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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)

#171

Post by hurxnid »

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.

Yes I had some 555’s for almost 18 years of DAILY use and abuse and the band up top eventually broke. I could replace it if parts weren’t more than a new pair.

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

#172

Post by mandelbrotwurst »

monksy wrote: post #167

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…

Geez, that's brutal. I'm glad I'm seeing this....it never crossed my mind that this sort of thing would be something that might get built into headphones.

If I want to avoid this sort of thing, I'm thinking / hoping it's sufficient to simply avoid headphones that require an app.

Does that seem right?

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

#173

Post by neiman »

If I had the resources, I would establish an organization for privacy badges for products. From "absolutely anonymous", through "necessary violations of privacy for function" till "unnecessary harvesting of data".

Till such an organization for handing out badges will exist, it will be a hard task to buy any hardware and being able to trust its privacy.

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

#174

Post by jakub_g »

neiman wrote: post #173

If I had the resources, I would establish an organization for privacy badges for products. From "absolutely anonymous", through "necessary violations of privacy for function" till "unnecessary harvesting of data". Till such an organization for handing out badges will exist, it will be a hard task to buy any hardware and being able to trust its privacy.

~ https://tosdr.org/

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

#175

Post by egypturnash »

bitwize wrote: post #132
Shalle135 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the app you can also change the cancellation level, they’re pretty isolated even with the feature powered off entirely but it helps out in some situations.

My Boses allow you to set the cancellation level with a button press. It cycles through three options: high, low, and off. Does the app enable more fine-grained control or something? Perhaps per-ear cancellation settings?

My QC35s don't have that button. It's only available in the app, and there is no fine-grained control or anything - just high/low/off.

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

#176

Post by fffernan »

I'm wondering if someone could file HIPAA complaint at them and get these things classified as Medical Devices and shut this sharing of bio data down. A simple opt-out doesn't fly with HIPAA. It requires a signature that you will allow another person to access your medical records.

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

#177

Post by monksy »

mandelbrotwurst wrote: post #172
monksy wrote: post #167

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…

Geez, that's brutal. I'm glad I'm seeing this....it never crossed my mind that this sort of thing would be something that might get built into headphones. If I want to avoid this sort of thing, I'm thinking / hoping it's sufficient to simply avoid headphones that require an app. Does that seem right?

I mean you can't really avoid it. It's pushed on to you and theres no clear understanding about how tied the headphones are until you buy it.

The WH-1000MX are very good headphones, but sony gonna shit the bed. (PSN anyone)

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

#179

Post by joshvm »

qppo wrote: post #126
t0mmyb0y wrote: post #28

Why in the world would anyone need headphones that need personal info?

I don't know if this counts and I haven't seen it outside of research projects, but 3D spatialization (that's worth a damn) basically requires it be tuned for the user's particular head geometry.

The top end Sony headphones actually ask for a photo of your ears to do exactly this. It's only for use with the fancy spatially aware apps - pretty much only Deezer does this at the moment?

I signed up for a free trial (and I did send a photo of my ears), but I couldn't tell the difference and the HD library was so small it didn't seem worth paying monthly for it.

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

#180

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

arendtio wrote: post #165
atoav wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 produ…

I wonder if wireless ones can be hijacked and requested to produce and ultra loud pulse to damage hearing. I suppose that's possible with wired ones buy I guess you'd need to broadcast plenty of energy for them to pick up, which makes it impractical, whereas with wireless ones you just need to get control of the signal. I'm guessing though.
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