Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 47 posts

Re: OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

#5

Post by AlexandrB »

Any fight for privacy in the modern technology environment is such an extreme case of power asymmetry that I'm starting to think it's hopeless.

On the one side you have individuals that don't want their private information to be revealed without their consent. On the other are device manufacturers, advertisers, startups, and giants like Google and Facebook. Often, maintaining privacy while viewing a single website requires either trusting or subverting the intentions of multiple such organizations.

It's like going to war with the British Royal Navy at the height of its power in a dinghy. So far it's been possible because the navy has made a promise that they'll "play fair". But that can change on a whim and there's ultimately very little you can do if that happens.

Re: OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

#6

Post by kuschku »

AlexandrB wrote: post #5

Any fight for privacy in the modern technology environment is such an extreme case of power asymmetry that I'm starting to think it's hopeless. On the one side you have individuals that don't want their private information to be revealed without their consent. On the other are device manufacturers, advertisers, startups, and giants like Google and Facebook. Often, maintaining privacy while viewing a single website re…

Don't worry, the GDPR is coming.

Now you're going to war with the Royal Navy in a nuclear armed ruber dinghy

4% revenue per timeframe in which privacy rights were violated, or 20 million. EUR, whichever is larger, is absolutely nothing to ignore anymore.

Re: OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

#7

Post by xkcd-sucks »

On one hand, if you live in the USA maybe it's better that a Chinese company spies on you, because they're far away and the government/other gangsters are less likely to care about you than about local people involved in local politics etc.

On the other hand, there's no guarantee your data isn't also made available to domestic parties, either as it's intercepted in transit or explicitly shared in bulk in exchange for e.g. concessions on a trade treaty

Re: OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

#8

Post by falcolas »

kuschku wrote: post #6
AlexandrB wrote: post #5

Any fight for privacy in the modern technology environment is such an extreme case of power asymmetry that I'm starting to think it's hopeless. On the one side you have individuals that don't want their private information to be revealed without their consent. On the other are device manufacturers, advertisers, startups, and giants like Google and Facebook. Often, maintaining privacy while viewing a single website re…

Don't worry, the GDPR is coming. Now you're going to war with the Royal Navy in a nuclear armed ruber dinghy 4% revenue per timeframe in which privacy rights were violated, or 20 million. EUR, whichever is larger, is absolutely nothing to ignore anymore.

If you're in the UK. Some of us Yanks aren't too happy with the state of things either, and don't have people looking out for us.

/rant

Re: OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data to a Chinese Company Without User Consent

#9

Post by ryandrake »

Why does it matter whether the company is Chinese or not? Isn't it bad enough that there's a background process running, unbeknownst to the user, and presumably uncontrollable by the user, that monitors the device's clipboard and has methods like containsBankAccount(String)?
Post reply on HN