Google asks journalists to tone down story of "massive" Google Play security flaw

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  • Reply 161 of 257
    What happened to "Do no evil?"
  • Reply 162 of 257

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nikon133 View Post





    I can almost see "Google Cattle" term emerging in opposition to "Apple Sheep"...


    I prefer the alliteration of "Google Goats"!

  • Reply 163 of 257


    Originally Posted by cjcampbell View Post

    What happened to "Do no evil?"


     


    Nope. "Don't be evil". HUGE difference. You can do all the evil you want, but as long as you're not evil, it's fine.

  • Reply 164 of 257
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jameskatt2 View Post





    Someone at Google needs to hang.




    haha, just like the someone who collected the private wifi data needs to hang. In fact, I bet Schmitty and co are giving the guy a pat on the back for circumventing user's privacy in unique ways.

  • Reply 165 of 257


    The article states:


     


    "Many of the user comments on the issue were found no problem with Google sending users' personal data to developers, with one complaining that the issue was just a matter of unfairly comparing Google with Apple's higher standard for security in the App Store.


     


    Developer David Brown wrote, 'Apple hide[s] all of these details because they're control freaks! I have details of every customers I have, whether they paid through PayPal or credit card...does that mean I'll go and harrass [sic] them if they dislike my service?'"


     


    Well, let's see, that's a developer comment, not a user comment.  Of course developers want to receive the e-mail addresses of app purchasers!  This is another example of how Google plays fast and loose with disclosure...  It is not 'unfair' at all to compare the privacy and disclosure policies of two competitors - Apple and Google.  That is completely fair and reasonable...


     


    Having said that, at the end of the day, users may not care at all about this issue...  People constantly surrender privacy in exchange for convenience...  However, if Google is sincere about living up to its 'do no evil' slogan, then they should be far more transparent about what information they gether from users, and who they share it with...

  • Reply 166 of 257
    nikon133nikon133 Posts: 2,600member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    I understand how it can be used that way but I don't think that was the intent of the OP.

    I do wish we had a truly gender neutral word to describe a person in the singular that doesn't have a pejorative tone. Perhaps we use the word it to denote an unknown gender but then add as prefixes the first letter of she and he to denote these as possible options. For example, "Shit had a go at me asking whether English was my first language." I see no downsides¡

    In that case, "Hit" would be possible option for male.

    But this would give a phrase "Shit hit the fan" completely undefined meaning.

    On a serious side, I'd probably stick with "One".
  • Reply 167 of 257
    nikon133nikon133 Posts: 2,600member
    "Apple wrote:
    [" url="/t/156021/google-asks-journalists-to-tone-down-story-of-massive-google-play-security-flaw/120#post_2279329"]

    Race intolerance is just dumb, because nobody gets to choose what skin color that they are born with.

    I discriminate based on other, more relevant factors, including mobile device choice, religion, political persuasion etc. These are all choices that individuals make and are responsible for.

    Stopped reading at "I discriminate". That would be your choice, then. Nothing for me to see there.
  • Reply 168 of 257

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Yet you follow me so closely. Your cognitive dissonance mention was timely then.



    LOL you're hilarious!! Pretty much everything you put on here makes me LOL, all the red herring and all the "white knighting" Google, btw, the only threads, or majority you comment on are for google.  Kind of weird. 


     


     


    And "UHHH bonjour" 

  • Reply 169 of 257
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member


    Google: proving it's not a bug when it's "a feature".

  • Reply 170 of 257
    solipsismx wrote: »
    I think you just coined a new term.


    Warning: Some Google Cattle posts may contain some horse's ass comments.


    I am responding to your comment as I do not see the original poster's comments.


    I believe a Gaggle of Googlers is the prefered vernacular.

    "gaggle"
    gag·gle [gag-uhl] Show IPA verb, gag·gled, gag·gling, noun

    verb (used without object)
    1. to cackle.

    noun
    2. an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering: a politician followed by a gaggle of supporters.

    Origin:
    1350–1400; Middle English gagelen (v.), gagel (noun); of imitative orig.




    Notably, one definition is " an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering" and the origin is gagel (noun); "of imitative orig."

    How incredibly appropriate.
  • Reply 171 of 257
    Google's mission statement is: "Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful." While Google's mission statement alone isn't troublesome, Google's collection of personal information is quite troublesome because Google's business model is the aggregation of user's personal information in order to target advertising to users. As a result of their policies and associated products and services, Google has far more personal information about users than governments or other businesses have about consumers.


    * Google gathers details of how you used their services, such as your search queries (1)
    * Google tracks cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your Google Account (1)
    * Google collects telephony log information like your phone number, calling-party number, forwarding numbers, time and date of calls, duration of calls, SMS routing information and types of calls (1)
    * Google logs device event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL (1)
    * Google collects device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone number) Google may associate your device identifiers or phone number with your Google Account (1)

    While such information is gathered by competing products and services, Google's vast range of "products and services" uniquely positions Google to collect more information about consumers than any other company. The problem with Google's vast network of information gathering is that Google has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of concern for consumers through their policies and practices. Furthermore, Google has consistently used very expedient methods to comply with or meet demands whether those of stockholders or governments. The vast amount of information collected by Google has arguably made Google the greatest threat to privacy ever known, a vast unsecured treasure trove of information that attracts hackers and online thieves, and; most worrisome; governments.


    * Google has done very little to protect Android users from malware. Considering that many people have significant amounts of personal information on their mobile devices, I find this completely unacceptable.
    * According to Sunnyvale, Calif., security firm Juniper Networks known instances of Android-related malware -- "virtually all" involving apps - have jumped steadily month by month from 400 in June 2011 to 15,507 in February 2012 (2)
    * "San Francisco-based Lookout Mobile Security reported In August 2011, that "an estimated half-million to one million people were affected by Android malware in the first half of 2011." (2)
    * Trend Micro of Japan, which has U.S. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. - identified "more than 1,000 malicious Android apps" last year, 90 percent of them on Google's site and noted that the number of bad apps grew last year at 60 percent per month. Trend Micro has estimated the total this year "will grow to more than 120,000," (2)
    * Google proclaims that "Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experience possible. Whether we’re designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to the look of the homepage, we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line." (3) This is in direct conflict with Google's business model which serves advertisers and is a serious, undisclosed conflict of interest.
    * Google removed links to an anti-Scientology site after the Church of Scientology claimed copyright infringement in 2002. (4)
    * Google handed over the records of some users of its social-networking service, Orkut, to the Brazilian government, which was investigating alleged racist, homophobic, and pornographic content in September 2006. (4)
    * Google's mission statement "to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful" didn’t stop Google from censoring their Chinese search engine to gain access to a lucrative market. (4)
    * Privacy International has named Google the worst company in their 2007 survey and "hostile to privacy." (5)
    * Google has used their dominant position with Google Search to prefer Google+ search results and has published results that include personal data which doesn't provide an opt-out option. (6)
    * Google employees have vandalized OpenStreetMap by adding erroneous data. (7)
    * Google collected emails, texts, photos and documents gathered from Wi-Fi networks using Google's StreetView cars to collect data. (8)


    1. http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/. Google. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
    2. Steve Johnson. Posted March 17, 2012. Updated March 23, 2012. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20182226/android-apps-targeted-by-malware?source=rss_viewed. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
    3. http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/. Google. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
    4. Adam L. Penenberg. October 10, 2006. http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/10/google-evil. MotherJones. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
    5. Unattributed. June 8, 2007. https://www.privacyinternational.org/article/race-bottom-privacy-ranking-internet-service-companies. Privacy International. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
    6. John Fontana. January 12, 2012 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/identity/ftc-asked-to-probe-google-search-integration/143 ZDNet. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
    7. Lucian Parfeni. January 17, 2012. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Accused-of-Vandalizing-OpenStreetMap-Data-246965.shtml Softpedia. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
    8. Hack Doyle and Daniel Bates. Posted May 27, 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150606/Google-deliberately-stole-information-executives-covered-years.html. Daily Mail. Retrieved May 28, 2012.



    Android botnet ... (1)
    "The past quarter has seen the number of malicious apps double from 10,000 to 20,000 in just one month ..." (2)

    "... hundreds of thousands of devices were infected after malware found its way onto the official Google Play marketplace." (2)

    "... More worryingly for users, even Google’s official application marketplace, Google Play, was breached, with 17 malicious apps downloaded over 700,000 times before they were spotted and removed from the site..." (2)

    "The security firm said at the start of the year, it had found more than 5,000 malicious applications designed to target Google's Android mobile operating system, but the figure has since risen to about 20,000 in recent months. By the coming third-quarter, the firm estimates there will be around 38,000 malware samples, and close to 130,000 in the fourth-quarter." (3)

    "... malware targeting Android grew by 3,325 percent in the last seven months of 2011..." (4)




    1. Terry Zink. Published 3 July 2012. Spam from an Android botnet. Terry Zink's Cyber Security Blog. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
    2. Unattributed. Published 2 July 2012. The True Face of the Android threat. Trend Micro. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
    3. Zack Whittaker. Published 4 July 2012. Trend Micro warns of Android malware pandemic by Q4 2012. ZDNet. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
    4. Jeffrey Burt. Published 5 July 2012. Android Malware Creates Smartphone Botnet, Researchers Say. eWeek. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  • Reply 172 of 257


    Originally Posted by MacBook Pro View Post

    Google's mission statement is: "Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."


     


    So release your algorithms. image


     


    Google is Wikipedia if advertisers were in charge. 

  • Reply 173 of 257
    In short, Google's known practices include:



    [LIST]
    [*] Amending "search algorithms" as necessary to control information flow (Foundem, Onenewspage.com)
    [*] Capitulating to government calls for private information (Brazil)
    [*] Caving to Government Censorship (China)
    [*] Copyright Infringement (book publishing industry, television and motion pictures industry, Oracle)
    [*] Tailoring search results to prefer Google services (Google+)
    [*] Vandalizing competing services (OpenStreetMap)
    [/LIST]


    These are just some of the known evil acts of Google.
  • Reply 174 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    1) "It"? Really? If one is not even going to acknowledge Gatorguy as a human being it's hard to imagine how one is even trying to be objective.

    2) I feel my ability to debate a topic, which in no small part is being able to see the opposing side's argument, is having had many debates with him over the years. I don't usually come away agreeing with his PoV but I often come away understanding it, even if just a little bit, because of his ability to form a cohesive, well thought-out, and cited response.

    You are wrong.
    I used it as a gender-neutral phrase.
    Anyway questioning whether English is my mother-tongue is far more demeaning.
    I don't resort to insults, unless provoked in an extreme manner.
    I didn't even retaliate directly to his demeaning statement.
  • Reply 175 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    Than
    solipsismx wrote: »
    Chromium OS is open-source and I think the licensing would allow you to remove everything that calls home. WIth modern webcode there is no reason why Chrome can't be a stand-alone OS that doesn't need to be connected to the internet and Google's services to work. It has a Linux foundation and getting access to local storage is possible. We've already seen what HTML5/CSS3/JS can do as a UI with WebOS and Windows Metro.

    Here is a recent story about how Chrome OS first got started. In a Microsoft-ian fashion Google rejected the idea of a super-fast OS that is loaded into RAM but then later took the idea and ran with it after the original developer was gone.

    Thanks for the feedback
  • Reply 176 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    I sometimes use "it" to refer to a person when I don't know (for sure) their gender. Some people use "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, but "they" is plural. The alternative is to say "that person" or "he/she". Cumbersome. The other, rarer case for using "it" is for anyone whose gender identity is "complicated."
    Thanks for the support.
  • Reply 177 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    No idea. I only use Chrome on my Windows PC at work because IE sucks really bad, and I don't login to any Google account while I'm using it. As for "my" contacts database, it's actually the company's Exchange database, so they aren't my personal contacts. Besides, other than the browser cookies, whatever Chrome on my work PC tracks can't be used to identify me, only my work PC.

    However, on my personal machines (Macs) I don't use Chrome at all. I use Safari for everything and Firefox for a small handful of sites that don't work correctly in Safari.

    Thanks. I do like-wise.
    IE is terrible, not sure why in a Microsoft-centered universe (at work).
  • Reply 178 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    anonymouse wrote: »
    Well, ignoring the fact that his responses aren't usually well cited -- his citations often range to have nothing to do with the topic to actually contradicting his point, if you read them, which he's counting on most people not doing -- his responses are nothing more than spin, deflection, misdirection, and often outright lies. This isn't a debating society, and there's no reason we have to be "fair and balanced". After all, the truth is usually biased, and debating it doesn't change that fact, especially when one side isn't engaged in honest discussion but is here to "shape" the story. 
    I agree and may I add, it almost seems he needs to educate us,that we are wrong and only he is right.
    I know of one person who fits this description, and they are so sad. This person, that I know will tell his daughter to not eat a particular food, as he dislikes it, an olive actually.
    Let your child discover things for themselves!
    If one has to constantly resort to citations, in my opinion, it means he cannot structure an argument, or simply is too lazy to do so.
    Why he needs to teach us, only he knows.
  • Reply 179 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    euphonious wrote: »
    135 posts bickering about whether Google is more evil than Apple, or vice versa.

    Plenty of us really need to go outside more.
    So why are you adding to the count?
  • Reply 180 of 257
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    I love that Little Snitch tells me that books.google.com wants to access whatever it thinks it needs on my computer.

    I tell it no, every single time, and then in the same session if I want to go to YouTube, the entire website refuses access. I get the Safari load error page.

    Hilarious that Google thinks that every single one of their services deserves fingers in all the others.

    Yes, a wonderful tool.
    I don't use it on my MBA, as I don't use google, except for YouTube.
    My son has it installed on his MBP, and it's amazing to see what it does in the background.
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