Posts by Lord Elpuss

Whoops, our bad, we may have 'accidentally' let Google Home devices record your every word, sound – oops

Re: then disable the least significant part of it.

If you've disabled the Google Play store and sideload your apps, that puts you in a sub-1% group of users who would bother to go that far. Even if you're only using it for Amazon Prime Video, that's still data served by Amazon; they don't need to get through your firewall to track it. Some things they can do passively and remotely to build an advertising profile:

- Extrapolate your gender, age group and persona (including the fact that you have a firewall, and are tech-savvy and interested enough to disable the Play Store).

- Build a profile of your interests, socioeconomic and demographic data by collating what you watch, when you watch it, where you are when you watch it (from WiFi if nothing else) and also what you DON'T watch (including skipping over, pausing or rewatching movie scenes).

- Track finger swipes, pauses, zooms and scrolls to further enrich your profile.

- Link your data to other people's data around you; for example if somebody else logs into or uses your tablet, or you regularly log in at the same time as somebody else, inferences can be drawn from this about your living circumstances (married, kids, how under the thumb you are and so on) - and then cross-link their data with yours.

All of this was possible (and was being actively used) in 2015 when I was involved in this kind of software (one of my clients was Sterling, who used data such as this to drive their Configure/Price/Quote dynamic pricing algorithms). I'm absolutely certain much more has become possible since then.

Re: then disable the least significant part of it.

True, but the difference is that in a system working as intended (and yes I know they fscked it up here), the data collected by the microphone is not mined but used to improve feature quality and then thrown away, rather than being monetised directly. So in my view it's still less insidious than the intrusive, unapologetic, industrial-scale data farming that's going on behind every other interaction you have with that device.

Of course if it were ever to come to light that the recorded data was not only being used to train the system (which the user generally consents to), but was being stored, datamined, scanned for keywords, turned into metadata and sold to the highest bidder, it would immediately tank the credibility (and share price) of the company concerned. I don't believe this is the case - yet.

Re: then disable the least significant part of it.

"The bit that listens to you 24-7 is clearly the most significant from a privacy perspective."

Your naiveté is heartwarming. To Jeff Bezos.

"Amazon being notified when I use their tablet is not more significant than Amazon being notified when I interact with the real world."

Fire tablets track, monitor and report back EVERYTHING you do on your tablet, and use this data to build a profile of you which is then monetised. You can turn some of this off - which is great if you like a pretty mirror.

Re: Damn those lone rogue engineers

"Somebody asked me why I physically disabled the microphone on my Amazon Fire HD Tablet.

So you buy a device that pretty much has the sole purpose of collecting data for it's master in every way you can conceive of (and then some), then disable the least significant part of it.

If you think that makes you safe, I have a bridge to sell you.

Macs, iPhones, iPads to get encrypted DNS – how'd you like them Apples?

Cupertino idiot-tax corp

Gonna be hell when you go through puberty, Thomas.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro: £250 mobe still able to deliver value in a brutally competitive niche

You’re joking right?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/04/30/exclusive-warning-over-chinese-mobile-giant-xiaomi-recording-millions-of-peoples-private-web-and-phone-use/

https://www.cnet.com/news/xiaomi-defends-data-practices-after-being-accused-of-tracking-private-phone-use/

https://medium.com/@hadiyarajesh/how-xiaomi-collect-huge-data-from-its-devices-and-how-to-stop-it-7fd42f3841c0

And I don’t just mean Xiaomi tracking. I mean if you use Google services you’re haemorrhaging personal data to them as well. My question was if you disable all of this, including Google services, is the phone still useable. Reg did a review on one recently which was useless after it had been defanged.

Any view on how useable this is once you've turned off the Google/Xiaomi slurpware? Can you actually lock it down to the point where it bears some semblance of safeguarding your data, or are you reduced to a tropically coloured useless housebrick if you do?

Only $150 more for the iPhone SE is an absolute bargain if that's what needs to be paid for security and updates.

Watch an oblivious Tesla Model 3 smash into an overturned truck on a highway 'while under Autopilot'

Re: I get that the cameras may not have picked out the truck...

In my experience Radar/Lidar works far enough out that at motorway speeds it will reliably *emergency* brake in time to stop you (assuming it recognises the obstacle), but not far enough out that it will comfortably and gently brake you to a halt. And given that I don't want to be thrown into the windshield every time I get behind stationary traffic, I prefer to keep a watchful eye on everything even when on Autopilot.

Apple's MagicPairing for Bluetooth fails to enchant after mischief-making bugs found hiding in the stack

Re: So, several versions of badly written code

Flawless code only means they haven't found any bugs. Yet.

Re: 20 years ago

"Is it Elementary or Elementry for a school? Spilleng misteaks we're rampent"

That made my eyes bleed

Pairing != Connecting. MagicPaired devices will connect automatically to whichever device they were last connected, and appear pre-paired in the Bluetooth menus of all other devices on the same iCloud account. They can then be connected with a single click/tap from that device, which then becomes the active connection. It's actually rather well implemented.

It's primarily for convenience. Once an Apple Bluetooth device using this protocol is paired to another, it's automatically paired to every device which uses the same iCloud account. So you pair your AirPods once to your iPhone, then they are automatically paired with your Mac, iPad and any other device signed in to your iCloud account and can seamlessly switch between these without being reconnected or repaired.

It also in theory allows for devices to be locked to an iCloud account - so stolen AirPods or Apple Pencils could not be used on devices associated with another account without being unlocked first.

If you're appy and you know it: The Huawei P40 Pro conclusively proves that top-notch specs aren't everything

Re: Google apps etc. via browser?

Your experience is your experience, but YouTube in the browser runs flawlessly on our iPad Pro from 2015 and always has done. And given my wife's ability to complain about anything that doesn't load IMMEDIATELY, I'm pretty confident that if there was a problem, I'd know about it.

If yours is experiencing problems, the first thing I'd look at is the battery. When max capacity drops under 80%, the iPad will slow down to avoid crashes.

Re: Google apps etc. via browser?

”iPhone has its browser crippled.“

How exactly?

Re: Google apps etc. via browser?

"YouTube on Safari is worse than abysmal."

It works absolutely fine. If it doesn't work on your iPad, the issue might be your iPad.

A pretty good case study for what happens when you actually try to use an Android device without allowing it to monetise you. Even if you've removed all the dataslurping phone-home bollocks, you're still pretty much tied to Google services to do anything useful with it. And using Google services means you become the product.

Sure, it might be technically possible to disable absolutely everything that wants to sell you/your data, but you're left with a beautiful, useless brick if you do.

Broken your new Surface Go 2 already? Looks like it's a bit more repairable this time

Re: Wifi died on my 2015 HP laptop last week. Broadcom Dual 5GHz/2.4GHz BCM94322MC...

Ah yes, Apple of course being well known as the company selling the Surface Go 2.

If you're still enjoying your 2015 laptop then fair play to you, no need to upgrade for upgrade's sake. It is however, nigh on irrelevant as a comparison here.

Xiaomi Mi 9 owners furious after dodgy Vodafone software patch bricked their mobes

Re: Identified Root Cause

" in the case of some Apple phones, slows them down to the point of unusability"

No it didn't. Processor throttling reduced performance to avoid a shutdown due to declining battery output, but it never came close to the 'point of unusability' unless your battery was completely fscked, in which case you wouldn't notice the slowdown - because your phone wouldn't turn on.

Xiaomi what you're working with: Chinese mobe-flinger proffers two Redmi Note phablets for UK market

Re: Xiaomi or I'll sue you

Isn't this the distributor's fault though rather than Xiaomi? If you ordered a Wyze cam, that's what you should have received - not some dodgy replacement.

"Root the phone and remove and/or replace the offending bits of s/w and you will be OK."

Oh it's THAT simple!!! Great!!! I'll just tell my 80 year old gran who was bought this by her relatives because it was 'cheap'. Or our neighbours who haven't a clue about technology but got suckered in by the low on-contract price. Or teenagers who neither know nor care how valuable their personal data is and how it can be used to monetise them, because they just want WhatsApp and Insta. Or harassed parents who want their kids to be reachable so bought them the cheapest Android they could find. What a stupendously idiotic comment.

The fact that it might technically be possible to remove dataslurp does not make it right to let it happen in the first place. And that the Register can't be bothered to mention this is flat out negligent.

Re: This is more than a little disturbing...

"is a single toggle seeing to turn most of them off in the global ROMs"

And what percentage of the user base will know what to do with a ROM? Or even know what a ROM is? Outside readers of el Reg, a vanishingly small percentage.

Re: There's a reason it costs less than £350

(a) Purchasers able/willing to root their devices are in a minority.

(b) Out-of-the-box data-snaffling antics still should have been mentioned in the article, even if savvy users can bypass it. Because most won't.

There's a reason it costs less than £350

Xiaomi accused of recording, sending data of millions of users to remote servers

I was almost surprised that this wasn't mentioned in the article - then I remembered el Reg only bashes Apple.

Patently dogged: Apple unleashes lawyers to slash $454m patent rip-off bill – even after Supreme Court snub

Were the patents valid, or not?

The answer to this determines whether VirnetX are due any sympathy here at all. If the patents were invalid and they got this far on the USPTO's patently broken system (pun intended), then more power to Apple to use any and all legal avenues possible to get whatever they can. Remember this isn't just about squashing VirnetX, it's about discouraging worthless patent litigation in the future.

If the patents were valid, then I could see the argument here for calling Apple a vexatious litigant.

Realme's X50m is a decently specced 5G phone – for the price of a 1995 Nissan Micra

Re: Not sure how much a bargain this would be...

"...a proper warranty, EU/UK certification and regional customer support/localisation."

Chinese manufacturers and retailers are starting to take client satisfaction seriously; I've had generally good experiences with Banggood; sending stuff back is a crapshoot but if the value is less than $100 they'll often just send out a new product as long as you can demonstrate it's properly defective.. EU/UK certification is good at the level of this handset, but for some of the ultra cheap stuff you can forget it - they're generically compatible and will work on UK networks but things like localisation, standards compliance and component quality eg chargers leave a lot to be desired.

The biggest issue here isn't the quality of the handset per se - that will be fine. It's the fact that it, the firmware, the OS and/or the apps will try everything possible to scrape every bit of data they can to subsidise the below-cost sticker price.

Re: Not sure how much a bargain this would be...

Banggood will charge you £230 + around a tenner for shipping. You take a gamble on the import tariffs; HMRC stop about 1 in 5 of my packages and I have to pay duty on them; but it's still way cheaper than buying anything here.

It might retail for £230, but with those specs that's nowhere near what it costs to build. Not a word on how Android 10+RealMe UI will enable vendors to - ahem - 'top up' the difference, eh Reg?

Obviously perfectly happy to knock seven bells out of Apple and insult their customers for paying premium prices, but when it comes to Google/China 'You are the Product' dataslurp... nothing but tumbleweed. What a shame.

Apple: We respect your privacy so much we've revealed a little about what we can track when you use Maps

Re: What a Load of BS

"No, Google doesn't sell information about its users."

Yes it does.

"Google monetizes what it observes about people in two major ways:

1. It uses data to build individual profiles with demographics and interests, then lets advertisers target groups of people based on those traits.

2. It shares data with advertisers directly and asks them to bid on individual ads."

Re: What a Load of BS

If you’re Google, yes. Apple, not so much.

Re: If you don't like it...

"That's not how it works - I suspect it's Google that's doing the triangulation if Maps is doing anything. "

There's no reason why phones can't do reverse triangulation on cell towers - they receive signal strength and other data from cell towers in the area including the Cell IDs of the towers; it's trivial to put this together and come up with a triangulated location from multiple towers. Accuracy won't be great (+/- 1-300m/sq) but certainly enough for rough locations.

Re: The problem is...

"...that if Apple collects the data, they can be subpoeana'd for it (1), given a National Security Letter to demand real-time access to it (2), similary court-ordered forced to de-anonomise it (3) under COVID emergency pretense."

If it can be de-anonymised, it's not anonymous in the first place. Hence all the work that Apple have put in to make sure they don't actually HAVE the de-anonymised data, so it can't be subpoena'd.

Re: How many times do we need to keep saying this.....

"Anyone that claims this is either lying through their teeth or does not understand how todays technology works."

I suspect you might not understand how today's technology works.

Re: But the data also shows a little of what Apple is capable of.

It's a complete non-issue. And the headline is juuuuust cynical enough to give the impression that Apple are violating privacy whilst claiming to safeguard it, without actually crossing the line and outright stating it.

But yes. Nothing here worth a story.

In case you need more proof the world's gone mad: Behold, Apple's $699 Mac Pro wheels

Re: Shouldn't act too shocked

A 2k MacBook might conceivably be bought as a status symbol, but a $53k Mac Pro is a working machine. It'll only get bought if it'll earn itself back.

It's the least status-symbolly of all Apple devices.

Re: Shouldn't act too shocked

The computer's appropriately priced for what it is.

From Brit telly presenter Eamonn Holmes to burning 5G towers in the Netherlands: Stupid week turns into stupid fortnight for radio standard

Re: limit their communications to good old pen and paper.

"...or stone, a chisel and a hammer"

Stone dust and low level radioactivity from the metal hammer?

Guess what's heading to trial? IBM and its tactic of yoinking promised commissions after sales reps seal the deal

Re: The good old days

^This.

I worked at IBM in the Gerstner years; it was a fabulous company. Even when it hit rock bottom in the early 90s, everybody (employees, managers and clients) wanted them to get back up on their feet.

Palmisano continued the journey to a pure bottom-line driven business, and Ginni rammed the final nails into the client service coffin.

Ransomware scumbags leak Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX documents after contractor refuses to pay

"To their slight credit, DoppelPaymer has vowed to lay off attacking hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic."

Excuse me? No credit whatsoever is deserved here.

Please, just stop downloading apps from unofficial stores: Android users hit with 'unkillable malware'

Re: "and assume root privilege"

On a VLAN I hope? There's no way I'd allow an Android 6/7 device to coexist on my normal network - it's a potential risk vector I just don't need.

2020 MacBook Air teardown shows in graphic detail how butterfly keyboards were snipped for scissor switch

Re: Apple prices

$1.35tn market cap tells me they've done their sums right and is the literal definition of realistic, in the sense that it's as 'real' as it gets. Whatever their business model, you can't deny it works - and it works because there are a huge number of people who DO find the price/value ratio realistic.

Re: Exactly

A lot of people also don’t realise that if you run a significantly sized business, doing it on Hackintoshes is impractical at best and at worst could put you out of business.

Apple may turn a blind eye to individuals, but companies like mine of 100 or more are likely to get slapped much harder; they tend to want to stay on the right side of the law.

Re: Methinks ...

Yes by all means, feel free to jog on.

Re: Methinks ...

First downvote wasn't from me - obviously somebody else isn't keen on your tone either.

The second downvote WAS from me. Enjoy.

Re: Methinks ...

"Apple sells very expensive equipment that doesn't actually do anything to justify the expense"

In YOUR view. In MY view, I save money, stress and man-hours by buying Apple. I buy judiciously (I have a 2017 base model MacBook Pro and an iPhone 8 Plus, so nothing fancy by today's standards), my family also have iPhones (an SE and a 7) and MacBooks (a 2012 and a 2015), and all have proven to be reliable workhorses, with pretty much zero 'bling'; as you put it.

It works for me. I don't feel I've overpaid for the value I'm getting. Others may feel they get more value from Windows, or Android, or Linux, and I don't tell them they're idiots - I'm sure they're happy with their choice. And yet apparently I'm an idiot for choosing what works for me, and a whinger when I dislike being called an idiot.

Re: Methinks ...

I don’t like being called an idiot for making my informed decisions. If you think this makes me self-righteous, I don’t think you know what the term means.

Apple’s revenue and profit margins are also the single biggest disprover of the ‘idiot tax’ myth. No company grows to that level without selling products that people actually need and find useful.

And your comments coming from somebody who claims to have been involved in every technological breakthrough of the last 100 years, you have a VERY inflated view of your own credibility Jake.

Re: Methinks ...

Yup. It’s inaccurate, puerile and just plain lazy writing, and it pisses me off. As long as El Reg continues to use it, I’ll continue to give them two word answers involving sex and travel.

That awful moment when what you thought was a number 1 turned out to be a number 2

A fat cheque for a fat Czech.

Apologies to Private Eye

Exchange some currency you want to? Guess the BIOS setup keyboard combination first you must, young Padawan

Re: Travel Money?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock both test positive for COVID-19 coronavirus

Re: The emergency regulations...

I'd be interested in understanding more about 2. (a) here.