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-   Applications (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=41)
-   -   Once again N900 apps win! (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=67129)

HellFlyer 2010-12-18 03:51
Once again N900 apps win!
 
Take a look at this article

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000....html?mod=e2fb


In short it says how a lot of apps misuse data and share personal details about smartphone users without their consent.

Only incident that we had was My Nokia introduced in PR 1.2 but that not very serious since info went to Nokia only and it didnt even work in some countries.

Hence, OPEN source RULEZ and N900 is still the best :D

danramos 2010-12-18 06:20
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Only incident... as far as you know. That's kind of the whole POINT of surreptitiousness. Considering the plethora of closed-source portions (despite all the puffery about being open), how do you know there isn't more going on?

kingoddball 2010-12-18 06:28
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
It's a conspiracy...

danramos 2010-12-18 06:32
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingoddball (Post 899197)
It's a conspiracy...
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

festivalnut 2010-12-18 06:46
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
what about the anti-theft app that was sending data to a russian email address? and the maintainer was nowhere to be seen when people found out and wanted to ask a few questions about that...

danramos 2010-12-18 07:03
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by festivalnut (Post 899203)
what about the anti-theft app that was sending data to a russian email address? and the maintainer was nowhere to be seen when people found out and wanted to ask a few questions about that...
That was for the N900?

festivalnut 2010-12-18 07:12
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by danramos (Post 899206)
That was for the N900?
i believe it was iamhere, which i actually had installed. as always, i may be wrong.

frostbyte 2010-12-18 07:14
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Since we are going with the "not mentioned so it wins" -approach, and I didn't see WebOS mentioned in the article either, I'm going to say WebOS rules.

WSJ didn't say anything about Windows Mobile either so maybe this is a Maemo/WebOS/Windows threesome?

End sarcasm.

rotoflex 2010-12-18 23:23
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Practical use of this would be to conceptualize a framework for detecting eavesdropping/spying by applications and incorporating it into an application to run on the N900 to monitor for the behavior.

The story states:
Quote:
To expose the information being shared by smartphone apps, the Journal designed a system to intercept and record the data they transmit, then decoded the data stream.
...
Many apps tested by the Journal appeared to violate that rule, by sending a user's location to ad networks, without informing users.
...
For example, Apple says that, internally, it treats the iPhone's UDID as "personally identifiable information." That's because, Apple says, it can be combined with other personal details about people—such as names or email addresses—that Apple has via the App Store or its iTunes music services. By contrast, Google and most app makers don't consider device IDs to be identifying information.
...
A growing industry is assembling this data into profiles of cellphone users. Mobclix, the ad exchange, matches more than 25 ad networks with some 15,000 apps seeking advertisers. The Palo Alto, Calif., company collects phone IDs, encodes them (to obscure the number), and assigns them to interest categories based on what apps people download and how much time they spend using an app, among other factors.

By tracking a phone's location, Mobclix also makes a "best guess" of where a person lives, says Mr. Gurbuxani, the Mobclix executive. Mobclix then matches that location with spending and demographic data from Nielsen Co.
...
Other apps transmitted more data. The Android app for social-network site MySpace sent age and gender, along with a device ID, to Millennial Media, a big ad network.

In its software-kit instructions, Millennial Media lists 11 types of information about people that developers may transmit to "help Millennial provide more relevant ads." They include age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views. In a re-test with a more complete profile, MySpace also sent a user's income, ethnicity and parental status.
...
A spokesman says MySpace discloses in its privacy policy that it will share details from user profiles to help advertisers provide "more relevant ads." My Space is a unit of News Corp., which publishes the Journal. Millennial did not respond to requests for comment on its software kit.
...
Google was the biggest data recipient in the tests. Its AdMob, AdSense, Analytics and DoubleClick units collectively heard from 38 of the 101 apps. Google, whose ad units operate on both iPhones and Android phones, says it doesn't mix data received by these units.

Google's main mobile-ad network is AdMob, which it bought this year for $750 million. AdMob lets advertisers target phone users by location, type of device and "demographic data," including gender or age group.
I suppose something could monitor for outgoing identifiable data, & blacklist ad sites. Choking Google off is more problematic, as exceptions would have to be made for apps which send location data to Google maps, etc.

Wikiwide 2010-12-18 23:41
Re: Once again N900 apps win!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotoflex (Post 899687)
Practical use of this would be to conceptualize a framework for detecting eavesdropping/spying by applications and incorporating it into an application to run on the N900 to monitor for the behavior.

The story states:


I suppose something could monitor for outgoing identifiable data, & blacklist ad sites. Choking Google off is more problematic, as exceptions would have to be made for apps which send location data to Google maps, etc.
I would suggest the opposite firewall: blacklist sites by default, white-list sites you use and trust. It might be a bit tiresome (when browser refuses to open a website until it's white-listed), but you will get no advertisements at all.


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