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Remember: some apps check for what apps are installed on the device, and if they see this installed they can deduce you're poisoning the well. Also if you want

Remember: some apps check for what apps are installed on the device, and if they see this installed they can deduce you're poisoning the well. Also if you want to research obfuscation and how it thwarts surveillance, check these: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2019/11/obfuscation_as_.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2019/11/obfuscation_a... https://www.science20.com/news_articles/obfuscation_how_to_hide_from_online_surveillance-164418 https://www.science20.com/news_articles/obfuscation_how_to_h... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/24/obfuscation-users-guide-for-privacy-and-protest-online-surveillance https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/24/obfuscati... https://adnauseam.io/ https://adnauseam.io/ https://bengrosser.com/projects/go-rando/ https://bengrosser.com/projects/go-rando/

artwork159 6y ago
If they saw this app installed, what might they actually do about me or my contact list?
- speedgoose 6y ago
  I guess they may decide to not sell your data. Which is actually a good thing.
- cyberlab 6y ago
  They could just flag you as someone who poisoned the well and ignore you I suppose. Remember: bad actors go after low hanging fruit and tend to ignore privacy-aware folk and those doing anti-surveillance.
- sopromo 6y ago
  Remove all contacts that first name and last name start with Z. Docs say that they prefix every first & last name with Z so that would be a start.
  - cyberlab 6y ago
    Also: check for contacts with weird country-code prefixes that don't match the country the user is based in
djrogers 6y ago
>> some apps check for what apps are installed on the device I can't believe that's allowed by the OS - seems like a horrible policy.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  agreed. Id like to see a source or reference for this.
  - throwawei369 6y ago
    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/03/4000-android-apps-silently-access-your-installed-software/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/03/4000-...
    - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
      But the app in the original article doesn't even work on Android. It is an ios app. The link you provide is about android, right? (Still concerning , however)
      - throwawei369 6y ago
        Seems you have too many HN tabs open at the same time.. But the article I have linked shows the study done on how apps read this information. Goes both ways for Android and Apple at the time, not sure if much has changed
        TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
        Yeah sorry :)
- foobar33333 6y ago
  Probably should be removed but I have seen it used legitimately sometimes. Some apps for things like contact syncing will tell you there are other apps for caldav and stuff and check if you already have them installed to not show the message.

artwork159 6y ago

If they saw this app installed, what might they actually do about me or my contact list?

speedgoose 6y ago
I guess they may decide to not sell your data. Which is actually a good thing.
cyberlab 6y ago
They could just flag you as someone who poisoned the well and ignore you I suppose. Remember: bad actors go after low hanging fruit and tend to ignore privacy-aware folk and those doing anti-surveillance.
sopromo 6y ago
Remove all contacts that first name and last name start with Z. Docs say that they prefix every first & last name with Z so that would be a start.
- cyberlab 6y ago
  Also: check for contacts with weird country-code prefixes that don't match the country the user is based in

djrogers 6y ago

>> some apps check for what apps are installed on the device I can't believe that's allowed by the OS - seems like a horrible policy.

TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
agreed. Id like to see a source or reference for this.
- throwawei369 6y ago
  https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/03/4000-android-apps-silently-access-your-installed-software/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/03/4000-...
  - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
    But the app in the original article doesn't even work on Android. It is an ios app. The link you provide is about android, right? (Still concerning , however)
    - throwawei369 6y ago
      Seems you have too many HN tabs open at the same time.. But the article I have linked shows the study done on how apps read this information. Goes both ways for Android and Apple at the time, not sure if much has changed
      - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
        Yeah sorry :)
foobar33333 6y ago
Probably should be removed but I have seen it used legitimately sometimes. Some apps for things like contact syncing will tell you there are other apps for caldav and stuff and check if you already have them installed to not show the message.