231–240 of 424 posts
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This is key. Yes the CIA or Apple or whoever could conceivably hack/change my phone or laptop to turn on the microphone and camera on, but there's not much you can really do about that as hardware switches seem to have gone out of vogue (I've got tape over my laptop camera like most sane people, but microphone?) However I suspect the majority of iphones have "Hey Siri" enabled, and probably the same with whatever and…
> However I suspect the majority of iphones have "Hey Siri" enabled, and probably the same with whatever android uses IIRC, there's been a lot of coverage here about how Apple put in hardware to detect the "hey siri" phrase without having to go to software and bypass any security. That was it can always listen in "dumb" mode and switch to actively listening/recording and decoding request when the right phrase is hear…
If I say RED FIRE TRUCK to my iPhone with HeySiri turned off, and immediately hold the home button down for Siri, “she” sometimes has fire or fire truck pulled up already. This was WAY WORSE with Hey Siri turned on where it would always have those words and sometimes even more.
So best case, they are always caching a little bit and maybe only upload or process it when I hold the button down - but it’s definitely clear they are doing a little general pre-recording of all words.
If they’re doing a little, it stands to reason they could do a lot. Which is a bummer, but it’s not like I have much say in the matter.
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Point 1: Keyword triggers and is actually said are miles apart, as shown by the Alexa creepy laugh episode. There is no practical way of knowing when Alexa has heard a keyword and recorded content around it. Not to mention the Google play incident where a poor wiring job made the devices think the "enable assistant" button was constantly being pressed. Point 2: My phone, an iPhone, offers a way to turn off the keywor…
Point 2: Although you’re right about the application processor side of your phone, you cannot disable a significant amount of tracking functionality built into the baseband/modem. Your cell carrier or ISP can track you the same way that Google could on an Android device. On the other hand, iPhone basebands usually don’t have DMA, while other phone manufacturers allow the modem to access application processor RAM. The…
This is just facebook all over again. Why can't people see trouble-tech? I never used facebook and won't ever use an alexa, nor whatever google's thing is.
The thing is that for most people avoiding this kind of tech and platforms is unlikely to have any kind of payoff for them. Life is too short. Most peoples lives are as simple as going to school and work, raising a family, taking vacations, paying bills, and then passing away. There will never be a moment where they can say “ Yes! My avoidance of Facebook and Alexa for all my life has finally paid off! Hahaha! ” The…
That this flawed and toxic thinking is so often repeated, especially in tech circles, truly horrifies me.
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>The only company I've seen take demonstrable action to protect their customer's privacy is Apple. The same Apple that gave the Chinese government access to all their Chinese user's iCloud data? https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/17/apples-icloud-user-data-in...
This is false. iCloud data doesn't contain phone call contents or iMessage data contents. Yes they gave access to metadata, but this is China where privacy basically doesn't exist, not a western country.
Literally the first paragraph of both of bduerst's links suggest otherwise.
Also, I don't know if you've used iCloud on multiple devices before, but it very much contains iMessage data contents.
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> The board's legal mandate is to make as much money as possible. Why do people keep repeating this falsehood? https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/16/what-are-co... Per SCOTUS in US v. Hobby Lobby: > While it is certainly true that a central objective of for-profit corporations is to make money, modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit at the expense of everything else,…
The key there being 'so long as it's owners agree'
Can Apple opt to do bad or short-sighted things? Yes.
Are they legally required to do them to maximize profits? No.
I've never seen a demographic breakdown of HN, but I'm 37 years old. I'm definitely not the oldest guy here, but I see history repeat itself regularly. I remember when people used location tracking as a reason to not own a cell phone. I'm talking about flip phones, mind you, not even iPhones with GPS receivers. I recall the bulk of complaints in that vein died down around the time Google Maps for phones came out. If…
I've never seen a demographic breakdown of HN, but I'm 37 years old. I'm definitely not the oldest guy here, but I see history repeat itself regularly. I remember when people used location tracking as a reason to not own a cell phone. I'm talking about flip phones, mind you, not even iPhones with GPS receivers. I recall the bulk of complaints in that vein died down around the time Google Maps for phones came out. If…
New technology is scary, old is not. With the third party doctrine the only way to really protect yourself is to not participate in modern society in any way.