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It would be more convenient. Given that this is supposedly a security feature - no. Nope. Not at all: what is the state of the data line(s), and how do you know
by Piskvorrr 6y ago
It would be more convenient. Given that this is supposedly a security feature - no. Nope. Not at all: what is the state of the data line(s), and how do you know that it matches whatever indicator the cable uses? (There's no way to tell, and you don't - if software is involved, securing stuff becomes HARD, and proving security even harder.)
OTOH, a USB Y-cable physically has no data lines connected on the extra USB-A male connector; it thus provides a far stronger guarantee that there is no data travelling across them. (Not foolproof, but safer than a software-controlled switch.)
- mFixman 6y agoThat's my point. If I can't tell whether this charging cable is secretly an USB keyboard, isn't it better to explicitly tell my cellphone to treat it as charge-only instead of relying on physical solutions?
- zdkl 6y agoMy use case is I don't necessarily trust one end of the connection to behave, so I want the ability to just give/take power and involve exactly 0 software. I understand that's not the usual consumer story, and the best argument I can come up with for the general case is it could make any USB compatible wall plug safe to use to charge up.
- mFixman 6y agoI'm talking about using the phone's software to block the data connection. If you don't trust that cellphone won't transfer your private data via USB, I don't understand why you trust it not to do it via any wireless connection.
- Piskvorrr 6y agoNow it makes sense, thanks for the explanation.