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> ... How many of these things install root certs where even after you've canceled your subscription you're still accepting their bullshit? It does seem like a

> ... How many of these things install root certs where even after you've canceled your subscription you're still accepting their bullshit? It does seem like a bit of a flaw that removing the app on iOS doesn't automatically remove the profile such apps install: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT205347 https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT205347 I'm pretty sure Apple will remove the VPN profile, which is why leaving a root certificate seems dangerous for users who don't know what they're for. There can, of course, be legitimate uses for this tech. https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/ios/ https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/ios/ or maybe opting out of certificate transparency reports, but they do seem like edge cases.

dwaite 7y ago
> It does seem like a bit of a flaw that removing the app on iOS doesn't automatically remove the profile such apps install AFAIK only system apps can install profiles. These apps work by getting the user to install a separate profile via Safari. > I'm pretty sure Apple will remove the VPN profile, which is why leaving a root certificate seems dangerous for users who don't know what they're for. If these aren't enterprise profiles then Apple may not have an easy mechanism to block them (other than blocking their semantics). Apple has a ton of variants of profiles, I keep expecting them to deprecate swaths of types/installation methods to help this be more understandable.
- lstamour 7y ago
  If Safari has a system back button to take me back to the app, it knows enough to include the “originating app” for the profile. Similarly it could create an association between the domain the profile is hosted on and the app. Finally, Apple could indeed change how profile installation works such that profiles need to be signed and associated with either an Enterprise account or a per-app developer account, to make deleting such apps-with-profiles in future more robust. Lastly, like privacy warnings, Apple could say that Certificate Owner has installed a root certificate to monitor all communications and let you opt out. That would be ideal, to deprecate existing methods and even more explicitly support app-based root certificates in their privacy warning flows.

dwaite 7y ago

> It does seem like a bit of a flaw that removing the app on iOS doesn't automatically remove the profile such apps install AFAIK only system apps can install profiles. These apps work by getting the user to install a separate profile via Safari. > I'm pretty sure Apple will remove the VPN profile, which is why leaving a root certificate seems dangerous for users who don't know what they're for. If these aren't enterprise profiles then Apple may not have an easy mechanism to block them (other than blocking their semantics). Apple has a ton of variants of profiles, I keep expecting them to deprecate swaths of types/installation methods to help this be more understandable.

lstamour 7y ago
If Safari has a system back button to take me back to the app, it knows enough to include the “originating app” for the profile. Similarly it could create an association between the domain the profile is hosted on and the app. Finally, Apple could indeed change how profile installation works such that profiles need to be signed and associated with either an Enterprise account or a per-app developer account, to make deleting such apps-with-profiles in future more robust. Lastly, like privacy warnings, Apple could say that Certificate Owner has installed a root certificate to monitor all communications and let you opt out. That would be ideal, to deprecate existing methods and even more explicitly support app-based root certificates in their privacy warning flows.