Paranoid about Android

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Much as they would like you, and ask you repeatedly in several ways, you do NOT have to share or Sync your contacts with your Google account. You also don't have to log into your Google account to access the Play store. Just continue without agreeing. I just did all this with a new device I got for Christmas.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

It is interesting to compare this image from the tutorial that Stuart kindly linked:

.

with this image of my screen [purple boxes added to highlight the two significant differences]

.

O.K. … it looks like I should be able import the contacts to the device, and avoid the Google account,

but it’s a minefield for the unwary.

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

.

As if that wasn’t enough … the Moon+ Reader App, which comes pre-installed, ‘needs’ these permissions:

.

As the man once yelled:

YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS !

.

It has been terminated with extreme prejudice.

MichaelG.

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

And so, realisation slowly dawns that the smartphone and the internet that you thought were your obedient servants are, in fact, devious and duplicitous spies. Android and the Chrome browser exist to suck up as much information as practicable about the 'user' (slave would be a better word) and send it to Google. Then, of course, the sites you visit, harvest as much as they can (and do other, unknown, things), using cookies, scripts, tracker pixels, etc., etc. Unfortunately, the 'authorities' in several supposedly civilised and democratic countries have been shown to have little regard to the law, when it comes to data-harvesting and privacy. It's easy to find out some of this stuff, from reputable sources, if you think I'm just a prophet of doom and a crank.

Paranoia is entirely appropriate and is not just for the tin-foil hat wearers. Silicon Chip Magazine (Australia) has just run a two-part article entitled 'Big Brother is Tracking You!' 'Fraid some of the technical stuff is beyond me, but the message is clear enough. You can't even stop your smartphone from giving away your location when it's turned 'off' – because it certainly isn't off. We live in a very well-developed 'surveillance society' and your smartphone is the most powerful traitor, even though you welcome it into your home and take it everywhere with you.

Fortunately, there is some resistance available, such as VPNs and 'De-Googled Chromium', but the best thing to do with your smartphone is to throw it away, until secure operating systems can reliably be loaded in place of Android.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Kiwi Bloke on 02/01/2022 23:52:06:

Unfortunately, the 'authorities' in several supposedly civilised and democratic countries have been shown to have little regard to the law, when it comes to data-harvesting and privacy.

Supposedly the US government is trying to rein in the Googles etc of the world. Remains to be seen whether Google et al has more power than they do.

Link

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Latest facetious comment going the rounds :-

"Thinks – I wonder if I am being monitored by my home technology?"

"Alexa – Am I being monitored by my home technology?"

[Author]

Posts