> "... if you read the EULA ... and keep track of updates, you have the power to turn the relevant permissions on and off as you see fit." Translated into the

> "... if you read the EULA ... and keep track of updates, you have the power to turn the relevant permissions on and off as you see fit." Translated into the real world that is full of people who are neither lawyers or software security experts: "You better have the time to dig through a bunch of incomprehensible legalese and try to find someone who can explain the jargon if you ever hope to keep any privacy." > "a surveillance device that’s recording your every move 24–7 and constantly reporting back to the mothership is complete and utter nonsense." This is only "nonsense" if you fail to comprehend hyperbole. Spying doesn't have to be 24-7 to be damaging, and many things can be batched. A good example would be aggregating usage statistics of something every time the app starts. No 24-7 required to crudely emulate rrdtool, e.g. inferring someone's schedule from when they use various features can be very powerful. Also, this makes the usual error of assuming that once the permissions are opened up, they won't change (intentionally or otherwise). I seriously doubt the author reads ever version of every EULA before installing updates. Normal users don't have the time or ability to keep up. > "If anyone’s spying on you, it’s probably your mom." translation: "Too many people have built business models that rely on acting antisocially. People might stop using those services if they knew how they really worked, so stop talking about how they are trying to create a surveillance state!" I'm sure Facebook's definition of "spying" is just as creative as the NSA's definition of "collection"; it's the same style of lying with word games.