I wonder if I'm being redundant, but I have AdBlock, Ghostery, Do Not Track Plus, Defacer, Get Off My Lawn, Shellfish, Facebook Disconnect, Twitter Disconnect, and GoogleClickTracker.
Something is wrong when I have to do all this to stay private.
You forgot a good old fashioned shotgun:
"Git orf mah privacy, boy."
Seriously, though, I'd like to thank Apple for being one of the few (only?) remaining companies that, as a rule, generally respects it's user's privacy.
It was my understanding that Apple told developers when the Apple UDID was no longer at their use, that developers would have to create their own style UDID. So THR open source UDID should not be an issue
The problem is that plenty of people (especially kids) demand free apps on iOS. The only way to support free apps is to include ads.
I'm sure everyone here is willing to pay 99c for the ad-free version but some people can't or won't.
Even developers making premium apps find it useful to track their users. App developers want to know what phone you're using and what OS version it's running so that they can make their apps better.
The bottom line is: no tracking = lower quality, more expensive apps.
Then these get banned from all apps in the App Store. Simple. There's no excuse for this unsolicited data mining.
Agree. But I would go farther. It's unconscionable the extent to which advertisers will go to get this data. For example, look at those who are dumping all over Microsoft for making no tracking a default option in IE (hard to imagine that MS is now the hero). Somehow, these companies believe they have a right to our privacy, and will look for any legal and technical loopholes to violate us.
The problem is that plenty of people (especially kids) demand free apps on iOS. The only way to support free apps is to include ads.
I'm sure everyone here is willing to pay 99c for the ad-free version but some people can't or won't.
Even developers making premium apps find it useful to track their users. App developers want to know what phone you're using and what OS version it's running so that they can make their apps better.
The bottom line is: no tracking = lower quality, more expensive apps.
"Demand" free apps? I don't see any marchers in the streets yet. Sure, people enjoy free apps and will use them. But that's a far cry from demanding them.
Apple need to lock down location services so that you are prompted for a pass code to enable them. This way no app can sneekily access location data without user authentication.
Then these get banned from all apps in the App Store. Simple. There's no excuse for this unsolicited data mining.
Isn't this one type of unapproved harvesting of user data that qualifies apps as malware? As far as the security companies are concerned it's called malware if it's an Android app doing so without notice to the user. I'm sure the same applies to an iOS app that does the same thing. Perhaps calling a spade a spade might prompt Apple to put a little more effort in closing loopholes.
Do you guys realize there are *5* trackers on this AppleInsider page we are currently reading?
(Well, those of you who use Ghostery may - but other users probably do not)
What we need is for Apple to _allow_ apps like Ghostery or AdBlock to run on iOS in some fashion. Apple does not need to actually produce the apps themselves, only allow them to run.
And as a side note, another good one for folks - if you still want to use Flash - is BetterPrivacy. It will delete any "super LSO" type tracking, at whatever schedule you set up. Gets rid of flash tracking cookies and other things as well.
There is a side problem, however, that sites can track you simply by your system configuration. Your system configuration is almost a unique fingerprint - even if you have every thing blocked. http://panopticlick.eff.org/
Apple need to lock down location services so that you are prompted for a pass code to enable them. This way no app can sneekily access location data without user authentication.
They do require the user to approve location services access on a per app basis. I think a lot of users have the Vista alert mentality and just say yes to everything because they think if they say no they will get pounded with annoying messages constantly.
There is a side problem, however, that sites can track you simply by your system configuration. Your system configuration is almost a unique fingerprint - even if you have every thing blocked. http://panopticlick.eff.org/
That is pretty interesting but the results seem odd. My iPhone is unique 1 in 278,322.
I guess a lot of people must not upgrade their iOS version and also live in PDT time zone because everything else is default on my phone.
On my desktop I am more unique 1 in 2,226,635 because I have a 30" cinema
Supporting my argument that yes, malware exists in the Appstore going by the security companies' definitions. It's just seldom if ever called malware on Apple's platform unlike articles mentioning "malicious apps" using the same or similar undeclared permissions on Android offerings.
It doesn't mean iOS is inherently insecure or that Apple's curation doesn't work. It's just a fact that if you have several hundred thousand applications available at least some of those will be doing things that Google/Apple isn't aware of. Policing appstores this large won't always be successful.
Calling apps malware on one platform but not the other seems disingenuous, and link-bait fodder from the security companies who plainly hope to push their software as a necessity. The more successful they are at creating a perception of serious security issues the more they get themselves on user's devices.
BTW, Charlie Miller (that Charlie Miller) claims to be assisting Google with closing holes in their Bouncer app inspection efforts.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
I wonder if I'm being redundant, but I have AdBlock, Ghostery, Do Not Track Plus, Defacer, Get Off My Lawn, Shellfish, Facebook Disconnect, Twitter Disconnect, and GoogleClickTracker.
Something is wrong when I have to do all this to stay private.
You forgot a good old fashioned shotgun:
"Git orf mah privacy, boy."
Seriously, though, I'd like to thank Apple for being one of the few (only?) remaining companies that, as a rule, generally respects it's user's privacy.
all this tracking crap has to be killed, dead. especially Google's. screw them ALL. greedy punks, so smug.
everything must be opt-in only.
Cheers !
The problem is that plenty of people (especially kids) demand free apps on iOS. The only way to support free apps is to include ads.
I'm sure everyone here is willing to pay 99c for the ad-free version but some people can't or won't.
Even developers making premium apps find it useful to track their users. App developers want to know what phone you're using and what OS version it's running so that they can make their apps better.
The bottom line is: no tracking = lower quality, more expensive apps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Then these get banned from all apps in the App Store. Simple. There's no excuse for this unsolicited data mining.
Agree. But I would go farther. It's unconscionable the extent to which advertisers will go to get this data. For example, look at those who are dumping all over Microsoft for making no tracking a default option in IE (hard to imagine that MS is now the hero). Somehow, these companies believe they have a right to our privacy, and will look for any legal and technical loopholes to violate us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL
The problem is that plenty of people (especially kids) demand free apps on iOS. The only way to support free apps is to include ads.
I'm sure everyone here is willing to pay 99c for the ad-free version but some people can't or won't.
Even developers making premium apps find it useful to track their users. App developers want to know what phone you're using and what OS version it's running so that they can make their apps better.
The bottom line is: no tracking = lower quality, more expensive apps.
"Demand" free apps? I don't see any marchers in the streets yet. Sure, people enjoy free apps and will use them. But that's a far cry from demanding them.
Start off with some 127.0.0.1 entries in /etc/hosts and add Protect My Privacy (PMP).
http://www.protectmyprivacy.org/
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I have most of that and I have Java turned off also (which is Why AppleInsider's new forum looks like a dog's breakfast and barely works).
Really though if you have Ghostery, you probably don't need the Facebook and Twitter blockers.
What does Java have to do with how this website looks?
A stupid article without any research on what OpenUUID or ODIN does.
Also I don't understand the fuzz with the entitlement for getting premium content or applications for free.
C'mon appleinsider, does anyone actually proofread these posts because this one has a glaring mistake...
"Without user tracking data, it is estimated that ad networks could "
Could what exactly?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Then these get banned from all apps in the App Store. Simple. There's no excuse for this unsolicited data mining.
Isn't this one type of unapproved harvesting of user data that qualifies apps as malware? As far as the security companies are concerned it's called malware if it's an Android app doing so without notice to the user. I'm sure the same applies to an iOS app that does the same thing. Perhaps calling a spade a spade might prompt Apple to put a little more effort in closing loopholes.
Do you guys realize there are *5* trackers on this AppleInsider page we are currently reading?
(Well, those of you who use Ghostery may - but other users probably do not)
What we need is for Apple to _allow_ apps like Ghostery or AdBlock to run on iOS in some fashion. Apple does not need to actually produce the apps themselves, only allow them to run.
And as a side note, another good one for folks - if you still want to use Flash - is BetterPrivacy. It will delete any "super LSO" type tracking, at whatever schedule you set up. Gets rid of flash tracking cookies and other things as well.
There is a side problem, however, that sites can track you simply by your system configuration. Your system configuration is almost a unique fingerprint - even if you have every thing blocked. http://panopticlick.eff.org/
Quote:
Originally Posted by irnchriz
Apple need to lock down location services so that you are prompted for a pass code to enable them. This way no app can sneekily access location data without user authentication.
They do require the user to approve location services access on a per app basis. I think a lot of users have the Vista alert mentality and just say yes to everything because they think if they say no they will get pounded with annoying messages constantly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by valkraider
There is a side problem, however, that sites can track you simply by your system configuration. Your system configuration is almost a unique fingerprint - even if you have every thing blocked. http://panopticlick.eff.org/
That is pretty interesting but the results seem odd. My iPhone is unique 1 in 278,322.
I guess a lot of people must not upgrade their iOS version and also live in PDT time zone because everything else is default on my phone.
On my desktop I am more unique 1 in 2,226,635 because I have a 30" cinema
Supporting my argument that yes, malware exists in the Appstore going by the security companies' definitions. It's just seldom if ever called malware on Apple's platform unlike articles mentioning "malicious apps" using the same or similar undeclared permissions on Android offerings.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/06/linkedin_app_under_scrutiny_for_transferring_ios_calendar_entries.html
It doesn't mean iOS is inherently insecure or that Apple's curation doesn't work. It's just a fact that if you have several hundred thousand applications available at least some of those will be doing things that Google/Apple isn't aware of. Policing appstores this large won't always be successful.
Calling apps malware on one platform but not the other seems disingenuous, and link-bait fodder from the security companies who plainly hope to push their software as a necessity. The more successful they are at creating a perception of serious security issues the more they get themselves on user's devices.
BTW, Charlie Miller (that Charlie Miller) claims to be assisting Google with closing holes in their Bouncer app inspection efforts.
http://blog.duosecurity.com/2012/06/dissecting-androids-bouncer/