I am not very worldly wise when it comes to technology, I can use the end result usually but not very good with understanding the in-between bits.
Have various apps on my Samsung Galaxy S including one called Cardio Trainer which uses the phone GPS to track your progress on a walk or cycle (in my case) and stores the info on distance covered, time etc.
However it recently released a new update and included in that is the usual warnings but when I read them it told me that by updating, I was allowing it to:
switch my GPS on/off
create Bluetooth connections and full internet access
read contacts data
manage my accounts list, use the authentication credentials of an account
modify or delete SD card contents
Am I being paranoid thinking that this is really just giving a bit too much of a free rein to a third party? Or is this pretty standard with a lot of apps now and it just so happens that I chose to read this one?
I am aware that there are feelings in certain quarters that Apple can trace where everyone of their iphones are in the world and are holding all sorts of information regarding the users etc.
On my computer I wouldn't download stuff without it being security scanned and me knowing exactly what it was for but when I find what looks like a good app, I tend to download it.
Maybe thats why my phone battery won't last 8 hours and that is with all applications turned off. Or so the phone claims...
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It all sounds a bit scary but in a world where your flights, seat you sat in and card you used to pay, all car journeys logged on ANPR and a day in London putting you on 500+ CCTV cameras are you worried? I didn't read the 79 pages of itunes T&Cs before accepting so I am probably open to all sorts of abuse!
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>> sat in and card you used to pay, all car journeys logged on ANPR and
>> a day in London putting you on 500+ CCTV cameras are you worried? I didn't
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Just you wait until this "human ANPR" technology is implemented by the Police:
www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8522574/Google-warns-against-facial-recognition-database.html
www.10news.com/news/28226786/detail.html
www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/07/facebook_facial_recognition_on_by_default/
p.s. you can try it within your PC's pictures folder by downloading Picassa.
Last edited by: John H on Sun 19 Jun 11 at 11:07
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>> Am I being paranoid thinking that this is really just giving a bit too much
>> of a free rein to a third party? >>
Agreed, I dont like the way that Google wants my contacts data stored on their servers just so I can sync my PC and phone contacts however I came across Android Sync, it sits on the PC and syncs Outlook data with Android without needing to even log in to Google.
www.android-sync.com/
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Phone Apps and Security - Meldrew
