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Can't they fingerprint the device? The fact that Zoom was launched on a specific device is still a lot more information than I would be comfortable giving up if

by xmprt 7y ago

Can't they fingerprint the device? The fact that Zoom was launched on a specific device is still a lot more information than I would be comfortable giving up if I don't use Facebook at all.

godelski 7y ago
It looks like they are fingerprinting the device. Which means that if you have facebook but don't install the phone app, that your phone can be connected with your account and then you can be tracked across the web. There are also, of course, the facebook shadow accounts. Information connected with fingerprints, but not associated with a facebook account.
- valuearb 7y ago
  If they are it's against Apple's rules. Not sure what they are using to fingerprint anyways, given Apple has blocked access to the older system values that were being used.
  - godelski 7y ago
    > Not sure what they are using to fingerprint anyways >> The Zoom app notifies Facebook when the user opens the app, details on the user's device such as the model, the time zone and city they are connecting from, which phone carrier they are using, __and a unique advertiser identifier__ created by the user's device which companies can use to target a user with advertisements
    - jayrhynas 7y ago
      There are two identifiers: Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and Identifier for Vendors (IDFV). IDFA is the same across all apps on a device. However, it can be reset by the user or disabled (in which case it returns all 0s). Also, apps have to disclose (to Apple) that they use the IDFA - not sure if that's visible to the user in the App Store anywhere. IDFV is unique per vendor - that is, each app has a different ID, but two apps from the same developer will have the same ID. I believe this is also reset when resetting the device. The FBSDK doesn't require developers to enable the IDFA, so the unique identifier in the phone home request is either the IDFV (effectively unique) or just a UUID that the FBSDK generates and stores on launch.
untog 7y ago
IIRC Apple made all device identifiers different between apps so it isn’t possible to do that.

by xmprt 7y ago

Can't they fingerprint the device? The fact that Zoom was launched on a specific device is still a lot more information than I would be comfortable giving up if I don't use Facebook at all.

godelski 7y ago

It looks like they are fingerprinting the device. Which means that if you have facebook but don't install the phone app, that your phone can be connected with your account and then you can be tracked across the web. There are also, of course, the facebook shadow accounts. Information connected with fingerprints, but not associated with a facebook account.

valuearb 7y ago
If they are it's against Apple's rules. Not sure what they are using to fingerprint anyways, given Apple has blocked access to the older system values that were being used.
- godelski 7y ago
  > Not sure what they are using to fingerprint anyways >> The Zoom app notifies Facebook when the user opens the app, details on the user's device such as the model, the time zone and city they are connecting from, which phone carrier they are using, __and a unique advertiser identifier__ created by the user's device which companies can use to target a user with advertisements
  - jayrhynas 7y ago
    There are two identifiers: Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and Identifier for Vendors (IDFV). IDFA is the same across all apps on a device. However, it can be reset by the user or disabled (in which case it returns all 0s). Also, apps have to disclose (to Apple) that they use the IDFA - not sure if that's visible to the user in the App Store anywhere. IDFV is unique per vendor - that is, each app has a different ID, but two apps from the same developer will have the same ID. I believe this is also reset when resetting the device. The FBSDK doesn't require developers to enable the IDFA, so the unique identifier in the phone home request is either the IDFV (effectively unique) or just a UUID that the FBSDK generates and stores on launch.

untog 7y ago

IIRC Apple made all device identifiers different between apps so it isn’t possible to do that.