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When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

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Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? I don't enable notifications and it's fine, I've never had a problem. If you don't want notifications, why would you still want the website to send them?

Some websites will check whether you have notifications enabled and spawn an in-page pop up requesting access before they trigger the actual, native browser request. So ideally this would stop that from happening.

The best response to those websites is closing them and blocking them in your DNS blacklist to be honest. Either that, or full their newsletter subscription box with a million fake email addresses.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#112
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think GP is talking about eugenics? If anything, they're talking about natural selection which is not eugenics. Eugenics is when you select fitness at birth. GP would be endorsing genocide, or maybe epigenetics if anything, based on the small out of context comment. I highly doubt either was the intention and wonder how you got to the eugenics conclusion.

It's not natural selection if you help it.

[deleted]

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#113
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think GP is talking about eugenics? If anything, they're talking about natural selection which is not eugenics. Eugenics is when you select fitness at birth. GP would be endorsing genocide, or maybe epigenetics if anything, based on the small out of context comment. I highly doubt either was the intention and wonder how you got to the eugenics conclusion.

It's not natural selection if you help it.

>This seems like a learning opportunity. Or a Darwinian opportunity. Either way, self-solving.

I took either as meaning a learning opportunity for one or all of the 1) GPS app makers, 2) the person who blindly followed the directions of a robot, or 3) the rest of us who learn about the event.

What interpretation did you have that suggests they were referring to eugenics?

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#114
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think GP is talking about eugenics? If anything, they're talking about natural selection which is not eugenics. Eugenics is when you select fitness at birth. GP would be endorsing genocide, or maybe epigenetics if anything, based on the small out of context comment. I highly doubt either was the intention and wonder how you got to the eugenics conclusion.

It's not natural selection if you help it.

[deleted]

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#115

As an app developer I do not like this idea. You want to break the contract on what that permission is intended to be. ("Weather the Trip" road trip weather app for the U.S.)

As an app user, I want you as an app developer to have no control whatsoever over how I use your app and no way whatsoever to know if any data it gets from my device is real.

[deleted]

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#116
post #65

As an app developer I do not like this idea. You want to break the contract on what that permission is intended to be. ("Weather the Trip" road trip weather app for the U.S.)

As another app developer, I don't care. You aren't meant to request permissions you don't legitimately need for the app to function. Everyone understands that a map or weather app needs access to precise location, or that an app that takes pictures needs access to the camera. But games requesting storage or location or microphone or contacts, and refusing to run without these permissions? They should rightfully get w…

[deleted]

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#117

This will just make app developers angry at your platform. If this is just some hack users are doing apps will increasingly use attestation to make sure you are not feeding them fake data. Apps want to be able to give users a good user experience and if they are given fake data users will get angry that the developer's app is broken and leave 1 star reviews. Denying permissions and letting apps know something is deni…

Apps don't want to give users a good experience. Apps want to milk users for all the data they posses.

Denying permissions remains an option, but some digital trash will refuse to work unless you give them your address book and location history. Those apps deserve to be fed fake data.

Clicking the "feed fake data" button is an explicit alternative to denying permissions, it's not a replacement.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#118
post #65

As an app developer I do not like this idea. You want to break the contract on what that permission is intended to be. ("Weather the Trip" road trip weather app for the U.S.)

As another app developer, I don't care. You aren't meant to request permissions you don't legitimately need for the app to function. Everyone understands that a map or weather app needs access to precise location, or that an app that takes pictures needs access to the camera. But games requesting storage or location or microphone or contacts, and refusing to run without these permissions? They should rightfully get w…

GrapheneOS, at least, does make Internet access a permission you can turn off. It even goes one step further in that you can turn it off at install time. This is something that should be in stock Android.

For devices which don't have GrapheneOS installed but can be rooted, a firewall like AFWall+ is an option. It's not entirely as secure as just not granting the permission in the first place (I know of at least one way to bypass AFWall+, if an app is prepared for it), but it's still a good option.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#119
post #8

> When an app asks for permissions, the OS should not only let you answer yes or no. Every category should have a "yes, but feed the app fake data" option. A significant amount of people don’t even know how to forward an email. Imagine the havoc that would ensue when people try to use Google Maps for navigation, and they choose to feed it fake data because they don’t understand what it means. Google Maps: “Turn right…

Do a lot of people use Google Maps on iOS? I ask because the “feed fake data” option is something I could imagine Apple doing but never in a million years would I believe Google would do it. Apple Maps wouldn’t have this issue. It’s capable of running offline (without a data connection) because it can download maps to the device.

>Apple Maps wouldn’t have this issue. It’s capable of running offline (without a data connection) because it can download maps to the device.

This is a strange point to make considering that google maps had offline maps available forever now, and ios only added it in the recently released ios 17 beta.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don’t know of any streaming app that doesn’t also have a website that I can take screenshots (as well as full screen captures) on Your browser does not have DRM support which typically means you are not sent the full quality videos. And not all media apps have a website. Not every app that I am talking about are from massive companies that can support making apps and a website.

> Your browser does not have DRM support which typically means you are not sent the full quality videos To take this argument seriously I’d need you to provide some examples. I use some of the bis streaming services, and they all stream full high quality media to my laptop. Which are the ones that don’t? > And not all media apps have a website. Again, examples? Every streaming app that’s ever blocked me from taking a…

Netflix won’t send your browser high resolution video unless your browser supports Widevine. Typically it’ll restrict you to 480p iirc.
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