Earlier quoted context omitted.
How?
By having a "maintenance mode" that can be entered and left.
Maintenance mode == root
Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
81–90 of 500 posts
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#82Earlier 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.
All Android phone but pixel ones have bloatware preinstalled. Some are worst, like Xiaomi. If you don’t want bloatware (spyware), it’s either pixel or iPhone.
The trick is to define "bloatware". Is that known knowns (stuff that's visible), known unknowns (stuff that's added that's not visible), and/or unknown unknowns (stuff added we are pretty sure is there but can't prove)? Apple adds all kinds of carrier-specific crap on every phone, but it's not readily discoverable. Android mfgrs must also because of carrier contracts and country-specific regulatory approval requirements. There's likely little means of escaping this without a BYOD non-Android, non-overseas, non-Apple phone that may or may not exist. Surely there is an obvious, viable alternative somewhere I'm missing that I hope exists.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
In my case I wanted a damn SD card slot. And more than 2 years of security updates.
Ano now you see why Samsung is able to provide all that at an attractive price. The real costs are hidden.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#84Even in India the entry level Samsung phones are subsidised by bloatwares, Unfortunately there’s not many options for an entry level phone with regular updates.
So the question is who would we like to be exploited by?
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#85I sometimes think that "track record" is the main value of Google and Apple. They have been around for decades, and except in their own interest to collect data for themselves, I am not aware of any blatant privacy violations of these companies. And one can hope that in their own interest, they keep it that way. That's not great, but it's better than the other companies. I don't see how any company can compete with t…
What's your definition of "collect data for themselves?" Because both do, albeit in substantially different amounts.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be pedantic, yes, but not in a way that matters. The system partition is read-only. Mounting it read-write would require root and any modifications would break system updates. The apk will still be physically present in the file system, however , none of its code will run and it will be removed from your launcher and installed app list in settings, which IMO still counts as a removal. Also, English is not my nativ…
It's not being pedantic. Disabling the application does not give me the storage space back. If people are paying for upgrades to storage space it's completely reasonable for them to be annoyed by bloatware
The system partition is usually the same size regardless of which storage option of the same phone model you get.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#87Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#88I 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…
Almost all of Iran's cell network system was originally installed by S. Korean firms. They've changed some to Chinese brands, but apparently the compromised S. Korean brands are still around.
Changing from SK to CN is a trade from intentional vulnerability to unintentional vulnerability. I’ve yet to see a secure piece of software come out of China in my 30+ years of coding.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
By having a "maintenance mode" that can be entered and left.
Maintenance mode == root
You're projecting your meaning of it, not mine. Not if it can't be undone in a way other than reinstalling everything. A mode that allows changing things with a temporary reduction of security system-wide and restoring them later, but putting all of the upgrade and support liability on the user without sacrificing functionality. Think VMware ESXi. If tech support wants to not support it, that's fine, but payments and such should still work.
Re: Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA
#90Samsung currently has an unremovable spyware app on North American phones that pastes (records) everything copied to the clipboard by any app. It is the Samsung Keyboard app. It cannot be removed. It doesn't matter if you're using any other keyboard app. Samsung Keyboard pastes (records) everything that gets copied to the clipboard by any app. The Samsung Keyboard app cannot even be disabled from Android. As an aside…
Every day it feels like regulators need to increase enforcement by an order of magnitude. For every fine they dish out, 10 more abuses go unnoticed.