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What happens when your phone is spying on you

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Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#41

Post by TheRealDunkirk »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #28

I found this article very shallow. It covers only spyware that are installed when a device is physically compromised. I was hoping it would cover spy/malware that install remotely through many more infection vectors like clicking text messages. I guess NSO/Pegasus malware has this capability. I barely use any apps and would gladly settle for a flip phone... I value privacy more than the ability to order food through…

> I value privacy more than the ability to order food through my phone.

I know you didn't mean it like this, but I find it funny that it reads like we've abandoned the idea of calling a restaurant and just talking to a person to order takeaway.

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#42

Post by moremetadata »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #28

I found this article very shallow. It covers only spyware that are installed when a device is physically compromised. I was hoping it would cover spy/malware that install remotely through many more infection vectors like clicking text messages. I guess NSO/Pegasus malware has this capability. I barely use any apps and would gladly settle for a flip phone... I value privacy more than the ability to order food through…

[dead]

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#43

Post by sdiq »

charcircuit wrote: post #12

>They collect a range of sensitive information such as location, texts and calls, as well as audio and video. This sentence ruins the credibility of the article because Android doesn't let you do this. The camera, microphone, can only be used when an app is in the foreground. For location data being tracked in the background it will have a persistent notification telling the user that an app has your location. For an…

For one to use WhatsApp to make calls, for example, one would need to provide it with permission to view the call logs without making WhatsApp the default app for calling.

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#44

Post by sizzle »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #28

I found this article very shallow. It covers only spyware that are installed when a device is physically compromised. I was hoping it would cover spy/malware that install remotely through many more infection vectors like clicking text messages. I guess NSO/Pegasus malware has this capability. I barely use any apps and would gladly settle for a flip phone... I value privacy more than the ability to order food through…

You can read the whole paper shared by another HN user here:

https://petsymposium.org/popets/2023/popets-2023-0013.php

PDF Paper: https://petsymposium.org/popets/2023/popets-2023-0013.pdf

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#45

Post by walterbell »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #41
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #28

I found this article very shallow. It covers only spyware that are installed when a device is physically compromised. I was hoping it would cover spy/malware that install remotely through many more infection vectors like clicking text messages. I guess NSO/Pegasus malware has this capability. I barely use any apps and would gladly settle for a flip phone... I value privacy more than the ability to order food through…

> I value privacy more than the ability to order food through my phone. I know you didn't mean it like this, but I find it funny that it reads like we've abandoned the idea of calling a restaurant and just talking to a person to order takeaway.

> talking to a person to order takeaway

Also supports small business by saving them double-digit app fees!

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#46

Post by Liquix »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #28

I found this article very shallow. It covers only spyware that are installed when a device is physically compromised. I was hoping it would cover spy/malware that install remotely through many more infection vectors like clicking text messages. I guess NSO/Pegasus malware has this capability. I barely use any apps and would gladly settle for a flip phone... I value privacy more than the ability to order food through…

I was hoping it would raise the alarm regarding Google and Apple's overreaching, always-on data collection practices. 99% of people don't need to worry about an attacker gaining physical access to their unlocked device and installing an application. We as a society do need to worry about tech giants amassing enough data on us to gain an insurmountable AI-training-data advantage which makes them too useful as tools of the state to be regulated by said state.

The irony of pointing out how to spot a "spyware" app disguised as a WiFi icon when the dozen Big G apps pictured alongside are collecting the same data...

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#47

Post by tcbawo »

zw123456 wrote: post #34
px43 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Option 1: Sounds to me like physical access is most likely. Your friend, or someone who knows them saw the message on your phone because you left it unlocked somewhere, and added it that way. Option 2: Autocomplete randomly added some weird stuff to your message without you noticing it, and your friend took credit for it, because that's the kind of friend they are. Option 3: Your draft got synced to some other phone…

I have a Galaxy S21 5G with Android 13 I also changed my pin because I suspect he saw me entering it, but when this occurred he was at the other end of town so it would have had to have been some sort of remote access. I am thinking maybe phone link, which I had been using with my laptop, I disabled that. It was definitely not autocomplete because he said something that only he would have know regarding the message I…

Have you ever logged into messages.google.com?

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#48

Post by Jeremy1026 »

walterbell wrote: post #45
TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I value privacy more than the ability to order food through my phone. I know you didn't mean it like this, but I find it funny that it reads like we've abandoned the idea of calling a restaurant and just talking to a person to order takeaway.

> talking to a person to order takeaway Also supports small business by saving them double-digit app fees!

Not necessarily. The delivery apps set up proxy numbers to pass calls through, taking a lead fee. So you can't just search "sub shop near me" and call, as it might not be their actual phone number. Your best bet if you want to save the local place fees from the apps is walk in the first time, then call the number off the paper menu from then on.

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#49

Post by BiteCode_dev »

jabroni_salad wrote: post #33
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a good joke to be of either side on to me. No harm done.

to me this is an unacceptable boundary to cross. I would never be able to trust someone that does that.

Is it because the phone is very intimate to you, or because of the implications?

Re: What happens when your phone is spying on you

#50

Post by uoaei »

charcircuit wrote: post #29
uoaei wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The camera, microphone, can only be used when an app is in the foreground. This is not true. This may be partially true on the latest Android, but you can still set permissions to use e.g. GPS all the time, for things like weather or GPX recording apps. But it's also important to remember that the vast majority (easily 90%) of devices out there are running EoL'd Android versions, nevermind Android 12 and 13.

>you can still set permissions to use e.g. GPS all the time It requires you to manually go into the settings to grant this permission. And as I mentioned it has a persistent notification. This is a part of Android 11. >But it's also important to remember that the vast majority (easily 90%) of devices out there are running EoL'd Android versions This is unfortunate. If want to have a secure device it's important to be…

For many it is not a choice. See: large swaths of Asia and Africa, who largely only have access to second-hand or scrapped phones.

All I'm saying really is, please try to know more about the world outside of your immediate experience.

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