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Tracking my phone's silent connections

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Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#71

Post by SubiculumCode »

kop316 wrote: post #55
api wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried no root firewall and found that Google groups literally everything under a kitchen sink service that talks to blind IPs with SSL. There is no way to allow Maps without inviting Google to share your bed with you.

I think you misunderstand me. What I mean is you wipe the phone, reinstall either AOSP or LineageOS (or other custom ROM), do NOT install any Google Apps (to include Google Play Services, Google Store, Google Maps, etc.). Use F-Droid ( https://f-droid.org/ ) as your App Store. I have been using OsmAnd ( https://osmand.net/ ) as my map service.

Im annoyed how much cheaper phones cant be rooted

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#72

Post by jlokier »

filleduchaos wrote: post #67
kop316 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misunderstand me. What I mean is you wipe the phone, reinstall either AOSP or LineageOS (or other custom ROM), do NOT install any Google Apps (to include Google Play Services, Google Store, Google Maps, etc.). Use F-Droid ( https://f-droid.org/ ) as your App Store. I have been using OsmAnd ( https://osmand.net/ ) as my map service.

It's a bit annoying though how much a first-world-only solution this is. OpenStreetMaps was completely useless for my city/country the last five times I tried to use it.

I think you may be in the first world on this one.

I saw a very interesting talk last year about how Google Maps is often useless in third world areas, and OpenStreetMaps provides the only useful coverage.

It's due to armies of volunteers mapping an area during disasters, while Google has no economic interest in mapping the area.

https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2018-157-how-the-internet-has-chan...

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#73

Post by throwawaymath »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #64
throwawaymath wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With regard to your last paragraph: that would probably be an excellent application of Ben Thompson's aggregation theory. It would increase Apple and Google's moat by making them the hardware gatekeeper for all mobile app analytics. And battery life is also a strong cover for the business reasons for doing it. But the public claim, "it saves battery life!" would not make it defensible for most analytics companies, in…

How would it burn anything to the ground? What would a revolt of 3rd party analytics providers even look like, and why would Google or Apple care?

I think it would at least create a lot of hostility between Google/Apple, the developer ecosystem and the analytics industry. Third party analytics companies could have their lunch eaten entirely because Google/Apple have greater resources than them and would know how to obviate them using their own infrastructure. I could see very expensive lawsuits being brought against Google/Apple for doing this, or increased pressure for third party app stores or nontraditional app distribution channels.

In the short term you're probably right, nothing would "burn" except a lot of developer good will. But in the long term it'd be a great way to get many different parties thinking hard about how to get off your platform or replace you.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#74

Post by hueving »

throwawaymath wrote: post #57
lbacaj wrote: post #35

To clarify, outside of the CDN providers or AWS calls and the big 3 (Facebook, Google, Apple), the vast majority of the calls seem to be to marketing providers or developer tools Branch - these guys provide deep links into phones and tools to analyze who clicked on the links and if they worked. mParticle, Appsflyer, Braze formerly Appboy, Appboy all provide internal app marketing teams tools like mobile push or analy…

With regard to your last paragraph: that would probably be an excellent application of Ben Thompson's aggregation theory. It would increase Apple and Google's moat by making them the hardware gatekeeper for all mobile app analytics. And battery life is also a strong cover for the business reasons for doing it. But the public claim, "it saves battery life!" would not make it defensible for most analytics companies, in…

>think the largest third party analytics providers would revolt

Would anyone care? I don't think a game company is going to refuse to publish on iTunes or Google Play because some tool they use for analytics stops working.

Nothing against analytics companies, but they just aren't a relevant party in Apple's (or Google's) ecosystem.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#75

Post by callalex »

chewz wrote: post #62
fisian wrote: post #31

In my home network I use a hosts file to block unwanted tracking. I use a file from this [1] project, which makes it easy to filter out the type of content you don't want. The nice thing about this is that it blocks requests from any device in my network, especially from those which cannot be configured with a firewall or adblocker. [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts

What's the point? The moment you leave your home network your data would be sent wherever it belongs anyway..

Under ideal conditions my “smart” tv, internet connected game console, internet connected air filter, etc will never leave my home. At least not u til I get around to documenting them for renters insurance.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#76

Post by mrb »

jlokier wrote: post #72
filleduchaos wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit annoying though how much a first-world-only solution this is. OpenStreetMaps was completely useless for my city/country the last five times I tried to use it.

I think you may be in the first world on this one. I saw a very interesting talk last year about how Google Maps is often useless in third world areas, and OpenStreetMaps provides the only useful coverage. It's due to armies of volunteers mapping an area during disasters, while Google has no economic interest in mapping the area. https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2018-157-how-the-internet-has-chan...

"Google has no economic interest in mapping the area"

Google has an economic interest in mapping anything as long as it's useful to some people. Google is playing a very long term game: provide free services online (Email, Maps, Search...) to entice more and more people to go online. The more Internet users there are in the world, the higher their ad revenues are. It's that simple.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#77

Post by tkjef »

kop316 wrote: post #55
api wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried no root firewall and found that Google groups literally everything under a kitchen sink service that talks to blind IPs with SSL. There is no way to allow Maps without inviting Google to share your bed with you.

I think you misunderstand me. What I mean is you wipe the phone, reinstall either AOSP or LineageOS (or other custom ROM), do NOT install any Google Apps (to include Google Play Services, Google Store, Google Maps, etc.). Use F-Droid ( https://f-droid.org/ ) as your App Store. I have been using OsmAnd ( https://osmand.net/ ) as my map service.

also using OsmAnd but just on android with Tor & NoRoot Firewall. takes a second to load the route. but allows you to download the maps and use offline. always have Play Store disabled unless there's an app i have to download briefly. once done, i uninstall the app and disable the Play Store.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#78

Post by rhizome »

throwawaymath wrote: post #73
throwaway2048 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would it burn anything to the ground? What would a revolt of 3rd party analytics providers even look like, and why would Google or Apple care?

I think it would at least create a lot of hostility between Google/Apple, the developer ecosystem and the analytics industry. Third party analytics companies could have their lunch eaten entirely because Google/Apple have greater resources than them and would know how to obviate them using their own infrastructure. I could see very expensive lawsuits being brought against Google/Apple for doing this, or increased pre…

I think it would at least create a lot of hostility between Google/Apple, the developer ecosystem and the analytics industry.

Twitter wiped out dev support even more completely than is suggested here, and it hasn't really hurt them aside from some persistent grumbles.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#79

Post by mirimir »

Whenever I read stuff like this, I'm reminded how user-hostile Android and iOS are. Even compared to Windows. Or at least, to Windows XP and 7.

Not that many years ago, I had imagined that microcomputers and cellphones would merge. But I was expecting something like Linux. Or at worst, like Windows.

And it clearly didn't work out that way. We have smartphones that are never really owned by users. They run apps that have more rights than they do. With no practical way to change that.

It's sad, because I can't have a smartphone that I can trust. But so it goes.

Re: Tracking my phone's silent connections

#80

Post by captn3m0 »

HenryBemis wrote: post #21

Regarding iOS: I stopped using iPhones and (edit typo) quot the ecosystem altogether (apart from an app I still sell in apple app store) because with the lack of an untethered Jailbreak I could no longer install "Firewall IP" and I could not edit the hosts file. Regarding Android: I switched to Android for the "NoRoot Firewall" and since most Android phones are Root-able I can also edit my hosts file. The article giv…

DNSCloak on iOS supports this now.
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