Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Entwood on 13 July 2012, 20:25:03
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IF you have an Android / IOS phone that has the stupid and pointless Facebook app on it, even if you never use the godawful site ... if you allow your Apps to update automatically, or you just manually update without checking ... you may wish to think on this .....
The latest update to "Facebook for Android" (and it applies to IOS as well) changes the built in permissions of the app quite severely .. and includes permission to ..
"read phone state and identity
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. An app with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to and the like."
Another permission allows the app send this information out .. :(
have a read here .. under permissions ... :(
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.katana
Many smartphones do not allow these built-in apps to be uninstalled - unfortunately - but on most you can disable the app after a bit of searching....
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jesus cant we have any privacy these days >:(
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Big brother is watching >:( >:( >:(
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and who is watching over big brother????????
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Pretty standard I think. When someone posted the other day that their mailbox had been hacked, I thought an app may have read his contact list if synched with his phone.
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Big brother is watching >:( >:( >:(
as usual >:(
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Simple solution. Delete your arsebook account.
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Simple solution. Delete your arsebook account.
That doesn't remove the app from the smartphone, and the app does not need to be logged in to FB to record the info, or so it seems. Disabling the app seems to be the only solution so far.
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Simple solution. Delete your arsebook account.
That doesn't remove the app from the smartphone, and the app does not need to be logged in to FB to record the info, or so it seems. Disabling the app seems to be the only solution so far.
If everyone deleted their account, there would be no app.
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Simple solution. Delete your arsebook account.
That doesn't remove the app from the smartphone, and the app does not need to be logged in to FB to record the info, or so it seems. Disabling the app seems to be the only solution so far.
If everyone deleted their account, there would be no app.
Excellent point, well made ... but can you see the modern yoof with their IQ reducer firmly under the hoody leaving such an major part of their miserable existence ??
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Pretty standard I think. When someone posted the other day that their mailbox had been hacked, I thought an app may have read his contact list if synched with his phone.
Was me regards Yahoo mail. But am not naive or stupid enough to let my phone have access to my email accounts, I do how ever have a google mail account which serves a limited purpose as I never talk to any one via it, but use it to back the phone up to (stupid enough really as then then puts my whole phone contact list at risk.
The thing that hacked me off the most was taking pictures on my phone (only at an engagement party) but when I went to check out what google mail was about I found the pics had synced to my google mail account.
I will learn to use it all properly one day. :-\
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Pretty standard I think. When someone posted the other day that their mailbox had been hacked, I thought an app may have read his contact list if synched with his phone.
Was me regards Yahoo mail. But am not naive or stupid enough to let my phone have access to my email accounts, I do how ever have a google mail account which serves a limited purpose as I never talk to any one via it, but use it to back the phone up to (stupid enough really as then then puts my whole phone contact list at risk.
The thing that hacked me off the most was taking pictures on my phone (only at an engagement party) but when I went to check out what google mail was about I found the pics had synced to my google mail account.
I will learn to use it all properly one day. :-\
As far as I can see, the whole point of these apps/social sites is to glean every bit of info they can about you. Jaime may have been joking when he said everyone should delete their account, but the only way you can stay totally private is to never connect to any server. Difficult........
Then, of course, there are the people who willingly give away everything about themselves freely. They can see no harm in it whatsoever. If you look at it from their point of view, it's the way the world works nowadays and privacy is something for older people or those who have something to hide. No wonder when they are force-fed a diet of reality tv shows where the 'contestants' revel in their notoriety. Little do they realise that they will never be able to escape their 15 minutes of, ermmmm.........fame?
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Nothing new, other apps do this.
Can't help but notice that most people who thinks its useless are over 40 ::)
Its used as a tool, I keep in contact with old work mates were we organise catch ups over it. Keep in contact with friends in other countries, only last week I meet up with an old friend not seen in years. He just happened to make a post saying he was in London for an interview.
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Its used as a tool, I keep in contact with old work mates were we organise catch ups over it. Keep in contact with friends in other countries, only last week I meet up with an old friend not seen in years. He just happened to make a post saying he was in London for an interview.
Us old'uns do the same thing, but with more reliable technology. We call people. You know, its called a telephone for a reason, its not called an arsebook-gay-machine. Anyone under the age of 30 may struggle, but us old'uns also arrange to meet up in a pub on a Friday and Saturday night. We don't need arsebook, and imaginary/virtual friends ::)
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Jaime may have been joking when he said everyone should delete their account
Really? I see nobody laughing ;)
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Nothing new, other apps do this.
Can't help but notice that most people who thinks its useless are over 40 ::)
Its used as a tool, I keep in contact with old work mates were we organise catch ups over it. Keep in contact with friends in other countries, only last week I meet up with an old friend not seen in years. He just happened to make a post saying he was in London for an interview.
So, please explain, why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
How does any of that information actually affect the way the app works ?? Especialy a social network app that revolves around the TYPED word ??
IMHO it doesn't... but the owners of the app can misuse that information by selling on such details for large sums of money.
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Nothing new, other apps do this.
Can't help but notice that most people who thinks its useless are over 40 ::)
Its used as a tool, I keep in contact with old work mates were we organise catch ups over it. Keep in contact with friends in other countries, only last week I meet up with an old friend not seen in years. He just happened to make a post saying he was in London for an interview.
So, please explain, why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
How does any of that information actually affect the way the app works ?? Especialy a social network app that revolves around the TYPED word ??
IMHO it doesn't... but the owners of the app can misuse that information by selling on such details for large sums of money.
Remember, sites like arsebook are free to use. And cost a lot to run. An income is needed.
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Nothing new, other apps do this.
Can't help but notice that most people who thinks its useless are over 40 ::)
Its used as a tool, I keep in contact with old work mates were we organise catch ups over it. Keep in contact with friends in other countries, only last week I meet up with an old friend not seen in years. He just happened to make a post saying he was in London for an interview.
So, please explain, why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
How does any of that information actually affect the way the app works ?? Especialy a social network app that revolves around the TYPED word ??
IMHO it doesn't... but the owners of the app can misuse that information by selling on such details for large sums of money.
Many companies would pay very good money for accurate information, when you post on facebook, it looks at what you've said, adverts are tailored to it. You said you are flying to New York tomorrow, up pops Virgin Atlantic adverts.
Not just facebook, but other Apps do this to generate revenue.
All of the above offer power to advertising agencies, companies can target adverts more precisely, get better conversions. Someone I know, setup a company, it bought mobile advertising space, and basically resold it, but had some smart stuff inside. He sold it 18 months later, he's now a multi-millionaire.
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Tunnie ... I accept what you say .. but it didn't answer my question in any way at all ...
why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
That has nowt to do with tailored advertising, or whatever I have posted on any site....
I ask again ??? why does a social network app need any of THAT information ??
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So nobody's spotted the obvious answer.. Don't buy a phone that runs crApps in the first place. Perhaps one that makes calls and sends text messages? Works for me. :y
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Tunnie ... I accept what you say .. but it didn't answer my question in any way at all ...
why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
That has nowt to do with tailored advertising, or whatever I have posted on any site....
I ask again ??? why does a social network app need any of THAT information ??
I suspect they want to do tigher integration with the app to your contacts, if you have a friend on facebook, quite possible the same person is in your phone book.
If its pulled into the app, then they can put that in the web version too. Then add in VOIP to call them from a PC...
Also possible they just want to harvest numbers to sell, if they know the app is installed on 07xxxxx - Then all you post/moan/tweet about is say Snowboarding, your number could be passed onto a winter sports company. That information is worth a lot more than a CD with 1,000,000 numbers on, which is what companies used to do for numbers...
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Tunnie ... I accept what you say .. but it didn't answer my question in any way at all ...
why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
That has nowt to do with tailored advertising, or whatever I have posted on any site....
I ask again ??? why does a social network app need any of THAT information ??
I suspect they want to do tigher integration with the app to your contacts, if you have a friend on facebook, quite possible the same person is in your phone book.
If its pulled into the app, then they can put that in the web version too. Then add in VOIP to call them from a PC...
Also possible they just want to harvest numbers to sell, if they know the app is installed on 07xxxxx - Then all you post/moan/tweet about is say Snowboarding, your number could be passed onto a winter sports company. That information is worth a lot more than a CD with 1,000,000 numbers on, which is what companies used to do for numbers...
So, why would I want this, again? ;)
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Tunnie ... I accept what you say .. but it didn't answer my question in any way at all ...
why does any app need to know if my phone is in use, what the phone number and serial number of the phone is, who I am speaking to, what their phone number is, and all the phone numbers in my contacts list are ?
That has nowt to do with tailored advertising, or whatever I have posted on any site....
I ask again ??? why does a social network app need any of THAT information ??
I suspect they want to do tigher integration with the app to your contacts, if you have a friend on facebook, quite possible the same person is in your phone book.
If its pulled into the app, then they can put that in the web version too. Then add in VOIP to call them from a PC...
Also possible they just want to harvest numbers to sell, if they know the app is installed on 07xxxxx - Then all you post/moan/tweet about is say Snowboarding, your number could be passed onto a winter sports company. That information is worth a lot more than a CD with 1,000,000 numbers on, which is what companies used to do for numbers...
So, why would I want this, again? ;)
None of us would but Mr Facebook likes it, as it makes them more money!
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None of us would but Mr Facebook likes it, as it makes them more money!
So, my solution remains the best one then ;)
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So nobody's spotted the obvious answer.. Don't buy a phone that runs crApps in the first place. Perhaps one that makes calls and sends text messages? Works for me. :y
Your common sense is reveilling your extended age, Mr Wood. A phone is for talking to people on. Maybe texting. And in my case, email.
I'm an email junkie. I get nervous when I can't get access to my mail server :-[
I need to sit in a circle, and say "My name is TheBoy, and I'm addicted to email" :-[
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Some good points come through in this thread. Each to their own opinion and everybody is making valid points based on their beliefs, needs, situation.
But....it seems that it has been forgotten that Big brother is watching you anyway, whether you have FB, email, bla bla or not.
Most people have a mobile phone of some sort, credit cards maybe, car registration, rent or mortgage agreements, employer, ++++ not to mention millions of cameras watching you. So no point in being paranoid - you're being watched anyway. And if you ain't done anything wrong, what the hell is the problem
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add into that a Tesco Clubcard or similar, they also know what you eat!
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and the place that does all the tesco club cards has very high security as i used to deliver there :y
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I think in the case of arsebook, it actually probably amounts to theft, but allowed within the smallprint of the T&Cs. What they are claiming their service is does not need to record who I called, when, and from where. It does not need my entire contacts list to sell on.
In fact, I ask anyone who has my details, and is on arsebook, to delete my contacts from their systems immediately. Nor should they call me from their mobile with an arsebook app on. I do not give my consent for my details to be forwarded by anyone >:(
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add into that a Tesco Clubcard or similar, they also know what you eat!
Not really the same, as anyone who's info they obtain and use has to opt-in (buy signing up for the loyalty scheme)
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I think in the case of arsebook, it actually probably amounts to theft, but allowed within the smallprint of the T&Cs. What they are claiming their service is does not need to record who I called, when, and from where. It does not need my entire contacts list to sell on.
In fact, I ask anyone who has my details, and is on arsebook, to delete my contacts from their systems immediately. Nor should they call me from their mobile with an arsebook app on. I do not give my consent for my details to be forwarded by anyone
In todays world, I think you may be fighting a losing battle there.
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and the place that does all the tesco club cards has very high security as i used to deliver there :y
Until they decide to outsource it to India where their employees will steal the data and sell in on.
This has happened to BT in the past although they have always denied it. When I had a phone call from a conman who had all my details including last payment date and that it was through a post office. When he asked for my bank details to set a direct debit, I had a big argument where I had politely told him to ff fade away as he had called me and could be anybody. The only time I know it is BT is if I phone them. I emailed BT to complain and they confirmed that nobody had called at the time. I knew something was wrong with the call, later I realized that was no background call centre chatter. BT said they must of got the data from a phone book which was strange as I am ex-directory and I was not aware that the phone book contained ex-directory numbers along with your preferred method and date and place of last payment. I never did get a satisfactory answer. >:( >:( >:( >:(
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Some good points come through in this thread. Each to their own opinion and everybody is making valid points based on their beliefs, needs, situation.
But....it seems that it has been forgotten that Big brother is watching you anyway, whether you have FB, email, bla bla or not.
Most people have a mobile phone of some sort, credit cards maybe, car registration, rent or mortgage agreements, employer, ++++ not to mention millions of cameras watching you. So no point in being paranoid - you're being watched anyway. And if you ain't done anything wrong, what the hell is the problem
Of course you have nothing to worry about with companies having all of this information and data about you as it has never been known for servers to be hacked into and personal data stolen, or employees farming the data and selling it on, or the companies themselves making extra money by selling it to 'Scum Claims Solicitors Are Us'. For Sony, LinkedIn the hacking didn't really happen did it, it was all a publicity stunt. :o :o :o :o
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So, please explain, why does any app need to know if my phone is in use,
Apps such as CPU Spy, Better Battery Stats, etc need to know what the handset is doing at any given time so it can report the correct info back to the end user.
Other (more common) apps such as media players will also need to know the phone state so they know when to mute themselves when a call comes in.
Apps that look at the IMEI & the IMSI invariably do that to help stop piracy, but if you are that paranoid there are plenty of security apps out there that give you the choice to allow or disallow a particular permission when it is requested by an app.
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Some good points come through in this thread. Each to their own opinion and everybody is making valid points based on their beliefs, needs, situation.
But....it seems that it has been forgotten that Big brother is watching you anyway, whether you have FB, email, bla bla or not.
Most people have a mobile phone of some sort, credit cards maybe, car registration, rent or mortgage agreements, employer, ++++ not to mention millions of cameras watching you. So no point in being paranoid - you're being watched anyway. And if you ain't done anything wrong, what the hell is the problem
Of course you have nothing to worry about with companies having all of this information and data about you as it has never been known for servers to be hacked into and personal data stolen, or employees farming the data and selling it on, or the companies themselves making extra money by selling it to 'Scum Claims Solicitors Are Us'. For Sony, LinkedIn the hacking didn't really happen did it, it was all a publicity stunt. :o :o :o :o
;) Hmm.
The point is, your personal data is floating around anywhere and everywhere already. As individuals we can take appropriate precautions to try to limit it, to a greater or lesser extent depending on our personal viewpoint, but it has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen.
Of course I know my email address is sold on. So what am I gonna do about it? Oh, yes, stop using email. Whilst there, I will get rid of my mobile phone, credit cards and basically anything else that carries personal data ;)
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So nobody's spotted the obvious answer.. Don't buy a phone that runs crApps in the first place. Perhaps one that makes calls and sends text messages? Works for me. :y
Your common sense is reveilling your extended age, Mr Wood. A phone is for talking to people on. Maybe texting. And in my case, email.
I'm an email junkie. I get nervous when I can't get access to my mail server :-[
I need to sit in a circle, and say "My name is TheBoy, and I'm addicted to email" :-[
Mine's supposed to do e-mail, but it fails at the first hurdle of logging in to the server, and I can't be @rsed to wireshark it to figure out why. ::)