5 ms·

I've said it before but I'll say it again: this is why you create a second throw-away Google account and use that to create a new profile on your phone dedicate

I've said it before but I'll say it again: this is why you create a second throw-away Google account and use that to create a new profile on your phone dedicated to snoopy apps. Seriously: screw anyone that thinks harvesting my personal data is the cost I must pay for a cab ride.

electic 11y ago
I don't think that will solve this particular problem. It wan't your browsing history from the device. What we desperately need is a UL for privacy. Just like UL tests electronics, we need a lab to test these apps for what data they access and how they make use of that data. Then assign a score so consumers can chose not to use services that request unnecessary permissions and misuse your data.
- swiley 11y ago
  No, what we need is the ability to modify the system software on our phones easily to stop this kind of thing. On a normal Unix system you would just run the app as a separate user (or worst case, sandbox it) but on android non of the interfaces (or really much of anything at all) can be controlled by the user.
  - Nullabillity 11y ago
    Android has supported multiple users for quite a while now.
    - alchemyunited 11y ago
      Yes. But sometimes it's removed or not exposed. For example, my Samsung S5 doesn't support multi user
  - technofiend 11y ago
    That's ideal but runs counter to how Google sets up permissions today.
  - alanh 11y ago
    That is simply not a solution that will work for more than 0.1% of the populace. While you meant nothing wrong, your "solution" repulses me because I don’t care about this sort of thing just for myself and other supernerds, but for my friends and family and countrymen as well.
    - dredmorbius 11y ago
      If the means are there, solutions for the 99.9% can be created. Look at how popular adblock's becoming.
  - dingo_bat 11y ago
    Exactly. I don't get why there is no root account on most android phones. Why is "rooting" a hack that voids your warranty? Why can't we have our smartphones like our computers?
    - Freak_NL 11y ago
      Because alternative mobile operating systems cannot compete in the same consumer space due to the duopoly of walled gardens where people expect all popular apps to be available (although I do believe that there is a niche market for a free software smartphone amongst developers). If you treat a smartphone as a normal computer, you would expect to be able to use a service such as Uber by means of a modern web browser providing a sandbox for their web application, like you do on Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows. Installing someone's stand-alone software only to access an on-line service would probably seem invasive and absurd. Broadly speaking, on a smartphone people probably accept this because of the trade-off. Apple and Google keep your mobile computer stable, fast, and free from viruses and malware by managing your operating system and vetting the software you can install through their app-stores. For a lot of people this trade-off seems preferable to an alternative.
- technofiend 11y ago
  Sure it does: my browsing history, contacts, etc are separate and distinct for each profile. To the best of my knowledge there is no Android permission that'll let you cross that boundry. Please, if you know of evidence to the contrary please share a link to the Android docs. That would be a reason to root my phone and run a release with a privacy plugin.
  - anowlcalledjosh 11y ago
    There is absolutely a permission for that, it's called INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS. I suspect what you mean is 'is there a permission accessible by normal apps that can do this', to which the answer is no - the permission is signature-level, meaning the app must be signed with the same key as the OS to be able to access the permission. I can't find a page from the official docs from my phone, but there's a list of permissions on Stack Exchange: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/38389/150855 http://android.stackexchange.com/a/38389/150855
    - technofiend 11y ago
      Thank you for the correction, but my point stands: unless it's signed by Google's OS key it won't be able to cross that boundary. Although since ABC is a major investor in Uber...
jsprogrammer 11y ago
Why reward those you want to screw with cash? Just say no to an Uber install, even with a throwaway (TOS-violating) Google account.
- niij 11y ago
  How does using an alt account violate Google TOS?
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    I believe the Gmail TOS used to state that one person could only have one personal account. That has either changed, or I am misremembering.
    - dlandis 11y ago
      I think you're misremembering. In fact they make it very easy to have multiple accounts and open them all simultaneously within the same gmail tab, switch between them and manage them fairly seamlessly.
      - hartpuff 11y ago
        Plus you can register multiple accounts with the same number.
      - jsprogrammer 11y ago
        I was recalling when Gmail first introduced free storage in Beta. I believe you were only supposed to have one account so that one person couldn't gain multiple GBs of 'free' storage.

electic 11y ago

I don't think that will solve this particular problem. It wan't your browsing history from the device. What we desperately need is a UL for privacy. Just like UL tests electronics, we need a lab to test these apps for what data they access and how they make use of that data. Then assign a score so consumers can chose not to use services that request unnecessary permissions and misuse your data.

swiley 11y ago
No, what we need is the ability to modify the system software on our phones easily to stop this kind of thing. On a normal Unix system you would just run the app as a separate user (or worst case, sandbox it) but on android non of the interfaces (or really much of anything at all) can be controlled by the user.
- Nullabillity 11y ago
  Android has supported multiple users for quite a while now.
  - alchemyunited 11y ago
    Yes. But sometimes it's removed or not exposed. For example, my Samsung S5 doesn't support multi user
- technofiend 11y ago
  That's ideal but runs counter to how Google sets up permissions today.
- alanh 11y ago
  That is simply not a solution that will work for more than 0.1% of the populace. While you meant nothing wrong, your "solution" repulses me because I don’t care about this sort of thing just for myself and other supernerds, but for my friends and family and countrymen as well.
  - dredmorbius 11y ago
    If the means are there, solutions for the 99.9% can be created. Look at how popular adblock's becoming.
- dingo_bat 11y ago
  Exactly. I don't get why there is no root account on most android phones. Why is "rooting" a hack that voids your warranty? Why can't we have our smartphones like our computers?
  - Freak_NL 11y ago
    Because alternative mobile operating systems cannot compete in the same consumer space due to the duopoly of walled gardens where people expect all popular apps to be available (although I do believe that there is a niche market for a free software smartphone amongst developers). If you treat a smartphone as a normal computer, you would expect to be able to use a service such as Uber by means of a modern web browser providing a sandbox for their web application, like you do on Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows. Installing someone's stand-alone software only to access an on-line service would probably seem invasive and absurd. Broadly speaking, on a smartphone people probably accept this because of the trade-off. Apple and Google keep your mobile computer stable, fast, and free from viruses and malware by managing your operating system and vetting the software you can install through their app-stores. For a lot of people this trade-off seems preferable to an alternative.
technofiend 11y ago
Sure it does: my browsing history, contacts, etc are separate and distinct for each profile. To the best of my knowledge there is no Android permission that'll let you cross that boundry. Please, if you know of evidence to the contrary please share a link to the Android docs. That would be a reason to root my phone and run a release with a privacy plugin.
- anowlcalledjosh 11y ago
  There is absolutely a permission for that, it's called INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS. I suspect what you mean is 'is there a permission accessible by normal apps that can do this', to which the answer is no - the permission is signature-level, meaning the app must be signed with the same key as the OS to be able to access the permission. I can't find a page from the official docs from my phone, but there's a list of permissions on Stack Exchange: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/38389/150855 http://android.stackexchange.com/a/38389/150855
  - technofiend 11y ago
    Thank you for the correction, but my point stands: unless it's signed by Google's OS key it won't be able to cross that boundary. Although since ABC is a major investor in Uber...

jsprogrammer 11y ago

Why reward those you want to screw with cash? Just say no to an Uber install, even with a throwaway (TOS-violating) Google account.

niij 11y ago
How does using an alt account violate Google TOS?
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  I believe the Gmail TOS used to state that one person could only have one personal account. That has either changed, or I am misremembering.
  - dlandis 11y ago
    I think you're misremembering. In fact they make it very easy to have multiple accounts and open them all simultaneously within the same gmail tab, switch between them and manage them fairly seamlessly.
    - hartpuff 11y ago
      Plus you can register multiple accounts with the same number.
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      I was recalling when Gmail first introduced free storage in Beta. I believe you were only supposed to have one account so that one person couldn't gain multiple GBs of 'free' storage.