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Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

theguardian.com

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Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#101

Post by bb88 »

code_duck wrote: post #88
anonytrary wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be paranoid about companies using my microphone and camera to spy on me until I realized the data costs associated with the spying would be so great, that I'd notice. That single argument has ended my paranoia on the matter. I hope others can be at ease. That said, I still put tape on my laptop and refuse all tracking and ad requests.

They don’t have to send back all of the raw data, just analyses like ‘person X’s face detected, is in a noisy place’ or ‘conversation included these 5 keywords’. The processing and data transfer could also be deferred until the phone is idle or on WiFi.

> They don’t have to send back all of the raw data, just analyses like ‘person X’s face detected, is in a noisy place’ or ‘conversation included these 5 keywords’.

Not without making a noticeable drain on the user's battery.

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#103

Post by chris_wot »

askvictor wrote: post #69
lysp wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd assume that not all that information would require real-time feeding of data back to Google. So quite a lot I'd assume would be buffered and sent back while you're on a wifi connection.

The article states: > The experts, from computer and software corporation Oracle, claim Google is draining roughly one gigabyte of mobile data monthly from Android phone users’ accounts as it snoops in the background, collecting information to help advertisers. Then goes on to give a cost breakdown of how much this hypothetical data download is costing Australian's via their mobile data connections.

It's Oracle. You must ask yourself, what's in it for them? And is it actually true?

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#104

Post by dang »

askvictor wrote: post #39

Here's a the same story via the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/14/australia... A quote contained within both stories: > The software company Oracle revealed Google could be harvesting a gigabyte of data from Android devices each month Given that my data plan is 1.5 GB/month, I would notice if a gigabyte magically disappeared every month (it doesn't). Hopefully the ACCC has enough skepticism…

Since the submitted story (https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/smartphones/acc...) has an autoplay video, we might as well switch to the other one. (I'm assuming they're roughly equally informative.) Thanks!

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#105

Post by JepZ »

I don't like the whole 'Google tracks us' thing either, but it seems so hypocritical when the background seems to be the Oracle-Google dispute, as we all know that Oracle isn't really known for being the good company either. But at least the whole privacy topic gets some media coverage that way.

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#106

Post by phs318u »

ggm wrote: post #63

I have two feelings about this. The first is, that if my data usefully supplies information to "the commons" which makes services like maps better for everyone including me, there is a zero-sum win-win here, and I'm ok. The second is, that if there is some private leveraged advantage Google gets, over other people, which dis-equilibriates in the commons, This is not good, and I should be told quite clearly thats the…

> if my data usefully supplies information to "the commons"

This could be achieved using an approach like differential privacy[0] which Apple use.

[0] https://images.apple.com/privacy/docs/Differential_Privacy_O...

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#107

Post by viraptor »

ehsankia wrote: post #71
viraptor wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unknown English text compresses ~1:6 if I remember correctly. Known can be compressed better. There's also ways to send incremental updates where you say "previous 0.999GB hasn't changed". I'm not saying that's what they do, but you can have many scenarios when you get 1gb of information without transferring 1gb of data.

But that's not what the article is claiming. They are saying Google is using 1GB worth of data, though with very little evidence to backup their claim.

It could mean data transfer, but it also could mean other things. They write:

> could be harvesting a gigabyte of data from devices each month

Which is unlikely to be true in the literal sense of pure bytes transferred simply because: a) people would notice that very soon, b) people consume gigabytes but don't produce nearly as much - all of my monthly activity would likely fit in a few MB, c) processing that much is a pain - at the scale of millions of users they'd optimise that.

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#108

Post by mda »

askvictor wrote: post #39

Here's a the same story via the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/14/australia... A quote contained within both stories: > The software company Oracle revealed Google could be harvesting a gigabyte of data from Android devices each month Given that my data plan is 1.5 GB/month, I would notice if a gigabyte magically disappeared every month (it doesn't). Hopefully the ACCC has enough skepticism…

No surprises here. Guardian(Rupert Murdoch) + Oracle = Smear Google

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#109

Post by Chockster »

Oracle is also in the business of collecting consumer data for marketing:

https://www.oracle.com/corporate/acquisitions/bluekai/index....

> BlueKai also runs the world's largest 3rd party data marketplace to augment a customer's proprietary data with actionable information on more than 700 million profiles.

Re: Australian regulator investigates Google data harvesting from Android phones

#110

Post by askl56 »

mda wrote: post #108
askvictor wrote: post #39

Here's a the same story via the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/14/australia... A quote contained within both stories: > The software company Oracle revealed Google could be harvesting a gigabyte of data from Android devices each month Given that my data plan is 1.5 GB/month, I would notice if a gigabyte magically disappeared every month (it doesn't). Hopefully the ACCC has enough skepticism…

No surprises here. Guardian(Rupert Murdoch) + Oracle = Smear Google

Rupert Murdoch does not own the Guardian. That is laughable. It's owned by The Scott Trust Limited, which was formerly a charitable trust and is dedicated to keeping the Guardian's editorial independence.
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