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Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

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Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#161

Post by glenstein »

zelly wrote: post #150
mixmastamyk wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One user is worthless, a few pennies. A million and things get interesting.

Say I have a database full of metrics, user agents, IPs, GPS, names, addresses, photos, etc. on a million users, who would I call to sell it? Genuinely curious.

Here's a list of approximately a hundred companies that acquire and sell data in various ways, some of whom would plausibly be interested in your hypothetical trove of data:

https://konsole.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217592967-Thir...

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#162

Post by myself248 »

secondcoming wrote: post #140
tdons wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I (and many other engineers I know) do this too, and for a good reason. It's a simple system. Same reason I don't use WiFi at home but ethernet: it's simple.

You have LAN ports in your bathroom?

One port, singular -- there's not enough knee real estate for multiple devices.

Open the laundry chute, it's in there along with a Thinkpad brick, both wired up from the basement. Ends have magnets that captivate them to the chute door for safe keeping.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#163

Post by vifon »

zelly wrote: post #150
mixmastamyk wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One user is worthless, a few pennies. A million and things get interesting.

Say I have a database full of metrics, user agents, IPs, GPS, names, addresses, photos, etc. on a million users, who would I call to sell it? Genuinely curious.

You don't call them, they call you.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#164

Post by La1n »

renewiltord wrote: post #120
saurik wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They care. It exudes as a cynicism about the world and continual jokes about talking to the FBI agent assigned to watch them. They (as are we) are just powerless to prevent it as every single service and every single platform and apparently every single product is collecting data on us. And since the value of services and platforms and, sadly, even products goes up as more people are using them, the arguments of "don…

That sounds like you do have a choice: spend more money. In a world where this wasn't allowed, presumably you'd be forced to spend more money. So you can inhabit that world right now if you want.

>That sounds like you do have a choice: spend more money.

This is not an option for everyone. Don't poor people deserve privacy too?

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#165

Post by arendtio »

atoav wrote: post #139
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will last longer and thus be be better for the environment This isn’t necessarily true. My wireless headphones have been with me for years. My wired earbuds are cheap enough that I can lose or damage them without care. The former are far better for the environment.

My Sennheiser HD25 have been with me for 10 years and I stepped on them, dropped them used them outside in the rain, in sub zero degrees and three times a week while jogging. 10 years of that is a heavy thing to survive. In fact I know hardly any object that would have survived this long.

My Sennheiser RS180 died a few month ago after about 8 years or so. They had normal rechargeable batteries, but it seems it was something else that broke down (the batteries got replaced a few times).

For my Sennheiser MB 660 I just replaced the ear cushions after about 3 years, but I am still 'worried' that some day the built-in battery will give up. Not because I can't afford new ones, but because I hate if a product dies due to an old battery.

I own a few wired headphones/headsets, but there is none I used as much as my RS180 and when I think about it, I doubt that the cable would have survived the usage. Actually, I had to repair one of the wired headset once. The MB 660 can be used with a (removable) cable, but I use it only on airplanes or when the device I want to use has neither USB (dongle) nor Bluetooth.

While I am privacy savvy person, my bigger concern is about health. Having an active unit all day in such proximity to my brain, makes me wonder if they are actually that safe to use.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#166

Post by godelski »

eigenvector wrote: post #47
unethical_ban wrote: post #21

Re: Personal fitness and menstruation history - Is that shocking? They're earbuds, but they're marketed as fitness buds that track personal data. It looks like Fitbit for your ears. Fitbit and Apple Health (or whatever it is called) does these kinds of things as well. Re: Bose collecting all that stuff I can see "why" they would want all that, in order to optimize their sound output of their buds to the kind of music…

Ordinarily when you pay $350 for headphones it is assumed that the vendor has already invested money in doing R&D to make them work properly and isn't planning to do testing on you without telling you or compensating you for it, to enable the functionality you already paid for. I bought headphones, I did not sign up for a research project. We went from paying for software to getting it for free in return for our data…

> ow we're apparently giving over our data even for physical devices that we pay top dollar for.

This is the thing that really bugs me. I don't like the user is the product aspect but I can at least understand it in a free setting. In a high case luxury setting where you aren't even getting a discount? That's just absurd. All they've done is increase their bottom end, give you no choice and no discount.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#167

Post by monksy »

The article should have buried sony for how egregious they are. They require the app to collect location information, and ear. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00233341 I'm not sure what else they collect.. but those are the 2 bad ones.

They've got a few settings that are software controlled (one being the bluetooth's internal volume) What happens if you get a software update and you open the app on a plane without wifi? You can't use it because it requires the internet to get the latest _required tos_ to use your headphones. You can't proceed further without being forced into an agreement. Clicking "don't accept" pushes you back to the tos screen.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#168

Post by jacquesm »

rightbyte wrote: post #74
jacquesm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do the opposite of noise cancellation too: determine the back emf from the speaker compared to the audio input, that will give you the audio in the room. So you can use the same circuit both to drive the speaker and use it as a microphone. As good as undetectable until you trace the circuitry of what looks like an ordinary amplifier. The difference is on the order of a few mV but that's more than enough. My p…

If you have noise cancelling there is allready mics right?

In this particular scenario there wouldn't be.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#169

Post by arendtio »

gambiting wrote: post #142
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will last longer and thus be be better for the environment This isn’t necessarily true. My wireless headphones have been with me for years. My wired earbuds are cheap enough that I can lose or damage them without care. The former are far better for the environment.

The problem is that your wired headphones might break if you're not careful, but if you don't then they will work essentially forever. Your wireless headphones on the other hand will break at some point because the tiny lithium battery inside them will eventually stop holding charge. It's not a question of if but when.

I am aware that most wireless headphones use built-in batteries nowadays, but strictly speaking, your argument doesn't relate to wireless headphones, but to products with non-replaceable batteries.

The Sennheiser RS180, for example, had rechargeable and replaceable batteries inside. Ironically, mine died a few months ago, but I am still not sure what the cause was.

Re: Headphones are collecting too much personal data (2019)

#170

Post by z3t4 »

secondcoming wrote: post #140
tdons wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I (and many other engineers I know) do this too, and for a good reason. It's a simple system. Same reason I don't use WiFi at home but ethernet: it's simple.

You have LAN ports in your bathroom?

Its good to take a pause from the screen now and then, for example when you go to the toilet.
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