Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook is a popular app.
Wow, it uploads your call logs? I had no idea. I thought it was only ("only"...) contacts.
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Introducing Android 9 Pie
311–320 of 367 posts
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#312Did anyone see these privacy changes? https://developer.android.com/about/versions/p/android-9.0-c... * Limited access to sensors in background * Restricted access to call logs * Restricted access to phone numbers * Restricted access to Wi-Fi location and connection information * Information removed from Wi-Fi service methods * Telephony information now relies on device location setting
Great stuff. However, while I'm happy that they're limiting third-party access to this data, given Google's business model, I still wouldn't trust them with it.
Ironically, there's probably no organization on the planet that you should trust more with your personal information than Google. No organization takes privacy and security more seriously and spends more money and time getting it right. (Yes, that includes well-funded intelligence agencies like the NSA and your closest friends and family.) The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your information to third parties is just dumb.
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great stuff. However, while I'm happy that they're limiting third-party access to this data, given Google's business model, I still wouldn't trust them with it.
Ironically, there's probably no organization on the planet that you should trust more with your personal information than Google. No organization takes privacy and security more seriously and spends more money and time getting it right. (Yes, that includes well-funded intelligence agencies like the NSA and your closest friends and family.) The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your informatio…
> The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your information to third parties is just dumb.
Google's business _is_ selling my information to third parties. Don't Apple have a better track record, and a more privacy oriented business model here?
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#314> We partnered with DeepMind on a feature called Adaptive Battery that uses machine learning to prioritize system resources for the apps the user cares about most. You know what mind I would like to control what apps get more resources? Me
I don't know a lot about kernel scheduling, memory allocation, I/O scheduling, etc, but from what I understand there are OSes with much cleverer implementations of these things, and OSes which are pretty dumb. I believe Linux is somewhere in the middle. Surely there is lots more scope to optimise these schedulers with regular rule-based approaches, rather than bringing in DeepMind magic? It's always difficult to understand the reasons why machine learning algorithms choose the things they choose, and they often have unintended consequences or awful edge cases. This just seems like it was done for marketing reasons more than technical reasons?
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ironically, there's probably no organization on the planet that you should trust more with your personal information than Google. No organization takes privacy and security more seriously and spends more money and time getting it right. (Yes, that includes well-funded intelligence agencies like the NSA and your closest friends and family.) The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your informatio…
> The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your information to third parties is just dumb. Google's business _is_ selling my information to third parties. Don't Apple have a better track record, and a more privacy oriented business model here?
> Google's business _is_ selling my information to third parties.
No, Google's business is using your information as a tool to build products it sells to third parties. Actually selling your information, as such, would undermine that business.
Google business is no more about selling your information to other people than a ferryman’s business is selling his boat.
Your privacy against non-Google actors is Google's moat. They have every interest in protecting it.
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I discovered that www.google.com was also accessing my Chrome browser's location, and I can not recall when I said "yes" to any such location prompt This is the worst when traveling through Europe. Cross a border and suddenly all Google services are in a language you don't speak.
I really hate that and I do speak quite a few. It is not only the UI language that changes, the search results do as well. Suddenly something that was easy to find becomes a mess of local results with similar names or machine translated, even though I used the original language name.
Note that this is often done based on your IP address if you've not opted-in.
It's often a quirk when using CCC (Chaos Computer Club) IP addresses at events in other countries; you'll be looking at google.de for the first couple of days until google correlates enough location data from people that have opted-in to correct the IP location.
On the plus side it means that a personal VPN with no opted-in devices will give you your home-region services (ymmv).
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google location services makes the picture much worse though, which the majority of Android users (in the US at least) have enabled.
Yes, it feels really spooky getting notifications to review the supermarket, coffee shop or anything else close to our surroundings. The spookiness is even greater for those of us that know what it means to live under repressive regimes.
Google maps stalking is indeed bad and I hate it but you can easily disable it by not running Maps in the background.
Honestly Android allows me to tune out of the internet business model a lot easier than iOS. Just dive into permissions and install a system wide adblocker. You can even bypass the app store.
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#318Did anyone see these privacy changes? https://developer.android.com/about/versions/p/android-9.0-c... * Limited access to sensors in background * Restricted access to call logs * Restricted access to phone numbers * Restricted access to Wi-Fi location and connection information * Information removed from Wi-Fi service methods * Telephony information now relies on device location setting
The "privacy" and "security" features also mean a less powerful computer. Which is probably the right trade-off for most users but a pain in the ass for more niche use cases.
They don't limit the power of the computer, only who can access that power. It's not hard to grant an app full access if you trust it - but the "trusted by default" model is hopelessly outdated now that the vast majority of software is sourced from anonymous internet 3rd parties rather than a few well known software vendors.
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
Android may have always been available at no cost, but it was never free. Always assume if you are given a service gratis, that _you_ are the product being sold. This doesn't just apply to Android, but to gmail, Drive, Docs, etc.
A product only useful at the Billion User data points level. I am 100% fine participating in what's essentially the training data for all future AI products coming out of Google. It feels like a happy family of devices all working together for a more scientific future.
In history, people allowing one entity to accumulate a lot of power on the basis that they will remain benevolent have almost always be wrong.
Don't assume people at the top have an agenda that are compatible with yours.
The fact we are enjoying a lot of peace and freedom right now should now be a signal for us to relax : democracy is a system that needs maintenance, not some legacy you can claim ad vitam.
It's our duty as a citizen to always doubt the intentions of those in power. Just like it's a flight intendent duty to check that the planes doors safety are engaged again and again. It's not a moral issue. It's just a technical requirement.
Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The idea that Google is going to turn around and start selling your information to third parties is just dumb. Google's business _is_ selling my information to third parties. Don't Apple have a better track record, and a more privacy oriented business model here?
> Google's business _is_ selling my information to third parties. No, Google's business is using your information as a tool to build products it sells to third parties. Actually selling your information, as such, would undermine that business. Google business is no more about selling your information to other people than a ferryman’s business is selling his boat. Your privacy against non-Google actors is Google's moa…
> No, Google's business is using your information as a tool to build products it sells to third parties.
Really? If we're going to be that pedantic, then it's probably more like " Google's business is using your information to build products it sells to third parties." They're not using my information as a tool, they're using my information (location, interests, browsing habits, searches) to sell a product (advertising). At that stage, they _are_ selling my data.