Taking a speech class and had a chance to write about the Android platform. Figured I'd share here. Enjoy and comment as you will.
I wish to start off by saying welcome to the future. A bold proclamation yes, but with such experiments and ongoing research by numerous scientists today, technological breakthroughs are vast and epic. One of the many platforms so to speak that is having phenomenal breakthroughs is in the mobile systems department. Here lays a couple companies with R&D plans that carter towards certain parties promising slick user interfaces, application channels, and a complete web experience. Couple that with feature rich phones that allow one to text, call, global positioning (GPS), and well, you have a product to sell. Google has done just that. Taking bits and pieces of everything one could ever ask for, and merging it all into its mobile operating system titled Android. Represented by a green round-headed robot figure, Android is passing its two year anniversary, and has surpassed other prominent mobile architectures like Apple’s iPhone software. But what exactly is Android? Why would one desire to chuck away their limited iPhone, or stray away from the Blackberry Enterprise lineup? One word: Open source. Couple that with the experience (the art of customizing your device), and the synchronization aspects of the device for virtually any account you have on the net, and you have a total package.
Having a total package within arm’s reach, and inside your pocket is quite a powerful tool. With Google’s Android platform, there is never a point where you can say No. Any and every idea can and could be coded into the device if you have the means to do so. Open source is the ticket. Asking yourself what this means is actually a very simple question. Open source is the definition of computer code that is freely available to anyone who wishes to find it. Google has opened up the software to all who have a spirit to create and provide applications (Apps) and programs to others. Hackers, coders, and all techy guros have created a plethora of net-libraries ranging from support groups, forums and websites to further help noobies in the process. Sounds like a lot, but in reality, the experience is quite easy going. Competitors like Apple and Blackberry have limited their system to developers by safekeeping some of its computer code. This limits creativity, as it puts restrictions and limitations as to what exactly what one can create. Add to the fact that companies like Apple also screen apps to a much higher caliber, halting smaller apps without much bang in the beginning to be choked to death. It seems as if anything is available for pleasure with Android though. If it doesn’t exist, pop into a forum and jot down a reply on a thread. If that’s not enough, I’m sure you have one friend that has already found solutions in the “Green-Guy”. There is always someone there who has the tools necessary to create it, or rather has already created it in the first place.
From forums and coders who have the know-how and tools to create a mind-blowing experience, the customization factor of Android is truly one of its largest selling points. To be quite honest, each and every android device could be considered a work of art. It’s all in how the user desires it for themselves…how deep the user wants to venture; how deep goes their rabbit? From changing backgrounds and wallpapers, to adding widgets to your home screen, the android spectrum allows one to make the phone their own, morph it into how they see fitting. But how is this different from other products? Surely other phones allow their users to alter what they see on screen. Yet I assert, the android experience is different. Almost, if not every aspect of android is customizable. Icons can be altered, the font can be changed, dates, times, anything can be tweaked. Sites like XDA, AndroidSpin, and AndroidandMe provide great reviews, heads up, and forums to browse through numerous applications, both beta and final. The options are endless, and it’s open in the air to anyone who desires a bit of change. Many new phones come preinstalled with newer software, as you might here Froyo, Éclair or Gingerbread tossed around. These are simply codenames for newer versions of software from Google. If your carrier doesn’t support the newer software, chances are a coder has already made it available for you. Convenience without a price attached!
Free in price is seemingly synonymous with freedom. Freedom to choose. Freedom to enjoy. Freedom to experience. Freedom from a stationary computer. Android is a thriving system that allows you to constantly stay on the up and up. Synchronization appears a mystery as your Facebook, Twitter, email, and numerous other accounts are integrated into the system via apps or at stock. With live widgets that monitor in real time your accounts, any and all social networks, social feeds, and business/personal accounts are updated instantly. No more carrying around a tiring laptop, or waiting to login the networks at any given campus. 3G speeds and now 4G on some carriers are making mobile devices the in crowd, as speeds are comparable to standard net speeds. As many people day are on the up and up, or rather, out and about, a mobile system that constantly allows access to ones desired feeds is grand. Couple that with ability to alter documents on the fly, listen to your favorite music (via Pandora, or from the Phones Internal Memory…think iPod), you have a complete package. It’s not just a Media Device, a Business Device, a Cell Phone, as it truly lives up to the name of Smart Phone.
For me the choice was easy. I thrive off customization, the ability to make my phone a tad different, even faster, or more efficient then what the original company did for me. But as Android ages, everything looks bright and promising. To proclaim dark clouds linger would be insanity. From its initial creation of being open-sourced, to customizing features and its ability to be versatile, Android has shattered the mobile systems realm. As it races to the top, Android allows users to update on the go, with synchronization from virtually every social feed. When people ask me about phones and what should be right for them, there is no question for me. It’s never been a question about what Android can’t do, but what Android does.
<- Laughing Out Loud.
It's full of grammar faux pas, by the way.
Still very well written *only read first paragraph* but I was impressed, not bad Also maybe a bit many commas...
BTW, shouldve been posted in the off topic section
Nice Speech. I Enjoyed reading it.
Sent from Conical. 07
the original link.....http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/confessions-of-a-google-junkie-or-privacy-what-privacy/3553
Summary: A lot has been made of Google’s new privacy policy and terms of use. I say bring it on.
There are very few aspects of my life that don’t somehow involve Google. My phone runs on Android, my favorite tablet just got an OTA update to Ice Cream Sandwich (!!!), I use Chrome across all of my computers, I develop AdWords campaigns, I use Analytics to develop metrics for the day job and dive into SEO, I handle many of the CBS Interactive Google webcasts, I use Google Docs almost exclusively for productivity, and my wife doesn’t know where I am half the time until she checks my Google Calendar (which, in fact, aggregate two other Google Calendars).
I’m increasingly turning to Google+ as my source of relevant information and opinions, a function previously reserved for Twitter, and I’ve even dispensed with bookmarks, instead using Google Sites to organize important pages and resources.
I live, eat, breathe, work, and play Google and there aren’t many people more aware of Google’s business model and the amount of data it collects than I. So is it just sheer stupidity and naiveté that has me utterly embracing the Google ecosystem and relatively unconcerned about newly announced privacy policies that have caused so much consternation this week? Before you jump down to the talkbacks to tell me how stupid I really am, read on for another couple paragraphs.
As Larry Dignan pointed out in his post about the new policies last night,
Google noted that it already has all that data, but it’s now integrating that information across products. It’s a change in how Google will use the data not what it collects. In other words, Google already knows more about you than your wife.
From my perspective, though, I can live with Google knowing a lot about me. It knows, for example, that I’ve recently developed an obsession with the electric guitar and have been researching inexpensive models that I might just be able to justify as a birthday present to myself. It doesn’t judge, it just shows me the best deals in display ads on the three models of guitar and 2 models of amps I’ve been reading about the most. My wife isn’t aware of this obsession and her take on it would be judgmental (God love her!): “When will you have time to play guitar? And we’re supposed to be saving money! And what’s wrong with your acoustic guitar?”
Taking this a step further, as Google’s new privacy policies and terms of use do, I should expect to start seeing guitar-related apps in my suggestions in the Google Market and the Chrome Marketplace. Guitarists on Google+ should start appearing in suggested people to add to my circles and Google Reader should offer to download Guitar Player Magazine feeds for me. And, more likely than not, I’ll start seeing more guitar-related ads as well.
Google’s goal, of course, is to sell advertising. That’s about 97% of their revenue. By pulling people like me into their increasingly unified ecosystem, they can demonstrate very high click-through rates to potential advertisers and charge a premium to reach highly targeted and yet incredibly vast audiences.
They need to give me something in return
For me to buy into this, they need to give me something in return. Something to make all things Google really sticky. Like a wide array of free tools from Google Docs to Google Music to Google Voice. And cheap tools that I buy for my business like Google Apps and AdWords. Their new policies are designed to be more transparent, but also to pave the way for these tools to talk to each other better, making them even stickier through a unified experience and more relevant services.
Back to the wife comparison that Larry brought up. My wife knows that every Friday night is pizza night in our house. So does Google, since every Friday around 4:30 I pull out my Android and use Google Voice Search to find the number of whatever pizza joint we decide to patronize that week. Fine. Google, however, can actually do something more useful with that information than my wife can (”Where should I order pizza, sweetheart?” “Wherever, just not that place down the road. Or that other place. And make sure they’re having a deal!”).
Come Friday morning, the ads I see on Gmail or Google search should start being pretty pizza-heavy: Dominos, Papa Johns, and a place or two that has an active Google Offer. As I’m driving home that evening, the GPS on my phone should set off an alert when I drive past a well-reviewed pizza place (assuming I’ve set location-based preferences to alert me to destinations with at least four-star average reviews). And the minute I type a P in my mobile browser, Google Instant should leap into action and display nearby pizza places and a news story about a new place to get pizza in the next town.
We’re not quite there yet, but this is the sort of integration and experience that Google is covering in its new policies and terms of use. I know that my privacy red flags should probably be going off. Google has gigabytes of information about me and is using that information to help its advertisers sell products. That’s bad, right?
Guess what, folks? This is the semantic web
And yet, I don’t think it is. Many of the same techies who cry foul over these new policies have also been pushing for the development of the semantic web to make it easier to find what we actually need in the trillions of web pages floating around the Internet. Guess what, folks? This is the semantic web. When our search engines know what we actually mean, when data on the web automagically becomes information we can use easily and quickly, we’ve arrived.
And the semantic web can’t exist without “the web” (whatever that is) knowing a lot about us. It takes data for a computer to understand our needs and process natural language efficiently. Some of those data will necessarily be fairly personal.
Now, if I start getting spam from pizza places or calls on my Google Voice number from Dominos because Google has sold my contact information and preferences to advertisers, we have a problem and I’ll be waving my privacy flag as high as anyone else. However, when I opt in by opening a Google account and staying logged in as I surf the web, I’m not only consenting to the collection and aggregation of data about me, I’m asking that it be done so that the web and related tools can be more useful to me. This sort of data mining lets me work faster, play easier, and find the best pizza in a 20-mile radius.
For its part, Google needs to remain the trusted broker of these data. No, I don’t like the idea that our government could brand me a terrorist and seize these gigabytes of data under the Patriot Act. The alternative, though, is an ever-growing morass of web sites and tools that I get to dig through manually.
And, by the way, even if I’m not logged in to my Google account as I’m doing it, my ISP knows the sites I’ve visited, too, and could just as easily (if not more so) be compelled to turn over this information to the real Big Brother in all of this.
Far more trust in Google than the Feds
Honestly, I have far more trust in Google than I do in the Feds. Google is motivated by money: they need my trust to keep collecting those data to keep making it easier for me to buy things from Google’s paying advertisers. If that trust is broken by inappropriate sharing of data, then my eyeballs go elsewhere and so do the advertisers who target me via AdWords and AdSense. Our government has no such financial motivation. Money talks.
The fact that the speech recognition on my phone kicks ass because I use Google Voice all the time and it’s learned how I talk might be a little creepy, but it’s far more important that I can do a Google search or send a text while I’m driving without taking my eyes off the road.
Welcome to 2012, folks. The semantic web has arrived. Use it well and let’s keep Google’s new policies in perspective. And Google? Don’t be evil. I have a lot of colleagues who will be pointing, laughing, and saying I told you so if you ever are.
Nice article.
I think the key for Google's continued success is to keep the advertising passive, suggestions when you're searching etc. aren't in your face but they work.
You see a lot of people complaining that they've been searching for something online and then all of the adverts on the websites they visit contain something pertaining to that, and they grumble that it's annoying. Personally, I'd much rather see an advert to something that's relevant to me rather than a cluttered webpage of irrelevant information.
By targeting adverts and increasing their relevance to the individual, they are far more likely to be successful. This means that the revenue per advert is going to improve and websites aren't going to need to cover their website in adverts (at the cost of the user experience) to make it profitable.
Plus given the huge amount of free stuff that google gives you, it's a bit rich for somebody to complain that they're trying to get something back off you.
I too would much rather see things directly targeted towards me then just random ads. And everyone is up in arms about google recording what you do. Well i think of it this way, i'm fine with them getting to know me and my behavior and what i do, as long as they keep providing FREE products for me.
Ahh the good old "If they are going to screw me without consent, I would much rather they knew my name, stroked my hair and whispered sweet nothings into my ear while they did it."
I prefer to treat my online habbits like the strange neighbour a few doors down. Say "hi" in passing, and realise that while they probrobly know more than I would want them to from when I've invited them over for coffee and from peeking in my windows as they walk past, know that I don't actually have to put up with their $#!+ if they become too creepy.
Thats why its important there are alternitives and competition, and that we as consumers don't put our eggs all in one basket and be prepared to protest or move on if they stretch the friendship too far.
I know privacy is impossible in this day and age but that doent mean you have to lie back and take it. "because you know it means well and it does give you nice gifts once in a while"
My suggestion is cut your reliance on any one brand and spread out the load.
hungry81 said:
My suggestion is cut your reliance on any one brand and spread out the load.
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I like the author am reliant on Google these days. I'd be happy to look at alternatives. Granted they work on the platforms I needs them to, Android 2.X and 3.2, Linux+chrome, windows XP + chrome, and windows 7 + firefox or chrome. The linux requirement cuts out a lot of things, iTunes/iCloud for example.
Have any suggestions who/where i could go for:
Music
Docs
G+
Gmail
Needs a slick webUI, and the searching ability of gmail
Calendar
I need delegation and the ability for my wife to add me to events and share calendars.
Reader
works on all my devices, and syncs between them
I would very much like my phone to know when I leave work. Now i could do this with some sort of timer, but I end up working somewhat flexible hours, and have a leaving time of anywhere within an hour and a half. I would like it to know that since I now have "buy bread, milk, and eggs" on my to-do list (thanks hun!), that it needs to remind me of that on the way home. Even better if it can just direct me to a store with a deal on one or all of those things.
I like that the first hit in Google I get for cookies is the wikipedia page for http cookies and the second is to pythons cookielib module. Where as I bet my grandmother gets, chocolate chip cookies. The ability for Google search to know that I have a particular artist in my collection, and show me the bind's page near the top of the results without me having to add "band" to my search terms.
Anyways, if and when Google starts selling my data to 3rd parties, I'll export my data and move. Google makes it fairly painless to do that.
tl;dr I'm new, I'm not a very knowledgeable developer, I have an idea that I want your opinion about.
Heyo Peoples,
I'm new and I like to think a lot about cool new stuff with mobile devices (web, software, hardware, etc). I've been thinking a lot recently about how people like to use mobile devices, and how we might use them in the near future--thinking past what's being done now, and into what comes next.
I've been wondering for a while why there isn't an existing piece of functionality on mobile devices that allows a user complete control of the device and every piece of information on it. Imagine a GUI except instead of graphics, it's like interacting with a person. (aside: first person to say Siri should be shunned like an Amish girl who went to a movie theater).
Is it outrageous to say that you should be able to pick up your phone and have it find anything, from anytime in the past that you have done with or on it? I know that would take mountains of data, but is it silly? In it's most basic form, this would just be a search feature. In it's most eloquent form it could be an operating system. Imagine being able to ask your phone what you did last Wednesday, or maybe where you were. What if it could recall emails or documents based on date, time, location where you were when you wrote it, keyword, or contact, based on verbal interaction? What if it tracked data usage by application, or allowed you to measure and optimize system performance with a verbal command (ex. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" or "How much data am I using per minute").
Is it too early to start wishing for an interface like that computer on Paycheck (horrible movie with Ben Afleck) or Cortana in Halo? Is this type of interface impractical or implausible?
If you were to make something like this, would it have to be a new operating system built from the ground up, or could you develop an app to do this, or could you hack Android to do it? I welcome all of your feedback.
Lots of questions, and I have very few answers.
Jujubes said:
tl;dr I'm new, I'm not a very knowledgeable developer, I have an idea that I want your opinion about.
Heyo Peoples,
I'm new and I like to think a lot about cool new stuff with mobile devices (web, software, hardware, etc). I've been thinking a lot recently about how people like to use mobile devices, and how we might use them in the near future--thinking past what's being done now, and into what comes next.
I've been wondering for a while why there isn't an existing piece of functionality on mobile devices that allows a user complete control of the device and every piece of information on it. Imagine a GUI except instead of graphics, it's like interacting with a person. (aside: first person to say Siri should be shunned like an Amish girl who went to a movie theater).
Is it outrageous to say that you should be able to pick up your phone and have it find anything, from anytime in the past that you have done with or on it? I know that would take mountains of data, but is it silly? In it's most basic form, this would just be a search feature. In it's most eloquent form it could be an operating system. Imagine being able to ask your phone what you did last Wednesday, or maybe where you were. What if it could recall emails or documents based on date, time, location where you were when you wrote it, keyword, or contact, based on verbal interaction? What if it tracked data usage by application, or allowed you to measure and optimize system performance with a verbal command (ex. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" or "How much data am I using per minute").
Is it too early to start wishing for an interface like that computer on Paycheck (horrible movie with Ben Afleck) or Cortana in Halo? Is this type of interface impractical or implausible?
If you were to make something like this, would it have to be a new operating system built from the ground up, or could you develop an app to do this, or could you hack Android to do it? I welcome all of your feedback.
Lots of questions, and I have very few answers.
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This is probably not as far off as it seems. The developers of "Utter" have come along way in the right direction. You should maybe approach them with your ideas. Not all of them of course . Save some for yourself.
One problem I see is semantics. "Shut down all apps except for Google Maps" sounds good - but do you really mean ALL apps ? The line that would be walked is one where the developer must train the program to not necessarily do what they ask, but do what they WANT. It gets trickier when you realise that some people who aren't your average users might want to test things and shut down an app (in this case) that an average user would never want shut, where they might mess up their phone beyond their ability to repair if they did.
I think speech is a great tool to interact, though I'm not going to be a person to use it. I don't think speech will ever become a default unless there are other technological advances that change how we interact with the world. It's annoying enough to hear someone gabbing loudly to another human on the phone, do we really want people gabbing AT their phones as a default interface ? I think privacy is a driving factor that will keep sound from being a major interface - perhaps it could work for in home applications, but out in public people may not want to announce to the world who they are calling, what they are looking for, or what site they're logging on to, et cetera. Until there's technology to make voice and sound less "public", I don't see this being the future of phones - it's more of a nice thing to have as an "extra" for when a person is comfortable using it.
But, hey, maybe we'll get used to wearing Google Glass and talking to ourselves all the time - or we'll get in-ear buds or implants where we can choose to hear the outside world or not. Just exploring the possibilities here.
I do think it's a big "outrageous" to have infinite backup. Just take a look at how much data companies like Amazon and Facebook acquire on a per-day basis. Think about how much data you use on a daily basis. I don't have the money or desire to be buying new HDDs every other week. Maybe in the future there will be a technological revolution that allows for mass amounts of data to be stored in even smaller spaces. But current technology in that regard is still very expensive and persnickety - read about high capacity SD cards and how fragile they can be and about data needing to be "refreshed" or they can become corrupt. There are lots of issues that make backing up everything you do impracticable.
And, again - privacy concerns. Do I really want my computer to know what I did last Wednesday and who I was with ? What if someone stole my computer or phone and had access to that information ? If we had the technology to do that, who's to say that current encryption would be "enough" - or that someone wouldn't go ahead and try to hack it anyway if they felt finding out basically everything about you was worth brute-forcing your phone or whatever they'd do in the future ? And have no password or a crappy one - even easier for them to know EVERYTHING about you, now.
Highly visual and talk-activated computers are absolutely great for games, movies, and TV. Why ? They function as narrative devices. They allow the actor to say or explain things they otherwise wouldn't have said out loud for personal, practical, or security reasons. They can become characters in their own right. People like those big screen computer displays where the characters are poking things all over and up and down - it looks cool. But not so cool is having your arms get tired from reaching up and around all the time. Not so cool is having to tell the computer out loud what kind of special images you want to search for when you have house-mates living in the next room over.
Just some thoughts. If you have other or counter ideas, go right on ahead.
I know it sounds like a base question since we're talking about security but I wonder in what instances are security patches really helping.
For example, suppose I only use the device with my data plan and my wifi at home (no public networks). Also suppose that I don't download 3rd party apps except those created by established companies like Microsoft (SwiftKey or Outlook). And suppose I don't visit many websites on my device (and especially no pr0n). In this instance, are security patches really necessary? Unlike most people, I don't do everything on my phone (no browsing the net, banking). I only use it for navigation, WhatsApp, and for calls.
I'm asking this question because I'm thinking about getting an Android phone. I'm currently an iPhone user and I want to break out of the Apple ecosystem. The problem is that some companies like HTC and LG seem to be slow to provide security patches or simply ignore them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDxUjSfp17E&t=6m35s
I'm interested in buying the LG V35 but the internet is full of comments about LG's horrendous support. I am mainly interested in keeping my emails and personal information safe. The only thing I value in the iPhone is the long-term support Apple provides but I'm willing to switch to Android if this isn't a concern if I use my phone exactly as I described above.
Thanks
Mity85 said:
I know it sounds like a base question since we're talking about security but I wonder in what instances are security patches really helping.
...
I'm interested in buying the LG V35 but the internet is full of comments about LG's horrendous support. I am mainly interested in keeping my emails and personal information safe. The only thing I value in the iPhone is the long-term support Apple provides but I'm willing to switch to Android if this isn't a concern if I use my phone exactly as I described above.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
First of all, welcome to Android ?
To answer your questions, security patches are indeed necessary, because if one day you lose your phone, potential flaws that would be patched with security update would be grand opened to hacker that want your personal data (like photos, videos, emails, contacts,...).
Even though it's very rare, that's more secure to have an updated phone.
Now, if you want long term services (updates from Google with the latest features and security patches) you should definitely go for a Google Pixel. Plus those are powerful and have the best camera on the phone market right now (machine learning helps a lot).
If your price range is around 400 $, then go for the Pixel 3a, if you're around 800 $ then go for a Pixel 3.
If you can wait a bit, wait until the Pixel 4 release, I don't know if it'll be a good phone (probably) but what I know is the more recent your phone is, the longer it'll be updated.
But if you are below that, check out the Android One series, that's not Pixel devices, but they get as well the long term support.
Hope it helps
I'd like to expand on this question a bit.
I have a friend who is experiencing "severe security concerns" at the moment. I'm actually kind of worried about this particular friend. This friend seems to primarily have concerns over "being tracked", so I'm trying to find the best approach to at least putting these concerns in the proper frame so that knowledge and education of the device and what it does, and how to control it would be more attainable to said friend.
I know that the security updates are important, but how do you advise someone who isn't rich, and is looking for a new phone, but is willing to dabble with rooting, even to the extent of removing / not installing Gapps? This friend seems willing to learn, so I'd like to think that taking the big picture of "best security practices" into account is an option (ie. don't open suspicious email attachments, learn how to identify phishing scams, only install apps you trust, etc...).
In my experience, apart from kernel and driver level flaws that leave gaping wide-open back doors, security mostly comes down to "being wise with how the device is used". Is that a fair statement?
Yes, security is a combination and balance of user knowledge & usage, oem hardware security, software security, country laws, etc.
Thanks @galaxys
Is there anything about rooting that makes a typical Android device less secure?
Or more to the point, does the ability to omit Gapps provide any natural security enhancement?
I'm asking from the point of view of a "moderately experienced" individual who knows how to spot suspicious attachments/files and phishing scams, and knows how to do some bare-minimum vetting of where apps are installed from. For the sake of argument, let's say this user has no Gapps, and gets their apps from FDroid or ApkPure, or ApkMirror.
The single most important, most debated subject of being online - privacy and security.
While security is undisputed, privacy aspect is.
So what exactly is the concern? As normal people in normal professions (which is easily more than 90% of the population), is there a need for worry?
For a long time since I started using smartphones, I had a natural inclination towards remaining anonymous and private online. I would always use incognito browsing for everything I do online, never create an account with a service as much as possible (e.g. I would watch YouTube videos without signing in), etc.
With time, I began realizing that I am actually missing out on so many interesting things that matter to me, and much of the content that would interest me would be made available to me without much effort using machine learning and artificial intelligence, an area where huge investments are being made.
So slowly I started accessing content and using services with my Google account. Over time, everything from Google feed to YouTube videos were showing me content that I am interested in, and sometimes they were so intelligent that I have been amazed with the whole technology that is at works. Surely, you cannot expect a doctor to give you the right prescription without giving him complete details about your problems. You can't talk privacy there. So unless the system learns what you like and what you don't, there is no way it will present stuff (including ads) that will be interesting to you.
With that said, why are are we overemphasizing this aspect of our lives? Is the privacy lobby inflating the privacy problem more than is necessary? Especially since much of what Google learns (according to them) about you is private, and only you can access/ control it, and also because the open-source alternatives are overrated. I say overrated because there are no audit reports (from trustworthy audit entities) available. Their codes may be available for audit, but is there a trustworthy source that is actually auditing them? Are the platforms where they are available being audited? So the issue of privacy and security applies to these platforms too, and more so because they aren't scrutinized as heavily as Google products and services.
As far as more personal info is concerned, like location, age, gender, searches I perform, accounts, mobile number, etc - Google already has all those because I provided them with much of that info when I created my account. Sure, one can always provide fake info for some of them. But if you use 'Find my Device', you are pretty much giving away your location to Google REAL-TIME. While this can potentially be misused, how else is Google supposed to help you if you were to lose your device? Mobile numbers and email addresses are necessarily required to be correct because they are needed when you are locked out of your account. They are the only means to get your account back.
While I am a strong proponent of privacy, I also feel that too much is made out about a lot of stuff that aren't really something to worry about. Those stuff are essential to get the service we expect in return, in other words, putting technology to use.
That said, it is still important not to give anyone a free hand over data, and there has to be several layers of checks and balances, and accountability for safeguarding and using them.
All that said, my current position is this. Make best use of the technology at hand, because if you don't provide the necessary inputs, there cannot be a proper output.
As with some things that we do online which we might want to keep completely private, use a non-google browser (like Firefox Focus or Duck Duck Go) in incognito mode with Duck Duck Go search engine.
For everything else, use GOOGLE (assuming there is accountability and severe penalties for violations).
Reserved for additional info.
@Ultramanoid
We may continue the discussion here.
I have a few specific questions for which I haven't found answers. May be you or others could answer them. I'll compile them and post these later.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
@Ultramanoid
We may continue the discussion here.
I have a few specific questions for which I haven't found answers. May be you or others could answer them. I'll compile them and post these later.
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I have a hard time understanding how you can say you're a strong proponent of privacy, while at the same time justifying how you exchange yours for convenient services.
I can't justify that exchange, and yet use, work in, and develop in an IT field. No Google account here. So it'd be difficult to discuss the issue when our basic premises and understanding of the situation are completely opposed.
I want a good mail service, so I PAY for it, with MONEY, and I assure you it beats all the tech prowess and illusions of magic that GMail and its indecent, immoral, and insulting data mining and tracking provide. Same for everything else.
The aberration that is 'service' ( lower quality feature set, no support, security issues, client is the product ) for information, which, as mentioned in MiX's thread, also has the tremendously damaging side effect of reducing to zero the value of good honest developer work. 'Google gives it for free' -- No, it doesn't, and no, it's not free.
Edit : And by the way, giving your data away not only puts you at risk, it puts others at risk as well. Unacceptable.
Ultramanoid said:
I have a hard time understanding how you can say you're a strong proponent of privacy, while at the same time justifying how you exchange yours for convenient services.
I can't justify that exchange, and yet use, work in, and develop in an IT field. No Google account here. So it'd be difficult to discuss the issue when our basic premises and understanding of the situation are completely opposed.
I want a good mail service, so I PAY for it, with MONEY, and I assure you it beats all the tech prowess and illusions of magic that GMail and its indecent, immoral, and insulting data mining and tracking provide. Same for everything else.
The aberration that is 'service' ( lower quality feature set, no support, security issues, client is the product ) for information, which, as mentioned in MiX's thread, also has the tremendously damaging side effect of reducing to zero the value of good honest developer work. 'Google gives it for free' -- No, it doesn't, and no, it's not free.
Edit : And by the way, giving your data away not only puts you at risk, it puts others at risk as well. Unacceptable.
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Click to collapse
You spoke of making 'reasonable compromises' on the MiX thread.
I have only elaborated the same. How does it matter if Google learns what I like to search on the internet? I am willing to give them that information so that they can provide me with content I am interested in, so that my news feed is mostly content I like to read/ watch, and little garbage. In the process, if they are showing me ads relevant to me, what is wrong with it?
My view is based only on this premise that this is how my data is being used. I have never had a financial security issue (like money being stolen from my account) because of what Google learns about my internet activity.
Also, I am assuming that Google won't learn anything about the searches I may do in incognito mode. They are supposed to respect the privacy. I'm aware they have been sued for not adhering to it strictly.
So assuming that they stick with usage of data as per their declared privacy policies and in accordance with laws, what is the problem?
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
You spoke of making 'reasonable compromises' on the MiX thread.
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Click to collapse
As to security. As long as you rely on someone else's software, some company's cables and infrastructure, there's no other way.
No reasonable compromise on privacy in the "service x information" business model. It needs to die.
Edit : Have a look at this; https://privacytools.io ( "Privacy? I don't have anything to hide." )
my view on this is:
i agree, you should protect privacy as much you're able to, but if you need some services and you need "to give up privacy" for acquiring that service you need, then for me it's legit.
i wouldnt go all crazy on privacy as many go (to completely ditch google, windows, and become open source - privacy - government consipiracy evangelist), but i wouldnt rely on them for my whole life.
yes, i use google calendar and notes and all my data is on google, and if google go down or misuse my data, maybe i will lose that data but still i can easily use on another platform one stop working or is not trustworthy (publicly misuses data)
i love to use custom ROMs not to ditch google or become privacy conscious (using f-droid and living under rock without google services) but to ditch stock ROM from manufacturer as i dont like any manufacturer stock ROM, i want just their hardware, and software i want to be my choise.
for normal people storing something on google, microsoft, apple is not at all bad idea, when you store not that important or sensitive data on google. but i would never upload any top secret, sensitive data on any those services, as they WILL allow governemnt to exctract data (like edward snowden said ), so anyone from governemnt can access it or even misuse it, but if you dont store top secret sensitive info on those services you are fine.
if you want to store top secret sensitive data you would make it and encrypt it and store local copies.
and for google search, same applies, you will be fine with normal use, use firefox and duckgo , and also ingonito dont respect any privacy, it just make to browser not to store history, everything else is visible to them, unless you use firefox and duckgo.
and also many say vpn secure you (ones you buy) , but i wouldnt trust not even them (even if you pay), if you want to have encrypted connection you better MAKE your own VPN server (you can buy remote linux server online and make it as VPN), carrier to whom you pay for server dont care what you store on server (because you pay for it) and if governement comes to there he wont be able to provide anything.
but still even with all said, i dont advocate on trusting government as they dont care about freedom or rights, they care just about power, so protect privacy as much you are able to, but dont go all crazy on it, because best way to be secure on internet is not to use it at all, as at the end of the day dont forget that all intel, arm, amd chips (hardware) are hackable and exploitable to survevilance if they want to
EDIT: and also always remmeber, if you are censored for your rights, you have full right to protect your right, but i didnt got censored for searching for something on google. maybe google censored it to control media, but everyone do it, even media is manipulating you with fake news.
like if i am in china and i cant open news that reveal china government because china censorshiped that source "for greated good", i would use linux, tor and vpn so i can bypass censorship to know what's right. as long you dont face censorship for your rights it still okay to use those services, but if someone censorship for your rights, then its time to act and stand up for yourself, and not accept anyone's "censorship for greater good".
You know what's funny, people talking about privacy (intrinsically security also), yet many (and by many I mean the majority) of ROMs released on XDA are released without source code. Devs link to some other sources other than the source to be able to build the project. Here is an example. So while privacy is important, security is highly problematic with this modding model we all follow. Not to mention flashing different unchecked magiks modules.
Ultramanoid said:
As to security. As long as you rely on someone else's software, some company's cables and infrastructure, there's no other way.
No reasonable compromise on privacy in the "service x information" business model. It needs to die.
Edit : Have a look at this; https://privacytools.io ( "Privacy? I don't have anything to hide." )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the moment you are online, you are presenting yourself to be tracked. No matter what tools you use to safeguard your privacy, a country's intelligence has an upper hand because they have the resources and much more advanced technology that is not commercially available.
They can also set up something like the link you shared as just another means to track you (by misleading you into believing that you are remaining private and anonymous).
I think one can truly stay private only by staying away from technology. Otherwise, you are just opening yourself up for tracking.
atttoush said:
You know what's funny, people talking about privacy (intrinsically security also), yet many (and by many I mean the majority) of ROMs released on XDA are released without source code. Devs link to some other sources other than the source to be able to build the project. Here is an example. So while privacy is important, security is highly problematic with this modding model we all follow. Not to mention flashing different unchecked magiks modules.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope, check here
XDAevDB Information
[ROM][UNOFFICIAL][10.0.0][raphael] LineageOS 17.1, ROM for the Redmi K20 Pro
Source Code: http://bigota.d.miui.com/V11.0.1.0....NGlobal_V11.0.1.0.QFKINXM_5e75bba584_10.0.zip
this is source code for ROM, they are always released somewhere, github, dont matter, but they are released, you just need to look it up
indestructible master said:
nope, check here
XDAevDB Information
[ROM][UNOFFICIAL][10.0.0][raphael] LineageOS 17.1, ROM for the Redmi K20 Pro
Source Code: http://bigota.d.miui.com/V11.0.1.0....NGlobal_V11.0.1.0.QFKINXM_5e75bba584_10.0.zip
this is source code for ROM, they are always released somewhere, github, dont matter, but they are released, you just need to look it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a source code ... Just because it says source code, it doesn't mean it's a source code. That's a zip file containing the OEM firmware from Xiaomi.
indestructible master said:
my view on this is:
i agree, you should protect privacy as much you're able to, but if you need some services and you need "to give up privacy" for acquiring that service you need, then for me it's legit.
i wouldnt go all crazy on privacy as many go (to completely ditch google, windows, and become open source - privacy - government consipiracy evangelist), but i wouldnt rely on them for my whole life.
yes, i use google calendar and notes and all my data is on google, and if google go down or misuse my data, maybe i will lose that data but still i can easily use on another platform one stop working or is not trustworthy (publicly misuses data)
i love to use custom ROMs not to ditch google or become privacy conscious (using f-droid and living under rock without google services) but to ditch stock ROM from manufacturer as i dont like any manufacturer stock ROM, i want just their hardware, and software i want to be my choise.
for normal people storing something on google, microsoft, apple is not at all bad idea, when you store not that important or sensitive data on google. but i would never upload any top secret, sensitive data on any those services, as they WILL allow governemnt to exctract data (like edward snowden said ), so anyone from governemnt can access it or even misuse it, but if you dont store top secret sensitive info on those services you are fine.
if you want to store top secret sensitive data you would make it and encrypt it and store local copies.
and for google search, same applies, you will be fine with normal use, use firefox and duckgo , and also ingonito dont respect any privacy, it just make to browser not to store history, everything else is visible to them, unless you use firefox and duckgo.
and also many say vpn secure you (ones you buy) , but i wouldnt trust not even them (even if you pay), if you want to have encrypted connection you better MAKE your own VPN server (you can buy remote linux server online and make it as VPN), carrier to whom you pay for server dont care what you store on server (because you pay for it) and if governement comes to there he wont be able to provide anything.
but still even with all said, i dont advocate on trusting government as they dont care about freedom or rights, they care just about power, so protect privacy as much you are able to, but dont go all crazy on it, because best way to be secure on internet is not to use it at all, as at the end of the day dont forget that all intel, arm, amd chips (hardware) are hackable and exploitable to survevilance if they want to
EDIT: and also always remmeber, if you are censored for your rights, you have full right to protect your right, but i didnt got censored for searching for something on google. maybe google censored it to control media, but everyone do it, even media is manipulating you with fake news.
like if i am in china and i cant open news that reveal china government because china censorshiped that source "for greated good", i would use linux, tor and vpn so i can bypass censorship to know what's right. as long you dont face censorship for your rights it still okay to use those services, but if someone censorship for your rights, then its time to act and stand up for yourself, and not accept anyone's "censorship for greater good".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, we are overemphasizing on many of the things and linking them to privacy. Much of the seemingly private things have no bearing in real life, even when made public. Because, no matter where you are, you have to adhere to the local laws and your internet activity isn't important (unless one is into prohibited activities).
It is a very niche segment of people (like those working for intelligence, journalists, etc.) that must pay special attention. For most others, there isn't too much to worry about, as long as the companies providing services adhere to data regulations and act with responsibility.
atttoush said:
You know what's funny, people talking about privacy (intrinsically security also), yet many (and by many I mean the majority) of ROMs released on XDA are released without source code. Devs link to some other sources other than the source to be able to build the project. Here is an example. So while privacy is important, security is highly problematic with this modding model we all follow. Not to mention flashing different unchecked magiks modules.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Few months back, I made a decision to stop using custom ROMs. This decision is made easier by OEMs promising 3 to 4 years of software/ security updates.
OEM ROMs are largely scrutinized. Custom ROMs are not. You never know what they bake into their codes. There is absolutely no assurance on them respecting your privacy or security.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
Few months back, I made a decision to stop using custom ROMs. This decision is made easier by OEMs promising 3 to 4 years of software/ security updates.
OEM ROMs are largely scrutinized. Custom ROMs are not. You never know what they bake into their codes. There is absolutely no assurance on them respecting your privacy or security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the case with few established ROMs. Lineage OS comes to mind. As they encourage people to build ROMs from source. But device support is problematic. That's why I turn to custom ROMs. It's a great idea, but I thought XDA ROMs guaranteed security with the GPL and Open source philosophy. But it's being violated all over the place.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
Few months back, I made a decision to stop using custom ROMs. This decision is made easier by OEMs promising 3 to 4 years of software/ security updates.
OEM ROMs are largely scrutinized. Custom ROMs are not. You never know what they bake into their codes. There is absolutely no assurance on them respecting your privacy or security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which OEMs are these ? Please mention one and point to where and how their code can be reviewed. Almost none provide support for a device after 2 or 3 years. Almost none are scrutinized because their additions to Android are proprietary and closed source, they barely release kernel changes and those only because they are legally obliged, sometimes even after the device which uses that kernel is not even on sale anymore.
Partial exception for SONY, that provides repositories for AOSP support for many of their devices, and sometimes have released blobs ( not code ) for their drivers and cameras. This is the rare exception, not the rule.
Almost no OEMs provide timely security updates incorporating Google's monthly patches for critical vulnerabilities. Some pile them up in batches, leaving devices vulnerable for months and even years. Stagefright, bluetooth, Qualcomm ... They don't give a crap.
Get the facts straight.
Lineage, in contrast, is developed in plain sight by hundreds of developers revising the code every single day, include Google's vulnerability patches religiously every month and have provided fixes time and again for things Google and OEMs don't bother to fix. They also support devices securely years after OEMs have completely abandoned them.
LineageOS
A free and open-source operating system for various devices, based on the Android mobile platform. This is a mirror of https://review.lineageos.org/ - LineageOS
github.com
Edit : Remember that this is a developers' forum, by developers for developers. Checking and editing code daily is what we do.
Edit 2 : Can't comment as to other 'custom ROMs', from which it may very well be better to stay away.
Ultramanoid said:
Which OEMs are these ? Please mention one and point to where and how their code can be reviewed. Almost none provide support for a device after 2 or 3 years. Almost none are scrutinized because their additions to Android are proprietary and closed source, they barely release kernel changes and those only because they are legally obliged, sometimes even after the device which uses that kernel is not even on sale anymore.
Partial exception for SONY, that provides repositories for AOSP support for many of their devices, and sometimes have released blobs ( not code ) for their drivers and cameras. This is the rare exception, not the rule.
Almost no OEMs provide timely security updates incorporating Google's monthly patches for critical vulnerabilities. Some pile them up in batches, leaving devices vulnerable for months and even years. Stagefright, bluetooth, Qualcomm ... They don't give a crap.
Get the facts straight.
Lineage, in contrast, is developed in plain sight by hundreds of developers revising the code every single day, include Google's vulnerability patches religiously every month and have provided fixes time and again for things Google and OEMs don't bother to fix. They also support devices securely years after OEMs have completely abandoned them.
LineageOS
A free and open-source operating system for various devices, based on the Android mobile platform. This is a mirror of https://review.lineageos.org/ - LineageOS
github.com
Edit : Remember that this is a developers' forum, by developers for developers. Checking and editing code daily is what we do.
Edit 2 : Can't comment as to other 'custom ROMs', from which it may very well be better to stay away.
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Click to collapse
I didn't say that OEMs make their source codes available. I said they are scrutinized. Scrutinized by security researchers around the world, who may or may not be funded by competition. There is lot of benefits by doing so because OEMs can use this as an opportunity to push sales of their own devices. Example is the clipboard scandal of OnePlus, as well as others.
Compare that to custom ROMs. There are so many custom ROMs available for popular devices. Official builds, unofficial builds, nightlies, etc. etc. The ROMs are available for free. Who cares to audit/ scrutinize these? No one cares because there is nothing to gain. This is also because a very minute % of Android users actually install custom ROMs. So no one cares.
Just like root, the need for custom ROMs is decreasing by the day. OEMs are now promising upto 3 years of Android upgrades and 4 years of security updates, atleast for their flagship devices. And now the Google-Qualcomm partnership that is making these upgrades easier and faster. Unlike in the past, OEMs are much faster in releasing security updates today.
Lineage official builds, in my experience, isn't feature rich like some other custom ROMs or unofficial forks of Lineage. People may opt for Lineage official builds primarily for two reasons:
1. Debloat their OEM software like those from Xiaomi, Huawei, even Samsung.
2. OEM has stopped providing official support (this is now changing because 3 to 4 years of official support is synonymous to life of the device because a large % of people usually buy a new device every 3 or 4 years).
Some of the developers of custom ROMs are arrogant arses. That's another reason to tell them to eff-off.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
I said they are scrutinized. Scrutinized by security researchers around the world, who may or may not be funded by competition.
OEMs are now promising upto 3 years of Android upgrades and 4 years of security updates, atleast for their flagship devices.
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Click to collapse
1. Which security experts ? We have some in XDA whose daily job is precisely that, have you spoken to them ? I don't know of a single audit of any OEM's version of Android. Please mention or link at least one if you think they exist.
2. Which OEMs ? I don't know of a single OEM providing support of any kind for any of their devices ( maybe OnePlus barely reaches 3 for some of theirs, again, a very rare exception ) beyond 3 years, much less 4.
Provide real data points or stop speculating on vague promises and supposed security experts somewhere. When I say LineageOS is available, you can see it is. You can also build SONY's AOSP from their code. ( Edit : https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ )
One thing is to express an opinion, another to give facts.
Ultramanoid said:
1. Which security experts ? We have some in XDA whose daily job is precisely that, have you spoken to them ? I don't know of a single audit of any OEM's version of Android. Please mention or link at least one if you think they exist.
2. Which OEMs ? I don't know of a single OEM providing support of any kind for any of their devices ( maybe OnePlus barely reaches 3 for some of theirs, again, a very rare exception ) beyond 3 years, much less 4.
Provide real data points or stop speculating on vague promises and supposed security experts somewhere. When I say LineageOS is available, you can see it is. You can also build SONY's AOSP from their code. ( Edit : https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fact 1: OnePlus is collecting your private data without permission
Fact 2: Engineer Mode
Fact 3: Clipboard Scandal
Fact 4: Shot on OnePlus
Fact 5: MiUI stealthily sending user data back to China
Fact 6: Xiaomi Recording Millions Of People’s ‘Private’ Web And Phone Use
...
Thats just some of them. If you search, you will find more.
In most of these cases, it is some security researcher somewhere in the world who found a questionable activity that goes against acceptable privacy and security standards. In other cases, it was some random user who found a vulnerability or some unacceptable practice.
The point? Number of users of stock ROMs are way way higher than those that use custom ROMs, and as a result someone somewhere might find something either accidentally, or as part of security research work (paid by competition or otherwise).
OEMs will be careful when they make their ROMs. They are not only under scrutiny, but also need to ensure they stick with doing the right things because they have a business to run. The same isn't true for custom ROMs that some nobody will make and act like trash when questioned. Thats also because the product is free (or may not be depending on what is baked into the codes) and so the developer may think he isn't answerable.
Ultramanoid said:
One thing is to express an opinion, another to give facts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now you may point out the opinions. All the above are actually facts, that support my previous comment.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
Fact 1: OnePlus is collecting your private data without permission
Fact 2: Engineer Mode
Fact 3: Clipboard Scandal
Fact 4: Shot on OnePlus
Fact 5: MiUI stealthily sending user data back to China
Fact 6: Xiaomi Recording Millions Of People’s ‘Private’ Web And Phone Use
...
Thats just some of them. If you search, you will find more.
In most of these cases, it is some security researcher somewhere in the world who found a questionable activity that goes against acceptable privacy and security standards. In other cases, it was some random user who found a vulnerability or some unacceptable practice.
The point? Number of users of stock ROMs are way way higher than those that use custom ROMs, and as a result someone somewhere might find something either accidentally, or as part of security research work (paid by competition or otherwise).
OEMs will be careful when they make their ROMs. They are not only under scrutiny, but also need to ensure they stick with doing the right things because they have a business to run. The same isn't true for custom ROMs that some nobody will make and act like trash when questioned. Thats also because the product is free (or may not be depending on what is baked into the codes) and so the developer may think he isn't answerable.
Now you may point out the opinions. All the above are actually facts, that support my previous comment.
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Click to collapse
What all that proves is that OEMs are pure solid garbage, thank you for agreeing. Rest the case already. ^_^
Sorry to hear you still prefer to stand by out of date systems, unsecured protocols, and shady immoral companies. It is useless to discuss when you keep insisting on sustaining your biased opinion against hard evidence -- that YOU yourself provided.
Cheers !
Ultramanoid said:
What all that proves is that OEMs are pure solid garbage, thank you for agreeing. Rest the case already. ^_^
Sorry to hear you still prefer to stand by out of date systems, unsecured protocols, and shady immoral companies. It is useless to discuss when you keep insisting on sustaining your biased opinion against hard evidence -- that YOU yourself provided.
Cheers !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are simply exaggerating it.
Like the saying goes, better to trust the known devil than the unknown angel.
Cheers!