Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
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Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#2Isn’t this potentially a copyright violation?
Especially on Qualcomm devices (such as the Jolla phone) Qualcomm explicitly forbids you from distributing their OpenGL drivers. So if facebook copies libGLESv2.so off from the device they are potentially performing straight piracy at that point.
If I recall the damages demanded by RIAA it was several hundred k per infringement.
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#3Isn’t this potentially a copyright violation? Especially on Qualcomm devices (such as the Jolla phone) Qualcomm explicitly forbids you from distributing their OpenGL drivers. So if facebook copies libGLESv2.so off from the device they are potentially performing straight piracy at that point. If I recall the damages demanded by RIAA it was several hundred k per infringement.
> If I recall the damages demanded by RIAA it was several hundred k per infringement.
I don't think they care for it. They already paid a $5B fine
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#4Isn’t this potentially a copyright violation? Especially on Qualcomm devices (such as the Jolla phone) Qualcomm explicitly forbids you from distributing their OpenGL drivers. So if facebook copies libGLESv2.so off from the device they are potentially performing straight piracy at that point. If I recall the damages demanded by RIAA it was several hundred k per infringement.
They don't upload the library just their filename and hash. Probably for bug troubleshooting, device fingerprinting and feature availability data. It's a bit much, device fingerprinting like this should get you banned from the play store. However there are legitimate uses for this.
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#5I'd expect that they're doing this because they'd like to diagnose crashes or bugs on systems that they don't have the hardware for. It's still somewhat creepy and possibly a fingerprinting mechanism.
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#6Isn’t this potentially a copyright violation? Especially on Qualcomm devices (such as the Jolla phone) Qualcomm explicitly forbids you from distributing their OpenGL drivers. So if facebook copies libGLESv2.so off from the device they are potentially performing straight piracy at that point. If I recall the damages demanded by RIAA it was several hundred k per infringement.
They don't upload the library just their filename and hash. Probably for bug troubleshooting, device fingerprinting and feature availability data. It's a bit much, device fingerprinting like this should get you banned from the play store. However there are legitimate uses for this.
They're uploading the actual binary as well: https://twitter.com/wongmjane/status/1167463077748436993
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#7Why is this bad? Don’t most error reporting libraries send this sort of metadata with exception stacktraces? I would think this falls under the usual “improving the quality of the app” language in nearly everybody’s EULA.
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#8Why is this bad? Don’t most error reporting libraries send this sort of metadata with exception stacktraces? I would think this falls under the usual “improving the quality of the app” language in nearly everybody’s EULA.
It doesn't just send a list of libraries, it actually uploads the libraries [1].
You seriously think that's a good use of bandwidth?
[1] https://twitter.com/wongmjane/status/1167463077748436993?s=2...
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#9Which android permission does this fall under I wonder?
Re: Facebook scans system libraries on Android and uploads them to their server
#10How the bloody hell is it permitted for apps to be uploading system files?
This wouldn't be possible in Linux, right?
Basically, this is malware.
Edit: Thanks, all. So OK, I get that it's possible, because apps have read and execute permissions for all libraries that they use.
But it's not common for apps to upload system files, right?