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People should really just assume every scrap of data they input into their phones is being sent to at least one company who will happily sell it to anyone who a

People should really just assume every scrap of data they input into their phones is being sent to at least one company who will happily sell it to anyone who asks. Never use your phone for anything you wouldn't be happy with being publicly known and associated with you forever. That's not what our devices should be, but that's the reality we live in. These devices aren't for us, they are to enable other companies to use us.

saagarjha 7y ago
> People should really just assume every scrap of data they input into their phones is being sent to at least one company who will happily sell it to anyone who asks. There are a number of apps that don’t let this information leave your device at all, or end-to-end encrypt it. You just have to find them.
- ben509 7y ago
  And then hope they don't get new management.
  - jraph 7y ago
    Don't hope. Don't guess. Use apps from F-Droid. There is still a risk at the app level but it is much lower. On iOS, there is no such thing so you can't do that. At the phone level, there are still opaque binary blobs, so don't trust blindly.
- ryanmcbride 7y ago
  While true, assuming that they could access and sell your data if they wanted to is still a good rule to follow, as it'll make you more cautious.
- grecy 7y ago
  Just wait till someone with very deep pockets buys them. i.e WhatsApp
  - cameronbrown 7y ago
    WhatsApp isn't compromised though, regardless of its parent entity. They'd rather have the user base not generating data for anyone than an independent WhatsApp.
    - beagle3 7y ago
      Facebook has, in fact, used WhatsApp data to improve the Facebook connectivity graph. They haven’t messed with the actual message texts. Yet.
  - input_sh 7y ago
    Bad example. Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014. WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption by default in 2016.
ptx 7y ago
Devices made for us are coming, some time early next year. Purism Librem 5: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ Pinephone: https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/
- anigbrowl 7y ago
  They're coming every year, and yet here we are.
  - ivanstojic 7y ago
    Don't be so bummed out sounding. I'm sure we'll solve it as soon as we get a good year of Linux on the desktop.
    - ben-schaaf 7y ago
      It's been a pretty good year so far, for me anyway. I'm hoping Android soon joins my pile of "never again" software.
    - blaser-waffle 7y ago
      Linux on the desktop is pretty good. YoLotD may have already happened, IMO. Now that Steam, WINE, and Proton are working reasonably well on a couple of major Linux platforms (Fedora, Ubuntu, and the Arch folks), there really isn't anything my Linux desktop can't do; gaming was the only holdout and that's mostly solved. Graphics drivers, like the open AMD drivers and Nvidia's binary blob, are decent too.
switch007 7y ago
You could extend this advice to anything with a CPU and a network connection: TVs, tablets, e-readers, smart watches/fitness trackers, cars, printers, smart home devices etc.

saagarjha 7y ago

> People should really just assume every scrap of data they input into their phones is being sent to at least one company who will happily sell it to anyone who asks. There are a number of apps that don’t let this information leave your device at all, or end-to-end encrypt it. You just have to find them.

ben509 7y ago
And then hope they don't get new management.
- jraph 7y ago
  Don't hope. Don't guess. Use apps from F-Droid. There is still a risk at the app level but it is much lower. On iOS, there is no such thing so you can't do that. At the phone level, there are still opaque binary blobs, so don't trust blindly.
ryanmcbride 7y ago
While true, assuming that they could access and sell your data if they wanted to is still a good rule to follow, as it'll make you more cautious.
grecy 7y ago
Just wait till someone with very deep pockets buys them. i.e WhatsApp
- cameronbrown 7y ago
  WhatsApp isn't compromised though, regardless of its parent entity. They'd rather have the user base not generating data for anyone than an independent WhatsApp.
  - beagle3 7y ago
    Facebook has, in fact, used WhatsApp data to improve the Facebook connectivity graph. They haven’t messed with the actual message texts. Yet.
- input_sh 7y ago
  Bad example. Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014. WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption by default in 2016.

ptx 7y ago

Devices made for us are coming, some time early next year. Purism Librem 5: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ Pinephone: https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

anigbrowl 7y ago
They're coming every year, and yet here we are.
- ivanstojic 7y ago
  Don't be so bummed out sounding. I'm sure we'll solve it as soon as we get a good year of Linux on the desktop.
  - ben-schaaf 7y ago
    It's been a pretty good year so far, for me anyway. I'm hoping Android soon joins my pile of "never again" software.
  - blaser-waffle 7y ago
    Linux on the desktop is pretty good. YoLotD may have already happened, IMO. Now that Steam, WINE, and Proton are working reasonably well on a couple of major Linux platforms (Fedora, Ubuntu, and the Arch folks), there really isn't anything my Linux desktop can't do; gaming was the only holdout and that's mostly solved. Graphics drivers, like the open AMD drivers and Nvidia's binary blob, are decent too.

switch007 7y ago

You could extend this advice to anything with a CPU and a network connection: TVs, tablets, e-readers, smart watches/fitness trackers, cars, printers, smart home devices etc.