221–230 of 327 posts
I never thought about the idea that an app can track when I leave my (most frequently) used WiFi and derive from that I left home.
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Why does apple get to decide which app gets automatic access to my private data, on my device, without needing to ask me?
I've asked similar questions before and am usually told that this is how Apple does things and it's what makes their users happy. It's in fact why they love and choose Apple. They trust Apple to make the right decisions, and this is in fact a big part of the value add of their products. This is much related to the walled garden approach. For example, ask about why sideloading should remain not an option at all, rathe…
I can see the appeal if you don't particularly care about owning a device, but it blows my mind that people become so dedicated to this way of living.
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Centralized superapps seem incredibly dangerous to privacy, given that the limited mobile privacy models are designed around per-app permissions. 1. Create app that does 1 thing 2. Add more features to app 3. Abuse superset of permissions 4. Gov leans on app owner 5. Gov abuses superset of permissions
No, I more than 100% agree, I am just staing that most people just dont realize just how deeply entangled the mobile is to Asian life. I wasn't praising it, I am horrified, but also in awe by it.
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That doesn’t mean seeing an SSID means you are at exactly that location. If you are in a city you see 50 SSIDs at any given moment. Are you at those 50 locations at the same time? No. Is there a way to triangulate where you are exactly? No, its unreliable and not an exact science.
you're all over these comments trying to convince everyone that SSIDs can't be used to determine location, yet you don't know how triangulation works? are you trolling?
They're not tracking locations because they're not using GPS. They are checking the environment for stuff that might have known locations, which is different. You can do the same with bluetooth/BLE.
How? By searching it in https://wigle.net.
That ended the debate quite swiftly.
Reading through the linked docs, this API seems to specifically be for apps created by owners of WiFi hotspots to help users connect to those hotspots ( https://developer.apple.com/documentation/networkextension/h... ). > NEHotspotHelper allows your app to participate in the process of authenticating with hotspot networks, that is, Wi-Fi networks where the user must interact with the network to gain access to the wid…
Its a more basic question to me, why do these apps need a special entitlement? Couldn't they ask users for permissions like any other app, presumably with a good reason to go along with it since location is needed for some features?
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I've asked similar questions before and am usually told that this is how Apple does things and it's what makes their users happy. It's in fact why they love and choose Apple. They trust Apple to make the right decisions, and this is in fact a big part of the value add of their products. This is much related to the walled garden approach. For example, ask about why sideloading should remain not an option at all, rathe…
I have to agree with this sentiment, I read it here on HN 'power' users more than once. Although most Apple users have no clue about what we discuss here, the part about actively wanting it is simply not true en masse. Needless to say that's not for me and I will probably keep sporting Androids (in my case I am happy with Samsung's top ultra offerings) since I actually use those added features, ie saving 500 bucks on…
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Most entitlements though trigger a privacy prompt to allow the user to disable the functionality. Without writing a test app, I don't know that this is the case with this entitlement. I think it should ask the user's permission.
Keep in mind that in a corporate context, not asking the user for permission or explaining what/why you are doing something is the (sociopathic imo, but nevertheless) norm . To the degree you do disclose something like that it is inevitably hidden away or obfuscated by being put somewhere in the UX that no one ever really goes. Like seriously. I had the argument before; Architect: we're going to fingerprint users. Me…
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Certain apps have always gotten special treatment. If it’s big enough to mess with phone sales they’re allowed nonsense a normal dev would be permanently banned for. Ex: all the stuff FB has been caught doing over the years My understanding (no first hand experience) is that WeChat and Alipay are basically required in China. If a phone doesn’t have them, it’s worthless and won’t sell. So naturally they too can do non…
Why does apple get to decide which app gets automatic access to my private data, on my device, without needing to ask me?
Reading through the linked docs, this API seems to specifically be for apps created by owners of WiFi hotspots to help users connect to those hotspots ( https://developer.apple.com/documentation/networkextension/h... ). > NEHotspotHelper allows your app to participate in the process of authenticating with hotspot networks, that is, Wi-Fi networks where the user must interact with the network to gain access to the wid…
I am not sure how it works in practice.