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My new washer-dryer (not as much fun as the telephone) has bluetooth ,and I can monitor and control it with an app ('Homewhiz').. ...that connects to a cloud s
by linker3000 5y ago
My new washer-dryer (not as much fun as the telephone) has bluetooth ,and I can monitor and control it with an app ('Homewhiz')..
...that connects to a cloud server 'somewhere'.
...for which the app suppliers want: my location and access to my microphone, camera and contacts - and the app won't install or run if you start denying access.
Nope, not happening.
I wish I was more of a hacker/programmer because I'd like to do some protocol sniffing and create a connector for Node-Red so that I could link the appliance to my home automation system without becoming a personal data asset for the manufacturer.
- rjmunro 5y agoI would hope this is just using bluetooth headset profile, and doesn't require anything like that. It really doesn't need anything else with the feature set as described.
- creshal 5y agoFrom the product page: "a phone smart enough not to come with any apps". Sure looks like it's a plain BT headset.
- makach 5y agoCan I use it as my office phone?
- monkpit 5y agoJust have it on your desk paired with your cell. Would work fine I think :)
- hackmiester 5y agoMy Cisco 8851 has Bluetooth and supports headsets. I'll be using this with it.
- cr3ative 5y agoAre you aware you're commenting on a nostalgic bluetooth kids phone which pairs to your mobile phone in the same way a headset does?
- linker3000 5y agoYep. My comment was more along the lines of 'connectivity can be fun/useful, but sometimes there's a privacy trade-off'. I'd consider myself 'aware' rather than 'paranoid', but if we extrapolate for a minute....Some function or app on the phone (or distant cloud service) can recognise the MAC address of the Fisher price phone's bluetooth PHY and, coupled with GPS info, we have a location where there's possibly a young child (or an older one in their home office!). Maybe, worse case, your targeted ads contain more children's toys.
- 300bps 5y agoSome function or app on the phone (or distant cloud service) can recognise the MAC address of the Fisher price phone's bluetooth PHY That’s not how MAC addresses work. Once a packet crosses a router, the packet appears to come from the MAC address of the router. So for example a web site you connect to has no idea what your MAC address is.
- inetknght 5y ago> So for example a web site you connect to has no idea what your MAC address is. ...unless you (or the app you're running) tells it.
- linker3000 5y agoExactly.
- oseityphelysiol 5y agoBluetooth uses MAC addresses too, so this still applies.
- c7h 5y agoWithout knowing the App, but the location permission could be required for Bluetooth 4.X LE to work. That still doesn't justify why a dryer needs your phonebook.
- antoniuschan99 5y agoYes you need Allow Location Permissions for your App to use Bluetooth on both iOS and Android :$
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y agoYou are not the first person with this problem - fortunately smart people figured a way to fake all these data but it requires additional effort.
- rossmohax 5y agoAny pointers where to start?
- bellyfullofbac 5y agohttps://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua I haven't kept up with it, it needs a rooted phone and Xposed Framework, and some apps don't like that and stop working. But in an older version of this app, you can set it to prompt you for any activity the app wants to do, e.g. read clipboard or phone status, where you can say "Allow/deny always, allow/deny for 10 minutes" etc.
- jhgb 5y ago> for which the app suppliers want: my location and access to my microphone, camera and contacts - and the app won't install or run if you start denying access Could these things be virtualized? And provide a fixed location, silent sound, and an empty contact list to whatever applications you don't trust?
- krageon 5y agoYes, if you run an android version with root there are frameworks for doing this. That said, some apps detect when things are too static and won't necessarily work even with these workarounds.
- jhgb 5y agoOh, fake data generators it is, then.
- xmprt 5y agoThis should be built into the operating system. Didn't Android (or maybe it was iOS) add a feature recently where you can set your camera to be a black screen unless you explicitly give permission to the app even if you gave permission to the app earlier?
- krageon 5y ago> This should be built into the operating system I agree, but I doubt it will happen. It was already a battle to get the permissions in android as fine-grained as they are. Even though they are fine-grained now, the permissions don't mean anything when every app demands that you give it everything it asks for (even though it clearly does not need them to work).
- eru 5y agoIf you are on Android, there are ways to give phones fake access to microphone, camera, contacts etc.
- yeswecatan 5y agoHow?
- eru 5y agoSorry, I forget the exact mechanism. If it helps: I last saw that possibility, when I was playing around with rooting and alternate Android images. I might have used something like XPrivacy. https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacy https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacy
- TheRealDunkirk 5y agoWhy did you buy that washer and dryer? Surely there were non-"appified" versions available? You appear to hate the idea, but you just told that manufacturer that that's what you wanted.
- johanbcn 5y ago> Surely there were non-"appified" versions available? Ironically, those are probably more expensive. Privacy has become a commodity.
- TheRealDunkirk 5y agoYou've hit the nail on the head. Americans will do anything to save $1, and this is the future we deserve.
- yeswecatan 5y ago> I wish I was more of a hacker/programmer because I'd like to do some protocol sniffing and create a connector for Node-Red so that I could link the appliance to my home automation system without becoming a personal data asset for the manufacturer. You may find this post (https://ptx2.net/posts/unbricking-a-bike-with-a-raspberry-pi/ https://ptx2.net/posts/unbricking-a-bike-with-a-raspberry-pi...) inspirational.
- flanbiscuit 5y agoCan you use the machines without an app? I'm perfectly happy using appliances like it's the pre-smartphone era but the moment using an app becomes _required_ is when I'll flip my shit
- MarkusWandel 5y agoPhones should have fake permissions for this kind of thing. Suuure you can read my SMS. Oh, I never get any SMS? Well that's how it is. Mine my contact info? Oh, look at that, I have no friends.
- fastest963 5y agoWhat's stopping them from just complaining when you have no SMS or contacts? They would just show a new dialog saying "Give us the real permissions".
- pjerem 5y agoYeah but that’s a legitimate GFY situation where you would infuriately delete the application.
- sudosysgen 5y agoThen you get an app that can generate fakes. Seems very fun to make
- stordoff 5y agoAssuming it's a built-in iOS/Android feature, hopefully app review would catch apps trying to circumvent the fake permissions, and the risk of blocking real users would probably discourage them (I almost never use SMS unless it's for a verification code, and I have no reason to keep those messages).
- dgarrett 5y agoiOS has this with the photo album permission at least. You can select to only reveal a select subset of your photos to an app. I assume Android has something similar.
- Animats 5y agoSomeone had that in the early days of Android. If you denied an app access to your contact list, the app saw a list of fake contacts.