nightmare? Using uMatrix was doable, but I finally gave it because it always interupted my browsing. Adding NoScript to the mix would probably drive me insane. Do you have any special techniques? :)

It usually only takes a moment to configure uMatrix for any given site. However, adding NoScript into the mix means that, each time I allow a new script or group of scripts, I have to refresh so that previously unallowed external requests can be made and uMatrix can register them. uBlock is usually not a problem and I usually don't have to touch it, but sometimes I have to let a request or two through.

Sometimes it's absolutely infuriating when I have to spend 5 minutes configuring a new site before I use it, incrementally configuring and reloading, but my anger directed isn't towards my addons. It's directed towards the shitty website that requires a thousand external APIs to function properly.

When it's bad enough, it's a sign that I don't need to be using that website. After all, what is the point of having three layers of blocking (not counting my other addons) if I just let everything through anyway in order to use the site? I also don't allow any third-party cookies and that is non-negotiable for any service.

If it's absolutely critical, as in work-related or I cannot find my information elsewhere, I spin up a thinly-provisioned untrusted VM to minimize my exposure to malware and spy/tracking agencies.

All of this effort is completely pointless if you let yourself get pixeled[0] or pinged with APIs like Google AJAX. And it's pretty much currently impossible to avoid getting pixeled entirely.

Until we fix the major security holes that allow beacons to track us, it's all just intellectual masturbation when we use these tools.

What I would like to see is an addon that intercepts all images and provides them as a tree to allow whitelisting of images, and a caching system similar to Decentraleyes[1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_beacon#Implementation

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes...

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#202

Post by kakarot »

wapz wrote: post #196
kakarot wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you regularly have open 100+ tabs in more than one instance of Firefox across multiple VMs, this is an absolutely indispensable feature. Before its time you would basically have to shut everything down and start over instead of finding that obscure tab that suddenly started belting out news headlines

What are you using 100+ tabs for?

I said 100+ per instance ;)

It's closer to 500 or so at a given time. I have a few instances that only run up a dozen or two tabs in their lifetimes.

I do lots of research on a variety of topics, and break it up with ADHD wikipedia binges and the like, then with aggregators like HN it's very easy to open a dozen or two tabs and just start powering through them.

Some of these tabs sit for weeks, and some just rot away till they are irrelevant and I delete them. You could think of this as a temporary bookmarking system, much in the way you may have a filing cabinet but your desk still stays covered with mountains of papers that are relevant to your current work.

I keep a bookmark bar with just favicons and no text. Only my most-used sites for the domain on which the instance runs. When this bar fills up, that's it. I either make room for new items or they aren't important enough. I have a folder for more "long term" bookmarks that I basically never check. This way, I only keep links to stuff I currently need. Firefox doesn't load them on default so it's very quick and non-resource hungry. It has to be or I couldn't be running 3-4 instances of Firefox at once, when you factor in all of the VM overhead.

I don't use Tree Style tabs like sister comment suggests. I have an unorthodox browsing style that doesn't mesh well with the way it sorts tabs. Besides, the API it uses is indeed being phased out. I prefer using the location bar to quickly search my tabs.

In general, bookmarks just have a limited use-case for me because, if it's static and information-dense I would probably rather save an offline copy anyway in the spirit of doomsday prepping.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#204

Post by bkberry352 »

mordant wrote: post #187
throwasehasdwi wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also have two sets, they....were... awesome. I can't believe Bose would betray users trust like that when they're known for high quality products.

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2 headphones have better audio quality, and no need for an app. The downside is that ANC is on all the time, with no way to disable it. But they're actually better headphones.

Unfortunately the Bose QC35s also have ANC on all the time with no way to disable it.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#205

Post by callalex »

throwawaybose wrote: post #176
tomtalks wrote: post #140

(Created an account to post this) I downloaded the app on android and listened to a few songs on Spotify to find out what information was being sent. While the app is running, the app sends a HTTP (edit: HTTPS) request every time the track information changes or the volume changes. When the track information changes it sends the artist, album and song name. When you change the volume it sends the new volume level. Ev…

Oddly enough, my Bose Sound Link speaker requests a "sync contacts" bluetooth permission. Anyone know why? http://m.imgur.com/JDiNdKz

Does it announce or display who is calling?

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#206

Post by throwasehasdwi »

bkberry352 wrote: post #204
mordant wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2 headphones have better audio quality, and no need for an app. The downside is that ANC is on all the time, with no way to disable it. But they're actually better headphones.

Unfortunately the Bose QC35s also have ANC on all the time with no way to disable it.

With the QC35's you can plug them directly into a wired jack and shut the power switch off. They run fine with no ANC and without using battery.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#207

Post by throwasehasdwi »

mordant wrote: post #187
throwasehasdwi wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also have two sets, they....were... awesome. I can't believe Bose would betray users trust like that when they're known for high quality products.

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2 headphones have better audio quality, and no need for an app. The downside is that ANC is on all the time, with no way to disable it. But they're actually better headphones.

You don't need to use the app for QC35, I didn't know about it till I had them for a month.

The reason I got the app is because it does firmware updates. They've released quite a few updates to improve audio quality, noise cancelling, and compatibility with some devices.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#208

Post by type0 »

chadgeidel wrote: post #180
boomboomsubban wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it has proprietary software and uses an internet connection, assume it is collecting your data.

"If it uses an internet connection, assume it is collecting your data." - FTFY. Open source isn't a panacea when no one reads the code.

Hey, at least there you have the ability to intervene with telemetry quite easily.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#209

Post by Tsiklon »

pyrophane wrote: post #165
gmemstr wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be really curious to see how this data is actually used on their end. I got my QC35s a few months ago and have been loving them, but was super disappointed when I read the article. I'll probably end up uninstalling the app for the time being, at least until it's resolved. On another note, I wonder if any other wireless audio manufacturers are doing similar things.

I've been thinking about getting these. Does the app do anything particularly useful (I.e. Any important features I'd be missing out on by not having it)? As a side note. I can imagine why they'd want this information. Seeing what people are listening to and what volume settings are commonly being used would potentially help them tune future products better for their "average user"

The app allows you to use 1 headphone as a relay to another bose bluetooth headphone to play music from the same source, as well as firmware updates, renaming the device name the headphone appears as under bluetooth and finally changing the language of the voiceover (which announces things like device connections and low battery)

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#210

Post by TeMPOraL »

mmanfrin wrote: post #139
troncheadle wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason why I bought a bluetooth toothbrush was for a ranking system We are truly living in a modern fall of rome. We will choke on our bluetooth enabled toothbrushes, 700 dollar juicer machines, our fucking fitbits. We've ravaged the earth to adorn ourselves with decadent shackles and we will reap the consequences with fake tans and ultra clean teeth. In the past year I've gone from being an environmentalist to…

We are truly living in a modern fall of rome What on earth does this have to do with the fall of Rome? Why do you think the empire fell?

It is common to attribute the fall to decadence of Rome.

(It's probably historically wrong, but still a popular belief.)

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