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Whenever you use an online service, you share at least all of your data related to that service with that service (often they get even more data than you think)

Whenever you use an online service, you share at least all of your data related to that service with that service (often they get even more data than you think). The companies making your phone, your OS, maybe your baseband, and any advanced attackers may also be getting some or all of this data. Many of these parties may be sharing this data with other parties that they trust, and their employees may be using it for their own ends too. This much is at least partly understood by most people and it is impossible to use an electronic device and an online service without exposing yourself to all of this. But what you don't expect is that any other user of that service has access to your data. That is a completely different level of privacy breach. And it's also one that people using a dating app in particular have much more reason to worry about than the more nebulous threat from above. Especially when they're not out in their community about their romantic and/or sexual preferences, and are told by the app that it hides this information.

eru 2y ago
> The companies making your phone, your OS, [...] These expectations are very different in the desktop computer world. When I use a website or a program, neither the various people who made the components in my computer nor the people who made my OS learn anything at all. So it's reasonable, at least on the surface, for some people to develop similar expectations on eg mobile devices.
- tsimionescu 2y ago
  The situation is not that different for desktop OSs. Apple, at least by default, knows every app you launch on MacOS (through the security feature they have of checking some hash of the executable against their database). Windows collects all kinds of metrics and info about everything you do, including detailed crash dumps that leak who knows what information. Both Intel and AMD CPUs have secure enclaves that run full blown OSs that you have no control over and do who knows what; and those have access to your network devices as well. If you're running a Linux, you're probably much more protected, but even then, on Ubuntu and most other popular distros, you probably download all or most of your apps with apt or rpm from their own official repos, so they probably can get a pretty good idea of what you're running. The situation is generally better than on mobile, but unless you're taking significant pains, you're still a pretty open book to your OS manufacturer. Whether they're reading this book or not is a separate matter.
  - eru 2y ago
    > If you're running a Linux, you're probably much more protected, but even then, on Ubuntu and most other popular distros, you probably download all or most of your apps with apt or rpm from their own official repos, so they probably can get a pretty good idea of what you're running. Yes, but not when nor whether you are actually using the apps you have installed. Nor any data created at runtime.

eru 2y ago

> The companies making your phone, your OS, [...] These expectations are very different in the desktop computer world. When I use a website or a program, neither the various people who made the components in my computer nor the people who made my OS learn anything at all. So it's reasonable, at least on the surface, for some people to develop similar expectations on eg mobile devices.

tsimionescu 2y ago
The situation is not that different for desktop OSs. Apple, at least by default, knows every app you launch on MacOS (through the security feature they have of checking some hash of the executable against their database). Windows collects all kinds of metrics and info about everything you do, including detailed crash dumps that leak who knows what information. Both Intel and AMD CPUs have secure enclaves that run full blown OSs that you have no control over and do who knows what; and those have access to your network devices as well. If you're running a Linux, you're probably much more protected, but even then, on Ubuntu and most other popular distros, you probably download all or most of your apps with apt or rpm from their own official repos, so they probably can get a pretty good idea of what you're running. The situation is generally better than on mobile, but unless you're taking significant pains, you're still a pretty open book to your OS manufacturer. Whether they're reading this book or not is a separate matter.
- eru 2y ago
  > If you're running a Linux, you're probably much more protected, but even then, on Ubuntu and most other popular distros, you probably download all or most of your apps with apt or rpm from their own official repos, so they probably can get a pretty good idea of what you're running. Yes, but not when nor whether you are actually using the apps you have installed. Nor any data created at runtime.