Say what you will about Google, they're really good at PR. They and Facebook share the most indefensible tech business model in today's political climate (at least in the west), but Google does such a better job of obscuring and re-framing that fact than Facebook does.
Google Fights Back
131–140 of 475 posts
Re: Google Fights Back
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google is already not Google. The "Don't Be Evil" corporation that valued open source rather than open-washing, that valued openstandards over "oops, we didn't mean to break that for you!" isn't here anymore. The company that bends over backwards, much farther than the law requires, to enable the surveillance state. I despise Apple. Especially on mobile. No SDCards, no headphone jack, walled garden app stores. Ugh ug…
I fully switched from Android to iOS when iPhone X came out in November 2017. I realised in the next months that the perceived "freedom to tinker" on Android is something hugely overrated. I could achieve almost everything I wanted on my iPhone -- it just took a bit of time to find the proper apps. Later Apple added the Shortcuts which is a very solid automation app. Many Android users also lament the lack of a visib…
I agree, I made the switch a few years ago when I couldn't find a single good Android phone that wasn't huge (and yes, I tried the Sony Z3 Compact, it had way too many issues). The iPhone SE had just come out with flagship specs and one of the best cameras on the market, so I made the jump. It was painful for a while but now I'm sure I'd feel the same pain switching back.
My main complaint about iOS is text entry. Both the keyboard and voice input are incredibly bad compared to Android, even compared to Android of 3 years ago. I still struggle to type accurately or voicetype without having to make a ton of corrections. And there are better 3rd party keyboards (including GBoard) but they tend to be slow and awkward due to iOS limitations, plus then you lose voice typing completely which is not acceptable to me. If I could have an iPhone with the native Android keyboard and voice typing I'd be super happy.
Re: Google Fights Back
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
It _is_ encrypted, Apple cannot see it. The parent comment is mistaken
Yea, it's interesting how many comments are flat out wrong or can't seem to differentiate between what Google does now ...vs what might happen with Apple in the future.
If you think that I am flat out wrong then please provide evidence. In this particular case it is you and Dig1t who are flat out wrong if you claim that Apple cannot see the iCloud data I specifically listed.
Also, I didn't say anything about what Apple might or might not do in the future. I made a distinction between worries about ad targeting and security issues that come with storing data in the cloud without end-to-end encryption.
Re: Google Fights Back
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope not :( From your HN comments, it feels like the world would be a poorer and darker place without you in it. People like you make a life worth living and a long one worth striving for. If we all take care of our health (with a little chemical help along the way) maybe we’ll all get to see what’s next together? :)
Thanks for the kind words. My family history a pretty high risk of stroke, heart attacks, cancer, etc. but I would be open to defying the odds, if that’s going to happen.
Modern interventions like nicotinamide riboside and caloric restriction have evidence behind them and work. There are communities dedicated to this. There’s an entire world of people (and quacks) out there who can help along with your doctor. It’s worth a shot.
Re: Google Fights Back
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And i don't believe for a second the data they're allowing you to "autodelete" genuinely gets deleted. It just gets removed from your view. While "deleted" might take a while (eventual consistency FTW), any company with a presence in the EU has a lot to lose if such a scheme (beyond what they declare, eg. "31 days to recover your account") ever sees the light of day.
Legal action requires you to be able to prove they still hold the data. If they only use it for something where other factors affect the outcome (ad targeting, etc) they can still keep your data forever while hiding behind plausible deniability the other factors provide them (from outside, there’s no way to prove that a particular ad was served to you because of your data instead of another factor they use as input f…
> from outside, there’s no way to prove that a particular ad was served to you because of your data instead of another factor they use as input for the algorithm
Create an account, use it to excessively look for tea pots until you predominantly get ads for tea pots. Store the cookie[0] that encodes your user id. Delete the account.
After the advertised account retention period, try the cookie again in an otherwise squeaky clean session that gives random ads without the cookie:
Tea pots? Something survived.
No tea pots? No targetting.
(and yes, the onus to demonstrate your accusation well enough to convince a DPA is on you, IMHO as it should be)
[0] or whatever bits of data are necessary: try to recreate the tea-pot session after a logout without logging in officially to determine what's necessary.
Re: Google Fights Back
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
You mean the fines that the board of directors writes off as a cost of business and they never change policy due to them? Those fines?
Not changing policy means escalating fines (those 4% of global revenue maximum are nothing to sneeze at, and so far compliance was the cheaper route) but also, at some point, the inability to operate in the EU. Even if a company only does the bare minimum required under GDPR, total deletion of data on request is part of that.
But these more severe measures are either 5-10 years away, or never going to happen at all (the latter part is my assumption, not claiming it as a fact).
IMO the corporate board of directors will coast on the situation for as long as possible and only then will we see some changes, don't you agree?
Re: Google Fights Back
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google is already not Google. The "Don't Be Evil" corporation that valued open source rather than open-washing, that valued openstandards over "oops, we didn't mean to break that for you!" isn't here anymore. The company that bends over backwards, much farther than the law requires, to enable the surveillance state. I despise Apple. Especially on mobile. No SDCards, no headphone jack, walled garden app stores. Ugh ug…
> And i don't believe for a second the data they're allowing you to "autodelete" genuinely gets deleted. It just gets removed from your view. While "deleted" might take a while (eventual consistency FTW), any company with a presence in the EU has a lot to lose if such a scheme (beyond what they declare, eg. "31 days to recover your account") ever sees the light of day.
As someone impacted by the GDPR (AAA Game Studio, and all player stats / multiplayer matches getting impacted), backups are exempted:
"The GDPR is open to interpretation, so we asked an EU Member State supervisory authority (CNIL in France) for clarification. CNIL confirmed that you’ll have one month to answer to a removal request, and that you don’t need to delete a backup set in order to remove an individual from it. Organizations will have to clearly explain to the data subject (using clear and plain language) that his or her personal data has been removed from production systems, but a backup copy may remain, but will expire after a certain amount of time (indicate the retention time in your communication with the data subject). Backups should only be used for restoring a technical environment, and data subject personal data should not be processed again after restore (and deleted again). While this adds some complexity, it allows organizations to have some time to re-engineer their data protection processes." https://blog.quantum.com/backup-administrators-the-1-advice-...
You are absolutely correct that following the intent of the GDPR (we don't have access to the user data once they file the request) is of utmost importance. But the prior poster is correct that the data still exists.
Edit: All opinions my own and not that of my employer, etc. etc.
Re: Google Fights Back
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
I fully switched from Android to iOS when iPhone X came out in November 2017. I realised in the next months that the perceived "freedom to tinker" on Android is something hugely overrated. I could achieve almost everything I wanted on my iPhone -- it just took a bit of time to find the proper apps. Later Apple added the Shortcuts which is a very solid automation app. Many Android users also lament the lack of a visib…
I agree, I made the switch a few years ago when I couldn't find a single good Android phone that wasn't huge (and yes, I tried the Sony Z3 Compact, it had way too many issues). The iPhone SE had just come out with flagship specs and one of the best cameras on the market, so I made the jump. It was painful for a while but now I'm sure I'd feel the same pain switching back. My main complaint about iOS is text entry. Bo…
Oh I agree on the text input completely. Google's keyboard on Android is like a mind reader when you do swipe/gesture typing. If there's one thing I miss dearly in Android to this day it's exactly that.
Re: Google Fights Back
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
I fully switched from Android to iOS when iPhone X came out in November 2017. I realised in the next months that the perceived "freedom to tinker" on Android is something hugely overrated. I could achieve almost everything I wanted on my iPhone -- it just took a bit of time to find the proper apps. Later Apple added the Shortcuts which is a very solid automation app. Many Android users also lament the lack of a visib…
>Many Android users also lament the lack of a visible filesystem but that's a huge plus in my eyes That's awful in my eyes. What's more is my inability to browse that file system without a third party application when i want to simply move files to my computer. The only reason I'm even contemplating the move to iOS, is b/c I have a android based, digital audio player that has 2 SDcard slots that I keep disconnected f…
Android 9 has a native FS browser.
Re: Google Fights Back
#140Google owns my soul. Their boxes know when I sleep, when I wake, how much I exercise, what I listen to, my innermost thoughts, my chats with loved ones, what I watched on Netflix last night, what my company does, the flu I have at the moment, what the hypochondriac in me looks up in the middle of the night, what I buy, whom I call, what I spend money on, where I spend it... I nominally pay for these services, but I s…
I'm comfortable with what Google knows about me, and I'm very willing to give them all this information for the technology and convenience they provide. Apple's AI isn't competitive at this time.