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iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

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Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#52

It seems like a ton of apps are abusing this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSWdtoUAjo I categorize this as another reason why "just trust us," just isn't acceptable enough when it comes to data privacy and ownership. Companies just cannot be trusted to treat their users' data with respect given the option of: profit or privacy. (sourced from reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/hejb9i/ios14_cat…

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy.

Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly.

For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of luck and can only just choose to not use the app. On Android (by modifying the OS) you can actually send back fake IMU data to make the app think it got the permissions it wanted but really didn't. Or you can let access to your photos, but only let it see a walled garden of a few select photos.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#54
iOS already prompts for other things like "app Foo would like to know your location: Never, Only when open, Always". Users are use to this. I'd love a popup like:

"TikTok wants to see what you've copied into your clipboard: Never, Once, Always, Uninstall that spyware".

Then I could make informed decisions, like sure, my package tracker can see if there's a FedEx URL in my clipboard. I'm OK with that. There's literally no reason why I'd ever want Instagram to check my clipboard, though. May you do, and you could give it permission.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#56

It seems like a ton of apps are abusing this feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSWdtoUAjo I categorize this as another reason why "just trust us," just isn't acceptable enough when it comes to data privacy and ownership. Companies just cannot be trusted to treat their users' data with respect given the option of: profit or privacy. (sourced from reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/hejb9i/ios14_cat…

1Password grabs the clipboard whenever I open the app, whether or not I'm even in a text field. Can't think of why it needs to do that..

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#57
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

You're right, but you are also missing the point. Consumers in general have access to one of only a few options for computing tasks. To date, of these mainstream options, only Apple is taking a meaningful stance on privacy. Is it self-serving, sub-optimal, or otherwise broken? Probably. Is it the best thing for privacy currently widely available? Probably.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#58
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

Homebrew software and hacks aren't feasible solutions for the general population. You can't expect a tech-illiterate person to put up with all of that to protect their right to privacy. Like it or not, solutions like Apples' are much more efficient at protecting 1 billion (exaggeration) people at once.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#59
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

> On Android (by modifying the OS)

I’m genuinely curious how you can imagine this is a realistic solution.

Re: iOS14 reveals that TikTok may snoop clipboard contents every few keystrokes

#60
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People love to hate on Apple but the fact is, they continue to release features to better showcase or restrict developers that abuse your privacy. The "walled garden" also ensures they apply a ton of checks to apps to better restrict abuses. Sometimes it's overly sensitive and bad things happen, but in general it's awesome that over time it becomes harder and harder to get away with apps blatantly spying on you.

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell for saying this (again) but this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy. Also, the closed-source OS means it's impossible to see what things are doing under the hood, or modify the behavior of the OS itself to be more privacy friendly. For example, on Apple if you aren't happy with an app snooping on your IMU data, you're out of…

> this still doesn't solve the problem of whether Apple themselves are abusing your privacy

Eventually you have to trust someone. This added transparency from Apple is commendable. I support open source for publicly funded software, but if it's privately owned and funded, you can choose to buy and use it or not. Private companies are not under any moral obligation to open source their code or methods.

Some people are successful while open sourcing everything, and that is commendable too.

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