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Android shows when an app is using the microphone with a green indicator in the upper right corner -- I'm assuming iOS has something similar. How would apps get
by dnissley 2y ago
Android shows when an app is using the microphone with a green indicator in the upper right corner -- I'm assuming iOS has something similar. How would apps get around this?
- atoav 2y agoEasy: That indicator is not always on when the mic is. Unless we're talking about an electret capsule with a physical LED wired into the supplying power rail that is switched off when the mic is not in use, you have to trust software. And good luck with that after the patriot act. I am not implying the NSA has a microphone backdoor, but if they had and someone abused it, how would you know about it? Listening in for keywords and only send text/audio when keywords are spoken isn't only good for ads, that would be dream of any intelligence agency. And since Snowden have been a few years.
- adam_hn 2y agoBut would you use it to show ads if you have access to such a backdoor? That's an easy way for your backdoor to be found out. Something like this, if it exists, would be too valuable to be used en masse.
- atoav 2y agoWell if I am a secret service I could either try to force google to do it and risk a leak or I could find a way that there is something in it for them that has the benefit of providing plausible deniability?
- hulitu 2y ago> I am not implying the NSA has a microphone backdoor, but if they had and someone abused it, how would you know about it? "Citizen four" by Edward Snowden.
- smsm42 2y agoHow "hey siri" or "hey google" trigger phrases would work if they aren't listening?
- simonw 2y agoBoth iPhone and Android devices have dedicated low-power chips for detecting those exact wake words, which then wake up the rest of the phone. Those chips do not log or transmit the audio they have access to.