8 ms·
I assume you ask that because you are aware that any device with the capabilities of a smartphone can be made into a powerful surveillance device by whoever the
by madez 7y ago
I assume you ask that because you are aware that any device with the capabilities of a smartphone can be made into a powerful surveillance device by whoever the entity is that has control over it.
I see variations of that argument very often. Its essence goes like this:
A: This is a proven threat.
B: But so could be this and that.
A: Right, could be.
B: But we can't get rid of them all, so let's just do nothing.
Here person B somehow convinced themselves that doing anything in that regard to be futile because they can't solve this class of problems once and for all.
There is a distinction between possible threats on one side and an existing threat based on evidence on the other side.
Any device with the capabilities of a smartphone can be nefarious, but doesn't have to be. Any Android device certainly is.
So I'd like to tell people to turn off their Android devices, but may they keep using their open hardware and software phone, because I don't see them as the threat, but the entity that controls their Android device.
- tssva 7y agoThey are most likely asking because the main competitor to Android devices also has an always listening assistant.
- auiya 7y agoCapability, yes. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe it's enabled by default?
- zenography 7y agoSiri has been enabled by default since iOS 9[0]. [0] http://ios9news.net/setup-hey-siri/ http://ios9news.net/setup-hey-siri/
- callalex 7y agoThe always-listening portion is not. Also “enabled by default” still requires active user consent and agreement to plain English privacy terms. It is a step that cannot be missed when setting up the phone.
- tssva 7y ago"Voice Match", the always-listening functionality of Google Assistant, also needs to be enabled. It requires training to your particular voice in order to make it more difficult for someone else to try to access your information using the feature. When being enabled a warning regarding the potential security implications of doing so is presented.
- opencl 7y agoAre you suggesting there's proof that Google Assistant on Android devices is always listening even if it's turned off in settings?
- diffeomorphism 7y agoI would agree with the open hard-/software point, but that does not at all answer why you are purposely not mentioning the second most popular phone OS.