Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

play.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

401–407 of 407 posts

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#401

Post by fomine3 »

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS wrote: post #386
NoImmatureAdHom wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks like you can get a used Pixel 3a for ~$100: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=pixel+3a&_sacat=0&LH_Ti... (this is US ebay, but I assume prices are similar) I think Calyx still supports Pixel 2, but you've got to trade off the likely length of continuing support against price, of course.

I specifically bought a Pixel 3 recently because it had LineageOS support. Never again will I buy a phone that's locked into the manufacturer's Android releases.

Ironic a bit.

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#402

Post by hulitu »

grishka wrote: post #332
Aerroon wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody that's affected by this should report it as a remote code execution vulnerability in the PlayStore app.

I'm not affected by this, but that's an interesting idea. I wonder what'll happen if I report this (assuming Google has a place to report vulnerabilities in its products). They'd probably dismiss it as "invalid" because, see, it's not an RCE if it's only exploited by a "trusted party" like Google themselves.

> They'd probably dismiss it as "invalid" because, see, it's not an RCE if it's only exploited by a "trusted party" like Google themselves.

They never learn from Solar Winds, do they ?

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#403

Post by PufPufPuf »

KronisLV wrote: post #347
NoImmatureAdHom wrote: post #246

Fellow humans, there are alternatives! Your neck need not be under FAANG's boot! You don't even need to give up any functionality: CalyxOS: https://calyxos.org/ Privacy-respecting Android distribution that replaces Google spyware with MicroG, so you can have your cake and eat it too. Most everything will work as you're used to, but it does still talk to Google to make that happen. GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/…

Here's my phone: https://www.gsmarena.com/ulefone_armor_x7_pro-10293.php It's not supported by CalyxOS: https://calyxos.org/get/ It's not supported by GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices It's not supported by LineageOS: https://download.lineageos.org/ It's not supported by Sailfish: https://shop.jolla.com/ It's not supported by Replicant: https://www.replicant.us/supported-devices.php Librem 5 is…

That just seems like bad luck -- if your phone is even somewhat popular, there's going to be a XDA forum dedicated to it. I used to have a LG L90, a low-end phone bought for ~€120 that was by no means "flagship hardware". The phone shipped with Android 4.2, which was then OTA-updated to Android 5. Thanks to Cyanogenmod and later LineageOS, I managed to install Android 6, 7, and 8 as they came out, and only stopped using the phone after it physically broke down.

Ulefone doesn't seem to be that popular -- it's not even listed among phone brands on the XDA forums (https://forum.xda-developers.com/all-forums-by-manufacturer). If you want to have a €100 phone with LineageOS support, you definitely can (and do note that the LineageOS website lists only the "officially" supported models, not the community ports).

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#404

Post by PufPufPuf »

grishka wrote: post #308
NoImmatureAdHom wrote: post #246

Fellow humans, there are alternatives! Your neck need not be under FAANG's boot! You don't even need to give up any functionality: CalyxOS: https://calyxos.org/ Privacy-respecting Android distribution that replaces Google spyware with MicroG, so you can have your cake and eat it too. Most everything will work as you're used to, but it does still talk to Google to make that happen. GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/…

I've been thinking about getting away from proprietary Google Services and their backdoors, but the one thing that's holding me back is Google Pay (NFC payments). It's way too convenient and I'm unwilling to give it up. Is there an open-source replacement/reimplementation maybe, or something like a way to run the original proprietary app with MicroG? What about other apps that require SafetyNet? (Important note: I'm…

There are some banking apps that use their own NFC implementation instead of Google Pay -- my bank used to do this before they caved and switched to Google Pay.

As an alternative, you may get a Curve card (https://www.curve.com/) to regain some of that convenience -- it can connect to several physical cards just like Google Pay does, but itself is a physical card.

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#406

Post by raxxorrax »

ElViajero wrote: post #56

It is obvious that we need better legislation to deal with all the new possibilities that technologies have opened. The installation of this app, even done with good intent, open a lot of questions on what should be possible or not to be done by government and corporations. When you get a device with pre-installed, uninstallable, or auto-installed apps. What are the rules? > "By enabling this service, you can be quic…

> It is obvious that we need better legislation to deal with all the new possibilities that technologies have opened.

It is not a new technology at all. It is the same old one that looks new and shiny, but is complete shit because the software doesn't behave.

Re: Massachusetts health notifications app installed without users’ knowledge

#407

Post by _y5hn »

LorenPechtel wrote: post #397
_y5hn wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When someone has lived 70+ years and done fine for most of those years. What is the use for them to learn what an "icon" on the "desktop" is, and why should they care about "browsers"? This very much feels like justification for victim blaming.

Because the world changes. You don't change, you get left behind, sometimes in very important ways. (For example, my wife's licensing board now sends the renewal stuff only by e-mail, not snail mail. There are a few old-school people who have to get someone else to get the form for them.)

So progress is an excuse to be unempathetic towards people who may not had your introductions to technology?
Post reply on HN