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Forget about state organizations, Google itself is already malware-as-a-service as far as the Android ecosystem is concerned. Regardless of whether or not the u
by paavoova 8y ago
Forget about state organizations, Google itself is already malware-as-a-service as far as the Android ecosystem is concerned. Regardless of whether or not the user expects it, the fact is most Android phones ship with Google play and this is uninstallable without taking extreme measures like rooting/bootloader unlocking (if even possible). You can pay hundreds of dollars for a device you then own but still have no control over the software and your data.
Lets look at what the linked post claims:
> It basically sends the IMEI and other phone metadata
Google services do this to some degree. Location data, everything. And isn't the IMEI broadcast by the baseband itself?
> as well as file hashes, to a server
Google checksums and uploads files on both mobile and PC as part of their supposed malware heuristics and prevention.
> It also monitors messages sent via otherwise secure apps
This is somewhat malicious, and I'm honestly not sure to what degree Google services are able to intercept or "monitor" app communications.
> I don't know whether it includes sophisticated anti-tempering features or not
Google services certainly do, so much so that projects like MicroG require "signature spoofing" to function. Indirectly, Google has replaced open frameworks with proprietary ones, increasing the reliance of userspace Android on Google services. Google does not want you having freedom and tampering in any way with their ecosystem.
To my mind, the state of consumer technology in the West, and the more aggressive measures like China is taking, are two sides of the same coin. But somehow one fosters complacency despite being just as invasive.
- gruez 8y agogoogle might be doing the same thing, but google doesn't have men with guns forcing you to use google play services
- adventured 8y agoGoogle can't put you into an internment camp, strip you of all human rights, effectively torture and or oppress your family and everyone you know, as China is doing to 13 million Muslims in Xinjiang. The difference between what a private sector corporation in the US can do to you, and what the Chinese Government can do to you in China, could hardly be greater. It's an absurdity to pretend they're comparable things.
- codedokode 8y agoWhile Google cannot put you in jail, Google can give your data to government (that can put you in jail). There is no big difference between large private company having the data or the government. Of course Western surveillance on the Internet cannot be even remotely compared to what happens in China.
- paavoova 8y agoYou're entirely correct that it isn't even comparable. However, I was responding to the specific surveillance practices linked in the OP, and the comment I replied to was discussing the "presence on the Internet", not as broad a topic as the entirety of China's regime.
- boomboomsubban 8y ago>Google can't put you into an internment camp, strip you of all human rights, effectively torture and or oppress your family and everyone you know, as China is doing to 13 million Muslims in Xinjiang The entire population of Xinjiang is 23 million, you're several orders of magnitude off there.