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> Personally this is enough of a feature for me to switch to an iphone as my next phone. You can accomplish even more by not installing their crap apps to begi
by cronix 5y ago
> Personally this is enough of a feature for me to switch to an iphone as my next phone.
You can accomplish even more by not installing their crap apps to begin with, and have always had that choice. You need google to save you from yourself and this is a compelling enough reason for you to switch phones, even though you're smart and actually know all of what's been going on and how to prevent it, but choose not to?
- coldpie 5y agoI already don't use Facebook, but I agree with the parent that Apple's real action towards privacy and against ad-based business models have convinced me to switch from Android to iPhone. Contrast these privacy moves with Google's FLOC. I'd rather support Apple.
- bozzcl 5y agoI made that move earlier this year. TBH, it's not like I trust Apple more than Google or Facebook... but at least for now my interests align better with their business model. That being said, I've been tempted to get a Motorola Razr flip phone just for the sake of nostalgia, though I would have to root it and remove everything related to Google to feel comfortable with it.
- wyre 5y agoWhat don’t you trust about Apple that equates them to Google or Facebook? I trust them more than Google and FB, but that is certainly a very low bar. I trust that Apple isn’t profiting off my data. It isn’t even close to their business model so it allows them to give their users privacy G and F can’t.
- bozzcl 5y agoI have a general distrust of device manufacturers nowadays. Seeing how far some other devices go (phones and smart TVs especially), I think it's a healthy attitude to have. To give you an example, I recently implemented an allowlist on my firewall so only approved devices can access my WAN. I immediately started seeing frequent dropped packets from my wireless access point (Netgear Nighthawk AX200) and switch (Ubiquiti UniFi 8-port PoE) to Netgear and AWS IPs respectively. While some of that is probably them checking for updates, the volume didn't really seem warranted. Going back to Apple though... sure, that's the exact reason why I switched. They already charge a premium, so they have less of an incentive to pad their quarterly earnings selling data. But they're still a company, still responding to shareholders, and they already collect certain amount of analytics. There's not that much of a jump from there to selling it, so being careful and mistrusting is probably a good thing IMO.
- Applejinx 5y agoBecause it's such a low bar, it's not at all hard to believe. They really don't have to try hard to be better than that, and their self-interest is real obvious.
- fortzi 5y agoBut then you have to work at it, looking behind your shoulder that you’re not accidentally allowing something you don’t want to. I’d much rather pay for a system that will do as much of it for me.
- vetinari 5y agoYou don't have to. I don't have Facebook or Messenger app installed and do not intend to. They are not going to sneak in, unless I specifically click on the Install button in the play store. No need to pay someone to hold my hand in not clicking that button.
- ncallaway 5y ago> You can accomplish even more by not installing their crap apps to begin with, and have always had that choice. You don't really, though. Because who knows which applications listed in the app store have the FB SDK embedded inside. There's no practical way for me to inspect every app listing that I might consider installing, to see if it contains the FB SDK.
- nine_k 5y agoWhy, if you only install Android apps from F-droid, you'll see that they build from source and mark all "anti-features"; the presence of the FB SDK won't pass without a large warning sign. OTOH it's sort of hard to live on FOSS Android software alone.
- pm90 5y agoMaybe I'm not that smart : ). I'm very familiar with how advertising currently works, but the field is also one that seems to evolve quickly (no doubt why: lots of money to be made). Am I smarter than all the engineers and startups and existing firms whose revenues depend on tracking? Most likely not. The other more mundane reason is just I'm lazy and tired. I just want a phone that works without wondering about patching the OS or whatever. Maybe you enjoy doing that, I don't.
- Justsignedup 5y agoI mean sure, if I want to cut communication with half my friends. We don't live in an ideal bubble where I have full control over the tools I use. Its the same argument people make for video game moderation "if you don't like it, turn off chat" but then you're self-isolating. Point is, this is a social problem.
- lostlogin 5y agoI think that’s a view from inside the bubble. It’s a sort of addiction. Switching it off is not going to have the ostracising effect one might fear.