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| Apple yanks privacy application from the App Store |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-07-20 12:23:33 |
| "Back in May of this year, Internet security firm Bitdefender launched an app and service designed to help iOS users get a grip on what the apps installed on their mobile devices may be up to. [...] The app tells owners of iOS devices which applications may be accessing more information than they need, and identifies potentially 'misbehaving' apps, giving users an inside look at all the information app developers can gather about a user. [...] Seems legit, right? Apple doesn't think so. Or at least they have an issue with something behind the app that sparked them to pull it from the App Store this week." That seems odd. Why would they do such a thing? "Interestingly, Bitdefender did share some data that they gathered based on Clueful's analysis of more than 65,000 popular iOS apps so far: 42.5 percent of apps do not encrypt users' personal data, even when accessed via public Wi-Fi; 41.4 percent of apps were shown to track a user's location unbeknownst to them; almost one in five of the apps analyzed can access a user's entire Address Book, with some even sending user information to the cloud without notification." Oh, right. Informing users their data is wholly unsafe? Not on Apple's watch! |
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| RE[5]: simple solution |
| By Tony Swash on 2012-07-21 18:41:51 |
|
> Right. I guess that's why Apple is pimping how it owns 400 million credit card numbers. That's all because it's not pimping out its users. Yessirree. Stop lying to yourself. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/20... Street slang is embarrassing. Apple talks about how many accounts it has on iTunes in order to demonstrate the size and weight of it's ecosystem. It's not passing on those credit card details to third parties. Your reference to this is irrelevant and flimsy. I repeat - working yourself up in too a state of righteous indignation over privacy in iOS because Apple pulls a single app shows a lack of any sense of proportion. If one wants to get concerned about privacy start with companies whose core business model is based on collecting user data. Is that idea some how controversial? |
 - Score: 2 |
| RE[7]: simple solution |
| By Tony Swash on 2012-07-21 18:54:17 |
|
> At least Google lets you know some of it. The point is no one has any idea what data Apple collects and at least with Google you have some idea. What proportion of information collected by Google is known? Does the fact that Google collects far more data on users than Apple, because it's business is collecting such data, mean that the data that Google collects that you don't know about is more than the data that Apple collects that you don't don't know about. Do you see how silly this can get very quickly. Personally I think Google gets way more data from me than Apple and I am a heavy user of iOS and Apple products. Apple knows something about my musical tastes and what apps I have bought. I am not sure it knows a whole lot more. Google knows a lot about my search and browsing history, it scans the content of my emails and if I used Google + (which it has automatically signed me up to by the way) it would know about my social network, it knows what videos I watch on Youtube, etc etc. Google is the mother of all user data collectors. If anyone collects more data on me than Google I would be deeply shocked. I am not very worried, yet, by Google's data collection although I find the way it personalises search results a bit spooky. But when I see people frothing up about something Apple has or has not done in relation to privacy I sense a profound case of double standards. If you want to bash Apple feel free to use privacy, if you really care about privacy watch what Google does very carefully. |
| - Score: 3 |
| Google vs Apple and data |
| By henderson101 on 2012-07-21 19:46:35 |
| Hello "rock", let me introduce you to "hard place". Hello "kettle", do you see the "black pot" over there? Nuff said. |
| - Score: 5 |
| RE[6]: simple solution |
| By No it isnt on 2012-07-22 11:04:20 |
| On the one hand, Google actually lets you see what data they have collected on you, on the other hand, what you call "thinking structurally", you've got a bunch of insinuations based on your speculations as to how Google's ad service makes them money. That's what I mean when I say you've got facts against you. You prefer insinuations and dystopian fiction to facts, as they better suit your fanboi needs. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE[7]: simple solution |
| By ilovebeer on 2012-07-22 17:31:41 |
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> On the one hand, Google actually lets you see what data they have collected on you If you believe that, you're very very naive. You don't know what's behind the curtain but what's worse than that is not even knowing there's a curtain. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE[2]: Pulled as hoax? |
| By bram on 2012-07-22 20:50:11 |
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Ok, sure, a remote database makes sense, but: How does the app know what other apps are installed? |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[3]: Jailbreak |
| By zima on 2012-07-25 20:35:25 |
| Rooting is not about installing apps. And is often relatively encouraged and supported, by some makers (like SE documenting ways to unlock their devices, or Samsung providing handsets to CM) |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: simple solution |
| By zima on 2012-07-25 20:39:11 |
|
Torvalds uses Google+ IIRC ...for sure he commented on some G+ postings, I believe when voicing his displeasure about Gnome3 & how he moves to Xfce (plus, on another Google service: http://torvalds-family.blogspot.... ) BTW, Windows NT is sort of post-VMS. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[4]: Typically Apple |
| By zima on 2012-07-25 21:08:26 |
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> Not going to happen unless they are forced to, in my opinion. I wonder... perhaps we might see that as part of some larger (eventual) EU investigation into app stores? Let's hope so? And, given right political circumstances in the EU parliament (inevitable, sooner or later), there should be another look into Patriot Act-style stuff (like with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECH... - includes a link to decade-old EU report; OTOH, I don't think it amounted to much, since that investigation, hm) |
| - Score: 2 |
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