4 ms·

>"The API doesn't obtain any information about in-app activity and our collection of this data is disclosed to and controllable by users" Google is excellent a

by 0xy 6y ago

>"The API doesn't obtain any information about in-app activity and our collection of this data is disclosed to and controllable by users" Google is excellent at this kind of word maneuver, designed to confuse and mislead. Google gets confronted about an egregious practice, and a PR representative responds with "well, we would absolutely never do [slightly worse unrelated thing]". This happens over and over again. They get caught, MSM blindly repeats Google PR talking points with enormous spin and PR manuevering, and everyone forgets until the next scandal.

0xWTF 6y ago
I have to say, my experience working with Google is that they actually resist the acquisition of information that's not in the public domain in a lot of ways. I've seen them fund another company's development team to do work, even buying the other company hardware for the task, just to avoid the data. I've seen them consciously exclude engineering tools you'd think are right up their alley, because the tools would acquire data which, while entirely in-scope and on-mission, could be considered too sensitive in some context. If they're collecting this data, I strongly suspect they feel obligated to, maybe even compelled too. Possibly for purposes like app security, user security, OS security, user experience, etc.
- the_pwner224 6y ago
  > If they're collecting this data, I strongly suspect they feel obligated to, maybe even compelled too. Possibly for purposes like app security, user security, OS security, user experience, etc. This doesn't really make sense; none of those are compelling use cases for such invasive data collection. And this additional new tracking does not seem very useful for security, and even then there's no reason for all of the data to leave the device if it's for security.
  - tdeck 6y ago
    Play collects certain metrics about app usage because app developers want them (not sure how much overlap there is with what's described in the article). Source: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/139628?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...
lern_too_spel 6y ago
Apple and Microsoft collect the same data (with the same ability to opt out of app usage reporting). Apple is the worst of the three because there is no supported way to install an app on iOS without telling Apple.

by 0xy 6y ago

0xWTF 6y ago

I have to say, my experience working with Google is that they actually resist the acquisition of information that's not in the public domain in a lot of ways. I've seen them fund another company's development team to do work, even buying the other company hardware for the task, just to avoid the data. I've seen them consciously exclude engineering tools you'd think are right up their alley, because the tools would acquire data which, while entirely in-scope and on-mission, could be considered too sensitive in some context. If they're collecting this data, I strongly suspect they feel obligated to, maybe even compelled too. Possibly for purposes like app security, user security, OS security, user experience, etc.

the_pwner224 6y ago
> If they're collecting this data, I strongly suspect they feel obligated to, maybe even compelled too. Possibly for purposes like app security, user security, OS security, user experience, etc. This doesn't really make sense; none of those are compelling use cases for such invasive data collection. And this additional new tracking does not seem very useful for security, and even then there's no reason for all of the data to leave the device if it's for security.
- tdeck 6y ago
  Play collects certain metrics about app usage because app developers want them (not sure how much overlap there is with what's described in the article). Source: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/139628?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...

lern_too_spel 6y ago

Apple and Microsoft collect the same data (with the same ability to opt out of app usage reporting). Apple is the worst of the three because there is no supported way to install an app on iOS without telling Apple.