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Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

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Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#131

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

calhoun137 wrote: post #124

One reason to do this would be to discover what other apps the user has on their device which may not be detectable by other methods. That is valuable business intelligence that could be used in various ways for maintaining a competitive advantage. I got this idea from this reply: https://twitter.com/nial_26/status/1167464788667928576

Doubt it - if it's system libraries, I'd expect them to be immutable outside system updates.

I would expect them to potentially grab the list of apps separately from that though (Some Ad SDKs do that, not sure if Facebook also does it - https://www.androidauthority.com/sdk-invasion-a-privacy-thre...)

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#133

Post by mirimir »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #92
saagarjha wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm assuming, and haven't read anything to the contrary, that these are just dynamically linked code libraries what have been a pretty big part of how OSs work for decades. Yes, we're talking about the same thing. > Therefore, I can only conclude that the identifying information is which precises system libraries are installed on any given machine. Specifically, it provides very detailed information about your hard…

Ok, so let's say you've solved this problem tomorrow. You've just made it impossible for an application to know which OS version, security patch level, and hardware revision it is running on, meaning it can't do anything like dynamically adjust itself depending on features (or bugs) it will know are available or not. It also can't submit any of this in crash reports, so fixing bugs that occur in rare combinations of…

There are situations where different people use the same machine to access Facebook. And indeed, where they also (foolishly, I know) expect that Facebook will preserve mutual privacy. Partners. Parents and children. Siblings.

So Facebook, if it's relying on hardware/software fingerprinting, might compromise multiple users to each other.

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#135

Post by javagram »

Splognosticus wrote: post #97
thermonot wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> copying and uploading the libraries is actually illegal Is it through? If I'm uploading a library to virustotal to check if it's a known piece of malware, am I breaking the law if it was clean?

I seem to remember a case where files were being uploaded to a server where they were only retained in memory and that qualified as a copyright violation, but I'm having trouble actually finding it.

There’s a good discussion of the legality of RAM copies here http://digital-law-online.info/lpdi1.0/treatise20.html

Note that there is an exception for such a copy when it’s necessary to run the program, I believe this exemption was added because otherwise running an executable on a personal computer would have been a copyright violation.

https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html

> a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy.— Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:

> (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or

> (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#136

Post by aloknnikhil »

KorematsuFred wrote: post #132

MISLEADING HEADLINE : Facebook is only copying meta data about the libraries. THIS is a good thing.

No it's not. They're compressing the libraries and sending them all upstream. They're also eating into data caps (probably they're doing this only over Wi-Fi) let alone flouting all kinds of copyright laws

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#137

Post by vvG94KbDUtRa »

calhoun137 wrote: post #124

One reason to do this would be to discover what other apps the user has on their device which may not be detectable by other methods. That is valuable business intelligence that could be used in various ways for maintaining a competitive advantage. I got this idea from this reply: https://twitter.com/nial_26/status/1167464788667928576

Android trivially gives you all the apps on a phone just by asking

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#138

Post by godelski »

bound008 wrote: post #129
godelski wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it happens in small steps. (I'm talking extreme end here, btw). Someone doesn't turn to high crimes overnight nor are they (usually) born that way. You start of making smaller immoral decisions which then become normal. You essentially move the bar a little more and more. People sleep at night frankly because they no longer think that these things are immoral. That's why there's plenty of sayings along the li…

Which episode? I can’t manage to find it.

I'm sorry I can't find it either. Maybe it was a different podcast. I'm trying to think of other podcasts. I don't think it was RadioLab. Could have been another NPR show but I can't think which one would address this issue. HB seems like the best fit. I can bound the date of when I listened to it. Was definitely between 2018 and 2015. My intuition says 2017, because that was the height of my podcast listening. The time is probably why I can't remember in high detail.

Basically the story I remember is that there was a sports athlete that was in the lower ranks and then got a prescription, that they actually needed, that also improved their performance. Then I think it got banned? So they start buying it from another country like China or something. They then started buying in bulk because it was cheaper. Their friends started asking for some because he was getting it for cheap and he didn't think anything of it because he was just helping them save money too. They're his friends after all and he was already buying the stuff. So what difference did it make if he just ordered a little more? Then it started being friends of friends. Before he knew it he was selling tons of this stuff and to people he had no real previous knowledge of.

I now really want to listen to it again so if someone can help find it let me know. I think they might have also talked about Lance (I'm not sure if they interviewed him or that's another podcast I'm thinking of).

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#139

Post by funkymike »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #54
annadane wrote: post #39

How does the internal culture at FB come to grips with the world's vision of them as creepy and amoral and still do stuff like this anyway?

That culture has been built up over years. And probably most of the people they hire don't have the life experiences that would give them pause and allow them to consider or even recognize if what they're tasked to do is creepy or not.

Not at FB but just doing enterprise software development I've had to explain to other developers that capturing and storing user info just because we can is in the "not okay" category. There are plenty of people who don't even consider ethics at work. They get a feature request, so they deliver it, with no second thoughts. These aren't bad people per se, it just doesn't occur to them to question the reasons for a request or what the end result is within a larger context.

Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server

#140

Post by longcommonname »

ProAm wrote: post #57
lkhhj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None, libraries are readable by any process, as they should.

Reading yes, executing yes, reading for the sole purpose to upload to a remote server?.... barf and egregious

How would you enforce your ideal scenario?
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