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Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

reuters.com

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Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#281

Post by [deleted] »

lolinder wrote: post #234
forward1 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the "warrantless search"? > [CBP officers] demanded proof of citizenship from the passengers > CBP officers boarded a bus in Bangor, Maine None of those are searches, they are temporary detentions with strong legal basis and case law going back to Terry. To wit: > most people have no idea that they can refuse to be searched at a roadblock or bus boarding Ignorance of the law != warrantless searches. Arm your…

> strong legal basis and case law going back to Terry I frankly don't care what's legal or not at this point. The surveillance and police state has gotten out of control, and needs to be rolled back. If we constantly just accept past precedent as dictating our future, our rights will be chipped away one by one. I don't want to live in a society where I can be stopped and asked for identification by law enforcement at…

[deleted]

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#283

Post by TremendousJudge »

acdha wrote: post #92
nvahalik wrote: post #28

Are the contents of push notifications not encrypted? Or are we talking about payloads rather than transport?

Others have mentioned the timing attacks but also payloads are not encrypted unless the app developers remember to build that. This linked essay discusses both threats: https://blog.davidlibeau.fr/push-notifications-are-a-privacy...

Thank you I was wondering about that. A couple of days ago I heard somebody mention that push notifications go through the backend and that it was a huge privacy issue, and I just couldn't believe that messaging apps that are "encrypted" would go through all that work just to then send the unencrypted message to Google's servers

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#284

Post by loughnane »

I know Pinephone isn't ready for daily use from all the threads here, but I just ordered one to get some stick time with it. Getting real tired of having to fight my phone to keep my data mine.

I just want the equivalent of debian, but on mobile. I understand I'll have to give up a bunch of apps, but honestly I think its worth it. As soon as its possible I'd like off this ride.

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#285

Post by unyttigfjelltol »

world2vec wrote: post #61

Pardon my ignorance but would block all push notifications stop this specific act of surveillance? I usually don't need any notifications' content on the screen apart from "you have a new message on , go check it". Or is that what's being discussed here?

It does seem to be notifications on the phone, but (a) that's incredibly surprising and disturbing and (b) it's really unclear why or how that would work when a phone is disconnected from the network. In any event, Google inserting themselves into notifications would be tantamount to reading all my email, texts and everything else, so ... why wouldn't this be restricted to opt-in? Many questions.

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#286

Post by [deleted] »

InCityDreams wrote: post #254
Trias11 wrote: post #249

>> Reuters' source would not identify which governments were making the data requests but described them as "democracies allied to the United States." It feels so liberating to be spied upon by "democracies allied to the United States." vs. others. LOL.

Now you know how the rest of us [abroad in the world] feel regarding the US.

[deleted]

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#287

Post by frumper »

Clubber wrote: post #202
gowld wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Downvotes are possibly because the unelected bureaucrats with guns are overseen by the elected Executive and Legislature.

Are they though? How about the FDA getting most of its funding by the companies they are supposed to regulate? It's comforting to just trust that bureaucracies are doing what's good for the country, but also naive. https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/e4a791060... How about the NSA spying on congress? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/04/nsa-spying-ber... How about the ATF making up laws? https…

Congress created these agencies, they can write laws that fundamentally change how they work, what they do, and what they focus on. They can even just disband these agencies. Congress has all of the power it needs. If they don't use it, maybe what you think should happen doesn't align with the majority of Congress.

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#288

Post by [deleted] »

iAMkenough wrote: post #90
cultureswitch wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a pretty open and shut case of unconstitutional restriction of speech in the US. Especially when you consider the wording of the Apple communication saying that they can talk about it openly now that it's public knowledge.

Given the US has a 4th Amendment-free zone within 100 miles of all national borders in the name of national security, I expect the same justification and level of oversight here. https://www.aclu.org/documents/constitution-100-mile-border-...

[deleted]

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#289

Post by dhx »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #106

This is yet another example of: If the data can be collected it will be used by governments You can slow this down by making data explicitly built to be impossible to read in transit (eg e2e) and then deleting or never saving it, but the fact that data flows through multiple stops means each transition is an opportunity for third party observation This is deterministic and is built into the structure of data producti…

See [1] for an overview of "state of the art" metadata-protecting communications protocols. There has been much research into this problem over decades and the effectiveness of such protocols very much depends on real world use cases and practicalities. For example, protocols may require 100 seconds to send a message to ensure adequate mixing, and then may be limited to always-transmitting-24/7 endpoints consuming much power, and then also requiring participants in the network to trust each other not to mount a denial of service attack.

[1] SoK: Metadata-Protecting Communication Systems, Sajin Sasy and Ian Goldberg, Cryptology ePrint Archive, Paper 2023/313, https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/313.pdf

Re: Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications

#290

Post by forward1 »

a_wild_dandan wrote: post #235
forward1 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a common misconception. The 100 mile radius does not waive 4th Amendment protection. A reasonable suspicion of immigration law violation is still required to detain, search and ultimately arrest individuals. To wit: please name a single instance of someone having their rights abused by this so-called "zone".

https://radiolab.org/podcast/border-trilogy-part-1 Poor school kiddos. :( Anyway, if you prefer text, click the transcript. I recommend listening though, if you have time!

The format of this podcast is insufferable, like listening to two befuddled people in a retirement home exchange "witty" banter.

I looked it up though. This was 30 years ago. The court issued Border Patrol an injunction and protected students from discimination. A perfect example of the legal system acting justly and prudently, which only supports my argument that unbridled searches within 100 miles of the border is hyperbole only.

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