New Google Agreement scary or what?

Tornique

Tornique

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So I have the update icon bouncing on the top of my nexus phone and Youtube needs a manual update. When a manual update comes out, there is some type of change in the user agreement. I usually don't care, but I saw a "new" icon in green under the user agreement that reads;

Hardware Controls

New: Take pictures and videos

Allows application to take pictures and videos with the camera. This allows the application at any time to collect images the camera is seeing.
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Little disturbing if this actually means I've given permission for an app on my phone to take a random picture....

I also found the last line of this agreement pretty wide open;

Phone Calls

Read phone state and identity

Allows the application to access the phone features of the device. An application 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.
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I haven't updated these programs, but it looks like its a general agreement that includes Google+ and other apps... we may have to stop using android phones at work if we have to accept this agreement. :(
 
You should have the option of explicitly defining which apps have access to what, no? If you accept, I think you'll be able to turn the setting off.

Either way, its ridiculous that we've reached a point where we have to be aware of such things on a device we basically go everywhere with.
 
Better hide your phone when in bedroom, washroom or at work. If they already know about you in and out, don't make it a living Facebook for them. Dunno what's wrong with those companies' appetite.
 
The End of the World Is Coming!!!!! No!!, No but really its all to control us, We are being told what to do and most of us are doing it becasue we cant live without technology. The computer you use to go on gtam.com its monitored, the cellphone you use on a daily its monitored , Now im not saying throw away all your devices but im saying that these days unless you talk face to face your privacy isnt so private. Just wait till you start seeing cameras around every corner :violent1:
 
There is a fixed number of permissions in Android and some of them are fairly sweeping. In order to do some things that are really innocent an app can require a sweeping permission that gives it far more than it actually needs. There's nothing the developer can do about it. Google+ might want to pause when you get a phone call, or maybe it's linked with those Google Talk app or something. In order for it to get a notice that a call is coming in it needs the phone state which automatically gives it the other permissions under the phone state permission.

iOS has no permission system, so technically Fruit Ninja can do whatever it wants with your data. iOS relies on Apple to screen apps that go through the app store.
 
TheDirty said:
There is a fixed number of permissions in Android and some of them are fairly sweeping. In order to do some things that are really innocent an app can require a sweeping permission that gives it far more than it actually needs. There's nothing the developer can do about it. Google+ might want to pause when you get a phone call, or maybe it's linked with those Google Talk app or something. In order for it to get a notice that a call is coming in it needs the phone state which automatically gives it the other permissions under the phone state permission.

iOS has no permission system, so technically Fruit Ninja can do whatever it wants with your data. iOS relies on Apple to screen apps that go through the app store.
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Nonsense. Apple only let's developers have access to certain APIs, and the phone ain't one of em! They're far from perfect, but what you stated is patently false.
 
The contacts part is true. Theyre working to fix it. The rest is skewed.

For the photos part, it specifically asks for permission as part of location services, but if/when you say yes it actually allows access to photos themselves, not just location data. Dumb oversight, no doubt apple is fixin it as we speak.

The recording conversation part? Nonsense. Apps cant access phone calls. Unless they meant "recording conversations" by engaging the microphone while the phone is IN the offending app...but this would only work while the app is running, and you'd KNOW it was recording. And this has nothing to do with phone conversations, only what the physical mic can pick up.
 
Tornique said:
So I have the update icon bouncing on the top of my nexus phone and Youtube needs a manual update. When a manual update comes out, there is some type of change in the user agreement. I usually don't care, but I saw a "new" icon in green under the user agreement that reads;



Little disturbing if this actually means I've given permission for an app on my phone to take a random picture....

I also found the last line of this agreement pretty wide open;



I haven't updated these programs, but it looks like its a general agreement that includes Google+ and other apps... we may have to stop using android phones at work if we have to accept this agreement. :(
Click to expand...
classic case of over paranoid. The app will only use the features it needs, and none of them will send your pics without your permission. ex. facebook app wants access for uploading pics if you don't want them uploaded you can turn off the feature, but so many people now upload pics to facebook and other social media sites. If you're that concerned , install kaspersky internet suite. You can control what apps have permission for access.
 
mmmnaked said:
The contacts part is true. Theyre working to fix it. The rest is skewed.

For the photos part, it specifically asks for permission as part of location services, but if/when you say yes it actually allows access to photos themselves, not just location data. Dumb oversight, no doubt apple is fixin it as we speak.

The recording conversation part? Nonsense. Apps cant access phone calls. Unless they meant "recording conversations" by engaging the microphone while the phone is IN the offending app...but this would only work while the app is running, and you'd KNOW it was recording. And this has nothing to do with phone conversations, only what the physical mic can pick up.
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So what I said is not patently false, you just want to clarify. Next time clarify without being so defensive.
 
Android is simply more upfront about what app may need to do - to the point of over-doing it... (the way permissions are bundled makes is sound a lot worse than it is).
It's up to individual app vendor to clarify what it is actually doing, and you as a user to grant/deny specific rights.
Take noled app as an example - listing of permissions is right-down scary at quick glance, but if you read through, it's not that bad:
http://www.devasque.com/noled/FAQ.php#10

Then you can make an informed decision to install or not, or tailor permissions to your liking.
 
oilycreek said:
classic case of over paranoid. The app will only use the features it needs, and none of them will send your pics without your permission. ex. facebook app wants access for uploading pics if you don't want them uploaded you can turn off the feature, but so many people now upload pics to facebook and other social media sites. If you're that concerned , install kaspersky internet suite. You can control what apps have permission for access.
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Over paranoid? I don't think so, the idea behind the agreement is over reaching the current software needs. For instance the phone portion is acceptable, the program needs to know when a call is active so that the application can hand over control or alert the user. Knowing what number is calling? I think thats a bit much.

The other problem is that our company has recently switched from blackberry to android phones for corporate use. This isn't conducive of corporate security and would mean uninstalling all google apps that have this agreement in place. Annoying because the phones come with all sorts of google apps preloaded, IT headache and a half.
 
Tornique said:
Over paranoid? I don't think so, the idea behind the agreement is over reaching the current software needs. For instance the phone portion is acceptable, the program needs to know when a call is active so that the application can hand over control or alert the user. Knowing what number is calling? I think thats a bit much.

The other problem is that our company has recently switched from blackberry to android phones for corporate use. This isn't conducive of corporate security and would mean uninstalling all google apps that have this agreement in place. Annoying because the phones come with all sorts of google apps preloaded, IT headache and a half.
Click to expand...

I wonder how many other companies are having similar IT headaches.....
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