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Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

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Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#251

Post by kragen »

boramalper wrote: post #10

I suspect a strong link between mass surveillance (by corporations for advertising or by states for intelligence purposes) and the very recent targeting of the senior Iranian nuclear scientist and military officers at their homes in Iran. Wherever you are from or whatever side of the conflict you are on, I think we can all agree that it’s never been easier to infer so much about a person from “semi-public” sources su…

The truth is far outside the Overton window.

Yes, privacy is a question of civil defense in the drone age. But the existing crop of states will never acknowledge that; their structure and institutions presume precisely the kind of mass databases of PII that create this vulnerability, as well as institutional transparency for public accountability. This makes them structurally vulnerable to insurgencies that expropriate those databases for targeting. The existing states will continue to clutch at their fantasies of adequately secured taxpayer databases until their territorial control (itself an anachronism in the drone age; boots on the ground can no longer provide security against things like Operation Spiderweb) has been reduced to a few fortified clandestine facilities.

Things are going to be very unpredictable and, I suspect, extremely violent.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#252

Post by spinlock_ »

Dah00n wrote: post #236
spinlock_ wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats why my Samsung TV has no internet access and I'm using Apple TV instead.

From the fire into....

Into what? Though I have no illusions about any tech company, I trust Apple more than Samsung right now. It's all relative, not absolute.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#253

Post by j-bos »

boramalper wrote: post #13
andrewflnr wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just don't get Samsung? I guess I don't know for sure that my phone brand doesn't do anything similar, but it at least hasn't hit the news yet.

> AppCloud—pre-installed on Samsung’s A and M series smartphones. Samsung’s A and M series smartphones are their cheapest models so their buyers probably cannot afford better phones. I don’t know of any other brands selling in the region with similarly priced models that have better privacy practices than Samsung either—they’re all the same at that price point I’m afraid.

Motorola has well priced excellent phones with minimal bloat.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#254

Post by dse1982 »

kragen wrote: post #242
Dah00n wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a mistake to assume that a very capable country can't get into a network that uses US equipment/software... especially Cisco equipment with all the "forgotten" hardcoded logins. Iran is better off with Chinese equipment than American or Korean.

Nobody knows enough to say whether Iran is better off with Chinese equipment, because most of the intentional backdoors on every side of this struggle remain undiscovered by the other sides.

Well, China is more on the side of Iran than the US or US allies. So there is that.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#255

Post by fc417fc802 »

jrflowers wrote: post #192
fc417fc802 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary. My statements bear equivalent accuracy to yours in our current reality. My statements are also very obviously FUD. So is yours. Or do you dispute that you could be hospitalized for salmonella if you botch cooking poultry at home? Or perhaps you feel that there is no straightforward way to inadvertently endanger your life by servicing your vehicle incorrectly?

Interesting. While there is no such thing as a chauffeurs union or an FSD alliance, if we say that they exist maybe they do. Similarly, if you say something is “FUD” then maybe it becomes that. I genuinely do not understand the last two sentences. Are you pro- or anti- “telling people that salmonella exists” ? Is saying “salmonella exists and can be a problem” FUD or what? Do you think salmonella isn’t real

Yes, the final two were tongue in cheek but follow the same pattern and thus serve to illustrate the point being made. You don't seem to be engaging in good faith.

> Is saying “salmonella exists and can be a problem” FUD or what?

Obviously that depends on context. If a bunch of restaurants form a PAC and start lobbying with that message to restrict the sale of animal products at the grocery store then it is. If the FDA mentions it on a page about basic food handling safety then it probably isn't (depending on the surrounding text ofc).

Rooting your device is a security risk the same way that servicing your own car is a safety risk. When I hear "security risk" or "safety risk" I'm expecting something that's inherently dangerous like wingsuit jumping or cave diving. I'm not expecting something that should only ever fail if I don't exercise due diligence. This difference in perceived meaning is being exploited by those spreading the message similar to when Coca-Cola got sued for a label that implied pomegranate juice when the bottle contained only 0.3 percent.

When device vendors lock end users out of their own devices and then aggressively spread such a message to justify doing so it qualifies as FUD or propaganda. A vested interest has disenfranchised people as part of a long term strategy to enrich themselves and is attempting to manipulate the public narrative regarding their actions.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#256

Post by hilbert42 »

makeitdouble wrote: post #173
hilbert42 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

""license to use the hardware"…." Well, then it's high time the laws of ownership in just about evey country in the world were updated. As it stands, if I buy something then I own it.

> if I buy something then I own it. That's the point: you can't buy it, only license.

I've never had to license hardware I've bought, only software. There's no way I do so.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#257

Post by kragen »

dse1982 wrote: post #254
kragen wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody knows enough to say whether Iran is better off with Chinese equipment, because most of the intentional backdoors on every side of this struggle remain undiscovered by the other sides.

Well, China is more on the side of Iran than the US or US allies. So there is that.

Yes, but that doesn't imply they want Iran's telecommunications network to be a black box to the PLA.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#258

Post by joshstrange »

Grimeton wrote: post #221
int_19h wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's mostly marketing, why was Facebook so up in arms about forced opt-in for tracking in iOS?

Because Apple blocks everybody else from spying on you but Apple themselves are still perfectly spying on you. And not just that, by disallowing all other apps to get their hands on your data you even tell Apple which data it can sell for a higher price because it's only available via Apple and noons else... Let that sink in.

Let what sink in? Your completely unprovable/unproven conspiracy theory?

You are suggesting that Apple is actively tracking you in other apps (apps that aren’t allowed to track you themselves). I find that completely preposterous and a huge risk for Apple to take given their marketing.

> Because Apple blocks everybody else from spying on you but Apple themselves are still perfectly spying on you.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Specifically Apple spying on users and collecting info tied to their identities in 3rd party apps.

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#259

Post by joshstrange »

Dah00n wrote: post #236
spinlock_ wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats why my Samsung TV has no internet access and I'm using Apple TV instead.

From the fire into....

Do you wanna expand on that or just make vague statements with no facts?

Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

#260

Post by themaninthedark »

a012 wrote: post #25
hysan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "unremovable" > you can't completely remove it Maybe my English isn’t very good but that sounds like the definition of unremovable.

[flagged]

...doesn't sound removed to me, there are still copies sitting on other phones and servers somewhere.

No, still not removed...the idea and possibility for implementation still exists in people's minds.

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