General > General Technical Chat
China spying using common car battery monitor?
eugene:
It's no wonder that people are concerned about apps collecting information they don't don't actually need and sending it home. But, it's a little perplexing to me that (most) people allow Google to do this on a massive scale. I understand that we need to trust someone, but Google, I don't trust you that much.
madires:
It's not just a chinese vendor, it's a general problem! Usually apps for Amdroid and IOS are based on so called app or
development frameworks which come with all that nasty spying and data collection. If the framework is free for the app developer it's very likely that it will collect data to make money for the framework developer.
NiHaoMike:
--- Quote from: Berni on June 01, 2023, 05:38:32 am ---They could probably still clean up the data using IP filtering (Unless you have access to a sizable botnet for the data flood)
--- End quote ---
If it's a popular product, easiest would be to make a hacked version of the app that fakes the data being sent back. Or if you're on a CGNAT or VPN, they'll discard a lot of good data when they try to strip out the fakes.
eugene:
The challenge with faking data in Android is that much of it is retrieved via a set of "apps" generally referred to as Google Services. In order to fake the data you literally need to replace those services at close to the operating system level.
There are de-Googled versions of Android like /e/os which will (depending on settings) give fake location and IP to any app that ask for such data. They don't fake everything. I wish I could completely hide my contacts list for example (if you get junk mail, odds are the email address was obtained from someone else's contact list.) It's definitely inconvenient because if I install any Google apps (App Store, Maps, Google Keyboard, gmail, etc...) then the purpose becomes defeated. But it does prevent others from tracking my location. I still have my old phone running a factory version of Android at home. It has no SIM card, so I can't make phone calls, but as long as there's wi-fi I can still use certain apps when I need to.
edpalmer42:
--- Quote from: Siwastaja on June 01, 2023, 11:21:48 am --->Android app requires location permissions to work.
I don't think it counts as spying. If I understood correctly, Android literally and explicitly asks user's permission for location data, and people willingly click "yes", so what's the issue?
--- End quote ---
Yes and no. Android does ask, but if you say no, the app doesn't work. That happens with all Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices like this battery monitor. When Google introduced BLE, they designed it to enforce that requirement. The responsibility for this situation ultimately lies with them. I'd like to see them justify this in front of a Congressional committee.
I have this battery monitor and I use this app. When my firewall asked if the app should be allowed to access the net, I said "HELL NO!!!". It's not a perfect solution but, these days, you're asking for trouble if you don't run a firewall program to control outgoing access.
Ed
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