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iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

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Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#191
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android is a spyware operating system filled with first party spyware apps developed by Google.

Privacy in a classic sense has died the moment when we replaced paper with electronics.

A picture on a TV screen didn’t use to spy on you...

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#192
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my perspective it seems like Apple keeps releasing new privacy features and Android keeps being forced to catch up. What are the major privacy enhancements that Google has put out first?

Android blocked background clipboard access in 2019.

Here's a source confirming that: https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/03/14/android-q-will-kill...

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#193
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Homebrew software and hacks aren't feasible solutions for the general population. You can't expect a tech-illiterate person to put up with all of that to protect their right to privacy. Like it or not, solutions like Apples' are much more efficient at protecting 1 billion (exaggeration) people at once.

Not just illiterate. How many people here have the time or desire to inspect every app they use? It's a ridiculous proposition. We all have better things to do.

Obviously the onus isn't on every single user to single handedly verify themselves that the software is correct. Do you check your government's finances yourself? So why should they even publish it? By your logic, that is.

The answer is that if it's open then multiple people with differing interests, such as competitors, or even independent organisations such as non-profit auditors, can check the code.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#194
post #103
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In order to know when you should enable the paste option. It can be an elegant design choice, but also a design choice that appears to be or is an abuse of privacy.

> It can be an elegant design choice, but also a design choice that appears to be or is an abuse of privacy. For decades, all programs running on your computer had access to the clipboard. A primary intended purpose of the clipboard is precisely to share information between different programs. Maybe it is in fact a security issue that should be rethought, but calling it an abuse of privacy seems extreme.

> calling it an abuse of privacy seems extreme.

Absolutely not, this was a terrible decision to begin with. Users copy sensitive things to the clipboard all the time.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#195
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

I hate how our options are "Choose apple and blindly trust them" or "Chose android an see in the open that your data is being abused"

You forgot option 3: use Lineage+microg and enjoy the most private and secure platform available on a smartphone today. But if you chose the first one then you can't, because apple won't let you choose the software that runs on the equipment you bought.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#196

It seems like a ton of apps are abusing this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSWdtoUAjo I categorize this as another reason why "just trust us," just isn't acceptable enough when it comes to data privacy and ownership. Companies just cannot be trusted to treat their users' data with respect given the option of: profit or privacy. (sourced from reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/hejb9i/ios14_cat…

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

It’s nice if you’re coming from something like windows where everything is closed and often maintained by an organization.

Coming from GNU/Linux where most things are open and community maintained it’s definitely a step backwards.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#197
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android is a spyware operating system filled with first party spyware apps developed by Google.

As opposed to apple which isn't because... apple says so.

No, because Apple makes money on subscriptions and retail purchases not on aggregating and reselling the data for advertisers.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#198
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it that much to ask that you find the least offensive way to serve your user? Up until now there’s been no way the user has been offended because they haven’t known it’s happening. So there’s no real incentive to do it when you focus on a text field vs anything else. And more broadly, there isn’t a downside if you use the API honestly: e.g. to check for a numeric code that matches whatever regex for one of your…

"The OS snitching on us and then annoying the user" is an interesting definition of "offensive", but definitely not the one I meant. Let me put it another way: if you put the appropriate amount of effort into asking "what's the robust, minimally invasive, least-likely to be misinterpreted and/or abused, way for me to accomplish this?" you are likely to create a better product and less likely to have something like th…

Well yes, you've just invented an outrageous scenario then talked about how outrageous it is. You asked:

"Is it that much to ask that you find the least offensive way to serve your user?"

So, suppose UPS is not doing anything that you've just described. Say they are regexing for UPS numbers only. How would that be considered offensive?

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#199
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need an answer from TikTok not Apollo.

Of course. The point is there are legit reasons for this to happen.

Sure, and the counterpoint is that those legit reasons are not worth the breach of privacy. The average user is horrified when they learn this happens, and "just trusting the developer to not abuse your clipboard" isn't an acceptable security model.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#200
post #58
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

Homebrew software and hacks aren't feasible solutions for the general population. You can't expect a tech-illiterate person to put up with all of that to protect their right to privacy. Like it or not, solutions like Apples' are much more efficient at protecting 1 billion (exaggeration) people at once.

That's like saying that freedom of speech should be banned because most people have nothing to say. User rights needs to be there for the people who need it. The iPhone is currently a black box where it's very hard to know what is happening in it, that's a big issue in terms of privacy and accountability of the platform, not to mention the anti-competitive behaviours.
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