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TikTok requests access to devices on local network

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Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#71

Just to add: Scanning networks to gather data seems pretty popular these days - smart tvs have done so, and even the ebay site used to portscan visitors [1]. [edit] And of course, there's WebRTC leaking your local IP - which ublock origin can specifically block [2]. [1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ebay-port-sca... [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Prevent-WebRTC-from-l...

That's a clear violation of the CFAA. This crime carries prison time. How come they threw teenagers in prison but not the people responsible for doing it en mass?

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#72

So just use their web site. Honest question - why do people use apps for such?

For IG the web site pales in comparison. I don't use the app but I have an account courtesy FB I think and all the recommendations are "Instagram recommended" accounts like pop singers and reality TV stars even after I followed some that weren't such as in real world friends and family. There's no way to discover other interesting material. So I guess it's because the web version can be much worse.

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They used to check your clipboard the whole time too. To be fair quite a lot of apps did this to enable deep links/automatically opening certain clipboard links. Every big app has changed this to no longer show the 'pasted from' notification. And it was never shown that they export those clipboard contents to homebase.

"Lots of people do it" should never be considered a legitimate excuse. Trying to use that excuse should get you kicked out of the meeting room.

I don't think they're trying to say it's a valid excuse, just that there are reasons to check clipboard content that aren't malicious.

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#74

They used to check your clipboard the whole time too. They use the local network as one of their sensors to identify you (fingerprinting). However they have plenty more (see their privacy policy).

>> They used to check your clipboard the whole time too. That's a design error on the UI side. An app should not have read access to the clipboard, it should have the ability to accept data from the clipboard when the user pastes it.

There's legitamate uses though, of which I was made painfully aware when google crippled the api and kde connect clipboard sync became way less impressive

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#75

Some other apps (Signal?) have also done this out of the blue, though they may have since added a UI around this. Regardless, Apple has done the right thing by putting this behind a permissions box, but the developer should be required to have some sort of explanation string of why they need this.

That thing makes it annoying for the kind of applications my company does, that needs to communicate with other devices on the local network. It's annoying because it's not like other permissions, where you can ask the OS to prompt the user, and check if the user granted it or not, but it's some special permission. If the user, by mistake because it doesn't know that it's needed, doesn't give it one time it's impossi…

If you're truly not being malicious then open source your app and get it added to the alpine repos so people can run it in ish.

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#76
post #71

Just to add: Scanning networks to gather data seems pretty popular these days - smart tvs have done so, and even the ebay site used to portscan visitors [1]. [edit] And of course, there's WebRTC leaking your local IP - which ublock origin can specifically block [2]. [1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ebay-port-sca... [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Prevent-WebRTC-from-l...

That's a clear violation of the CFAA. This crime carries prison time. How come they threw teenagers in prison but not the people responsible for doing it en mass?

If it's a clear violation maybe sue them for breaching your network?

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#78
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a clear violation of the CFAA. This crime carries prison time. How come they threw teenagers in prison but not the people responsible for doing it en mass?

If it's a clear violation maybe sue them for breaching your network?

I don't even have non-free mobile OSes on my network much less this.

Re: TikTok requests access to devices on local network

#80
post #2

Perhaps there's something nefarious here, or perhaps it's just looking for a Chromecast or Apple TV?

Trusting companies not to abuse the simple explanation of Chromecast is dead in the water, though. Why on earth would you trust a company _not_ to abuse that?
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