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Don't use apps. It's a simple as that. 95% of the time they are not worth the incredible privacy invasion they impose on users.

zahlman 1y ago
Even beyond that, I expect software developers to prove to me that an Internet connection is necessary for whatever it is they're trying to do.
bell-cot 1y ago
True. Unfortunately, users are all humans - with miserably predictable response patterns to "Look at this Free New Shiny Thing you could have!" pitches, and the ruthless business models behind them.
setsewerd 1y ago
Pardon my ignorance, but can't you just solve this by disabling location permissions, etc for a given app?
- throwaway290 1y ago
  What they do then is create an app where location is necessary, make that app spin up a localhost server, then add js to facebook and every site with a like button to phone that localhost and basically deanon everyone.
  - cnity 1y ago
    How could this possibly work without port forwarding?
    - mzajc 1y ago
      2 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44169115 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44169115. Of course Facebook's JS won't add itself to websites, so half of the blame goes to webmasters willingly sending malware to browsers.
    - throwaway290 1y ago
      It happens on the same device. No forwarding necessary. And it was documented to happen, the story was on HN
- everdrive 1y ago
  You can -- the real problem here is that each app could violate your privacy in different ways. Unless you break TLS and inspect all the traffic coming from an app (and, do this over time since the reality of what data is sent will change over time) then you don't really know what your apps are stealing from you. For sure, many apps are quite egregious in this regard while some are legitimately benign. But, do you as a user have a real way to know this authoritatively, and to keep up with changes in the ecosystem? My argument would be that even security researchers don't have time to really do a thorough job here, and users are forced to err on the side of caution.
amarcheschi 1y ago
Mozilla did a comparison between period tracking apps and there are some that should respect user's privacy https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/categories/period-ovulation-trackers/ https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/cate...
fHr 1y ago
The sad truth
dr-detroit 1y ago
[dead]

zahlman 1y ago

Even beyond that, I expect software developers to prove to me that an Internet connection is necessary for whatever it is they're trying to do.

bell-cot 1y ago

True. Unfortunately, users are all humans - with miserably predictable response patterns to "Look at this Free New Shiny Thing you could have!" pitches, and the ruthless business models behind them.

setsewerd 1y ago

Pardon my ignorance, but can't you just solve this by disabling location permissions, etc for a given app?

throwaway290 1y ago
What they do then is create an app where location is necessary, make that app spin up a localhost server, then add js to facebook and every site with a like button to phone that localhost and basically deanon everyone.
- cnity 1y ago
  How could this possibly work without port forwarding?
  - mzajc 1y ago
    2 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44169115 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44169115. Of course Facebook's JS won't add itself to websites, so half of the blame goes to webmasters willingly sending malware to browsers.
  - throwaway290 1y ago
    It happens on the same device. No forwarding necessary. And it was documented to happen, the story was on HN
everdrive 1y ago
You can -- the real problem here is that each app could violate your privacy in different ways. Unless you break TLS and inspect all the traffic coming from an app (and, do this over time since the reality of what data is sent will change over time) then you don't really know what your apps are stealing from you. For sure, many apps are quite egregious in this regard while some are legitimately benign. But, do you as a user have a real way to know this authoritatively, and to keep up with changes in the ecosystem? My argument would be that even security researchers don't have time to really do a thorough job here, and users are forced to err on the side of caution.

amarcheschi 1y ago

Mozilla did a comparison between period tracking apps and there are some that should respect user's privacy https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/categories/period-ovulation-trackers/ https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/cate...

fHr 1y ago

The sad truth

dr-detroit 1y ago

[dead]