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The app would have been trivially considered a malware if the same thing happened in Windows, where the app was traditionally allowed to access anything within

The app would have been trivially considered a malware if the same thing happened in Windows, where the app was traditionally allowed to access anything within the basic privilieges---just about anything. One can (rightly) blame Windows (and also Android) for allowing that, but more importantly, the Facebook app would have to be treated in the same way after all.

GuiA 9y ago
This is very important to highlight. Mobile has tremendously changed the goal posts in terms of what are acceptable things to do on a system and what violates the privacy of the user, and no one noticed. Imagine a piece of software in the 2000s that sent all your emails, contacts, etc to a central server when running on your desktop computer, made by a large American company. There would have been utter outrage and legal ramifications.
Larrikin 9y ago
I believe this is something that regulation should address. Scooping up all this data should be a massive liability for companies. Depending on the severity of a hack or misuse of the data it should effectively bankrupt or significantly destroy profits of any company. But the OS should not completely prevent it. There are a number of programs for power users on macOS that have stopped selling through the App Store or warn against limited functionality for apps bought through the store. There are also a lot of extremely useful apps for Android that work most effectively when your phone is rooted. Google's Safety Net has effectively made rooting a liability for all power users. When the OS provider is limiting what a user can do the device quickly devolves into an entertainment consumption device. Bad actors should be treated as viruses and malware the same as they were before.
- gruez 9y ago
  >Depending on the severity of a hack or misuse of the data it should effectively bankrupt or significantly destroy profits of any company. counterpoint: equifax
  - Larrikin 9y ago
    Equifax is exactly the kind of company that should not exist after a breach of that kind
    - guitarbill 9y ago
      Equifax is exactly the kind of company that should have never existed, and should have never been allowed to exist. The same with the Facebook app (+ Android permissions, because even Facebook can't do full evil without Google apparently). And it's going to be the same result. Nothing is going to change, neither company will suffer much, nobody is going to jail. So his counterpoint is valid.

GuiA 9y ago

This is very important to highlight. Mobile has tremendously changed the goal posts in terms of what are acceptable things to do on a system and what violates the privacy of the user, and no one noticed. Imagine a piece of software in the 2000s that sent all your emails, contacts, etc to a central server when running on your desktop computer, made by a large American company. There would have been utter outrage and legal ramifications.

Larrikin 9y ago

I believe this is something that regulation should address. Scooping up all this data should be a massive liability for companies. Depending on the severity of a hack or misuse of the data it should effectively bankrupt or significantly destroy profits of any company. But the OS should not completely prevent it. There are a number of programs for power users on macOS that have stopped selling through the App Store or warn against limited functionality for apps bought through the store. There are also a lot of extremely useful apps for Android that work most effectively when your phone is rooted. Google's Safety Net has effectively made rooting a liability for all power users. When the OS provider is limiting what a user can do the device quickly devolves into an entertainment consumption device. Bad actors should be treated as viruses and malware the same as they were before.

gruez 9y ago
>Depending on the severity of a hack or misuse of the data it should effectively bankrupt or significantly destroy profits of any company. counterpoint: equifax
- Larrikin 9y ago
  Equifax is exactly the kind of company that should not exist after a breach of that kind
  - guitarbill 9y ago
    Equifax is exactly the kind of company that should have never existed, and should have never been allowed to exist. The same with the Facebook app (+ Android permissions, because even Facebook can't do full evil without Google apparently). And it's going to be the same result. Nothing is going to change, neither company will suffer much, nobody is going to jail. So his counterpoint is valid.