8 ms·

Interesting you say that. Android actually gives you control over security and privacy by telling you what your app API's get access to. iOS apps could be tra

Interesting you say that. Android actually gives you control over security and privacy by telling you what your app API's get access to. iOS apps could be transmitting details back to home without your knowledge.

chopin 9y ago
Wouldn't Google be in the same position? They could grant their apps privileges without your knowledge. They build the OS.
- justonepost 9y ago
  Oh sure, but google has everything to lose for leaking personal data. Rogue app companies simply have nothing to lose
sjwright 9y ago
> Android actually gives you control over security and privacy by telling you what your app API's get access to. Simply mentioning a laundry list of the myriad things an app will be permitted to do is NOT giving me control over security and privacy. http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/03-Angry-Birds-Add-Permissions.png http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/03-Angry... That's not control, that's bullshit. Apple got permissions right long before Android did: no third party apps have intrinsic permission to use the microphone, address book, location etc until the OS asks me on behalf of that app. And I can always say no if I want.
- chipperyman573 9y ago
  That hasn't been the case since android 6 (they're on android 8 now). That picture looks like this now: https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ximg_56130fa9b9c43.png.pagespeed.ic.kgfcXLkaa6.png https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ximg_56... It works just the same as iOS, where the first time an app wants to use your location/etc it asks android, which shows a prompt: https://uit.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/images/2016/08/30/access_location.jpg https://uit.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/images/2016/08/... And can be revoked as well: https://img.gadgethacks.com/img/81/78/63633813117897/0/snapchat-101-turn-ghost-mode-for-snap-map-keep-your-location-private.w1456.jpg https://img.gadgethacks.com/img/81/78/63633813117897/0/snapc...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - lvillani 9y ago
    iOS is different in a subtle way: once you grant an application permission to use location/microphone, it will show a banner if a background app is using it. Once you grant e.g. permission to access the microphone to an Android app, it can do so at any time without you noticing. Until you manually go to the settings and revoke the permission, that is.
    - tinus_hn 9y ago
      This happens only if the permission is for ‘while using the app’. This permission means that part of the app needs to be visible on screen and if it’s not, the banner will show. If you change the permission to ‘always’ the banner won’t show.
      - lvillani 9y ago
        That only applies for location access. Even then, you'll see an arrow in the status bar and there's a page in the settings that lets you see which applications are actually accessing your location in the background, and how often. Mic recording, on the other hand, is always user-initiated and very explicit.
  - newscracker 9y ago
    I've heard right here on HN that even in the newer versions of Android, some (prominent?) apps don't work well if you don't grant them the unnecessary (from the user's point of view) permissions. I haven't seen something like that on iOS so far. With the pace of Android adoption, the new permission model isn't even present on half the devices that have been tracked on the Android Dashboard. [1] Versions 6 and 7 combined are at 48% adoption as of this moment, according to this dashboard. On the iOS side, the granular permissions model has been around since the last seven years or longer, IIRC. And iOS devices have a much higher rate of new OS adoption, which means almost every iOS device currently in use has the same permission model for a lot longer. [1]: https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html#Platform https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html#Pl...
- justonepost 9y ago
  Yeah, but there are things like some game can backdoor the clipboard while submitting a score or whatever. I like to know if an app has access to the network. If it does, don't install unless I trust the parent company.
- tinus_hn 9y ago
  > no third party apps have intrinsic permission to use the microphone, address book, location etc until the OS asks me on behalf of that app. Actually some of these permissions need to be requested by the first-party apps as well. You can deny the built-in Maps application location updates.
mlnj 9y ago
Privacy controls exists both in Android and Apple platforms, but you can be sure of one thing: if you choose to save your data on either clouds, they have the ability to use it for their platform (ML, advertisement suggestions).
- nardi 9y ago
  Not if that data is encrypted with a key that they don’t have. Which is what Apple does.
  - mosselman 9y ago
    True, but alas not for every service as far as I have understood it. I am particularly interested in storing my photos somewhere, but the details about the encryption have not led me to believe that Apple can't access my photos, which is a must-have requirement to me. Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 It says 'encryption-server: yes' for photos, but around this table you have the text: " For certain sensitive information, Apple uses end-to-end encryption. This means that only you can access your information, and only on devices where you’re signed in to iCloud. No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information." and "These features and their data are transmitted and stored in iCloud using end-to-end encryption: - iCloud Keychain (Includes all of your saved accounts and passwords) - Payment information - Wi-Fi network information - Home data - Siri information" So alas, no photos.
IshKebab 9y ago
> iOS apps could be transmitting details back to home without your knowledge. Erm, so could Android apps? You don't need to request permission for internet access anymore.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

chopin 9y ago

Wouldn't Google be in the same position? They could grant their apps privileges without your knowledge. They build the OS.

justonepost 9y ago
Oh sure, but google has everything to lose for leaking personal data. Rogue app companies simply have nothing to lose

sjwright 9y ago

> Android actually gives you control over security and privacy by telling you what your app API's get access to. Simply mentioning a laundry list of the myriad things an app will be permitted to do is NOT giving me control over security and privacy. http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/03-Angry-Birds-Add-Permissions.png http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/03-Angry... That's not control, that's bullshit. Apple got permissions right long before Android did: no third party apps have intrinsic permission to use the microphone, address book, location etc until the OS asks me on behalf of that app. And I can always say no if I want.

chipperyman573 9y ago
That hasn't been the case since android 6 (they're on android 8 now). That picture looks like this now: https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ximg_56130fa9b9c43.png.pagespeed.ic.kgfcXLkaa6.png https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ximg_56... It works just the same as iOS, where the first time an app wants to use your location/etc it asks android, which shows a prompt: https://uit.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/images/2016/08/30/access_location.jpg https://uit.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/images/2016/08/... And can be revoked as well: https://img.gadgethacks.com/img/81/78/63633813117897/0/snapchat-101-turn-ghost-mode-for-snap-map-keep-your-location-private.w1456.jpg https://img.gadgethacks.com/img/81/78/63633813117897/0/snapc...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- lvillani 9y ago
  iOS is different in a subtle way: once you grant an application permission to use location/microphone, it will show a banner if a background app is using it. Once you grant e.g. permission to access the microphone to an Android app, it can do so at any time without you noticing. Until you manually go to the settings and revoke the permission, that is.
  - tinus_hn 9y ago
    This happens only if the permission is for ‘while using the app’. This permission means that part of the app needs to be visible on screen and if it’s not, the banner will show. If you change the permission to ‘always’ the banner won’t show.
    - lvillani 9y ago
      That only applies for location access. Even then, you'll see an arrow in the status bar and there's a page in the settings that lets you see which applications are actually accessing your location in the background, and how often. Mic recording, on the other hand, is always user-initiated and very explicit.
- newscracker 9y ago
  I've heard right here on HN that even in the newer versions of Android, some (prominent?) apps don't work well if you don't grant them the unnecessary (from the user's point of view) permissions. I haven't seen something like that on iOS so far. With the pace of Android adoption, the new permission model isn't even present on half the devices that have been tracked on the Android Dashboard. [1] Versions 6 and 7 combined are at 48% adoption as of this moment, according to this dashboard. On the iOS side, the granular permissions model has been around since the last seven years or longer, IIRC. And iOS devices have a much higher rate of new OS adoption, which means almost every iOS device currently in use has the same permission model for a lot longer. [1]: https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html#Platform https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html#Pl...
justonepost 9y ago
Yeah, but there are things like some game can backdoor the clipboard while submitting a score or whatever. I like to know if an app has access to the network. If it does, don't install unless I trust the parent company.
tinus_hn 9y ago
> no third party apps have intrinsic permission to use the microphone, address book, location etc until the OS asks me on behalf of that app. Actually some of these permissions need to be requested by the first-party apps as well. You can deny the built-in Maps application location updates.

mlnj 9y ago

Privacy controls exists both in Android and Apple platforms, but you can be sure of one thing: if you choose to save your data on either clouds, they have the ability to use it for their platform (ML, advertisement suggestions).

nardi 9y ago
Not if that data is encrypted with a key that they don’t have. Which is what Apple does.
- mosselman 9y ago
  True, but alas not for every service as far as I have understood it. I am particularly interested in storing my photos somewhere, but the details about the encryption have not led me to believe that Apple can't access my photos, which is a must-have requirement to me. Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 It says 'encryption-server: yes' for photos, but around this table you have the text: " For certain sensitive information, Apple uses end-to-end encryption. This means that only you can access your information, and only on devices where you’re signed in to iCloud. No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information." and "These features and their data are transmitted and stored in iCloud using end-to-end encryption: - iCloud Keychain (Includes all of your saved accounts and passwords) - Payment information - Wi-Fi network information - Home data - Siri information" So alas, no photos.

IshKebab 9y ago

> iOS apps could be transmitting details back to home without your knowledge. Erm, so could Android apps? You don't need to request permission for internet access anymore.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]