3 ms·

Massachusetts and Google installed trackers on 1M phones

14 points by barry-cotter 4y ago

jqpabc123 4y ago
Thank you Google and MA for offering proof positive of what should have been obvious all along --- you don't really own your phone, Google does. And they can do what they want with it.
lern_too_spel 4y ago
By this definition, Apple and all the COVID tracker agencies that integrated with them installed trackers on all the iPhones. The only difference between the Google implementation and the Apple implementation is that the Google implementation required an app install to configure which system to report positives to and to get positive tracker IDs from, while Apple did not require an app install to get that configuration. The claim that the app was automatically activated, configuring data to be sent to and from MA, was made out of whole cloth by the blogger. Here is an accurate description of the lawsuit from when it was filed: https://archive.is/2022.11.22-132721/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/22/business/health-care-or-spyware-lawsuit-attacks-mass-covid-tracking-app/ https://archive.is/2022.11.22-132721/https://www.bostonglobe...
- hgsgm 4y ago
  Join me in flagging fake news submissions.
- Gunax 4y ago
  The Boston globe reports the app sent and received data without activation. So while the blog may be wrong in the strict sense that the app was not automatically activated, it seems to be using a 'activated' in a different (and IMO more a accurate) way. Most people would consider something active if it's communicating via bluetooth.
  - lern_too_spel 4y ago
    That's not the app. The app simply configures where to send positive reports to and where to download positive IDs from. The app has no access to Bluetooth. Separately, the user can turn on whether they want to send and receive IDs to nearby devices. The app itself can't even ask the phone to directly start communicating with other devices. It can ask the phone to show a consent screen for the user to agree to in order for the phone to start communicating those IDs with nearby devices, after which the phone will start doing so. https://developers.google.com/android/exposure-notifications/exposure-notifications-api https://developers.google.com/android/exposure-notifications... The actual complaint is that Google and Massachusetts used storage on the phone. Apple also used storage on the phone for the same purpose.

14 points by barry-cotter 4y ago

Thank you Google and MA for offering proof positive of what should have been obvious all along --- you don't really own your phone, Google does. And they can do what they want with it.

lern_too_spel 4y ago

By this definition, Apple and all the COVID tracker agencies that integrated with them installed trackers on all the iPhones. The only difference between the Google implementation and the Apple implementation is that the Google implementation required an app install to configure which system to report positives to and to get positive tracker IDs from, while Apple did not require an app install to get that configuration. The claim that the app was automatically activated, configuring data to be sent to and from MA, was made out of whole cloth by the blogger. Here is an accurate description of the lawsuit from when it was filed: https://archive.is/2022.11.22-132721/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/22/business/health-care-or-spyware-lawsuit-attacks-mass-covid-tracking-app/ https://archive.is/2022.11.22-132721/https://www.bostonglobe...

hgsgm 4y ago
Join me in flagging fake news submissions.
Gunax 4y ago
The Boston globe reports the app sent and received data without activation. So while the blog may be wrong in the strict sense that the app was not automatically activated, it seems to be using a 'activated' in a different (and IMO more a accurate) way. Most people would consider something active if it's communicating via bluetooth.
- lern_too_spel 4y ago
  That's not the app. The app simply configures where to send positive reports to and where to download positive IDs from. The app has no access to Bluetooth. Separately, the user can turn on whether they want to send and receive IDs to nearby devices. The app itself can't even ask the phone to directly start communicating with other devices. It can ask the phone to show a consent screen for the user to agree to in order for the phone to start communicating those IDs with nearby devices, after which the phone will start doing so. https://developers.google.com/android/exposure-notifications/exposure-notifications-api https://developers.google.com/android/exposure-notifications... The actual complaint is that Google and Massachusetts used storage on the phone. Apple also used storage on the phone for the same purpose.