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An even bigger problem: if you set up an Android phone without a Google account and need to access the Play Store (which is impossible to do without nowadays),
by rcMgD2BwE72F 6y ago
An even bigger problem: if you set up an Android phone without a Google account and need to access the Play Store (which is impossible to do without nowadays), Google will force you to sign into a Google account at the OS level and will suck in all your devices contacts -- with no opt out. You can disable this sync "feature" but *only after*, once Google has collected all your contacts (phone number, addresses, emails, birthdays, etc).
Explanation: the toggle to opt out is made available after you log into Google and you must navigate in multiple screens which gives Google ample time to collect hundreds of contact details. Of course, it is not possible to turn on airplane mode during this procedure since the log in requires an Internet connection.
This is 100% against the EU GDPR. I've submitted a complaint to my local privacy regular (French CNIL) but never heard back.
This probably impacts 200+ hundreds millions of EU citizens (since 2/3 of the population must be using an Android phone). I can't imagine a more massive data collection program, since each user must probably have more than 50 people on their device so the total amount of people that is affected exceeds my imagination.
How can Google get such a pass?
- lofi_lory 6y agoI use Aurora for the Playstore. It's buggy but does the trick for the few apps not in FDroid. No account needed as they provide a service for shared credentials.
- vmateixeira 6y agoI feel you. Unfortunately, I don't think GDPR will be of much help on that case. A fine of up to 1% of they're revenue will hardly make a dent - it's just another tax. Misbehaviour will be still worth it. Actually GDPR is of great help to them, by putting smaller competitors away from using similar techniques. For those, a 1% revenue is a lot.