Careful with your smartphone applications...

[CES020]

Interesting article about apps in the WSJ on this. It shows some of the popular applications and what data they gather and SEND to other companies. Pay attention to those that are gathering your contacts, as well as those that are gathering your username and password and sending to other companies.

This shows a list, you can click on any one of them at the bottom and it'll tell you the details of what's gathered and sent, and to who it's being sent.

You can also click on any icon on the right of the page and it'll bring that one up, showing what comes in and what goes out.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wtk-mobile/

My concern more than any of them was the "Sends contacts to other companies".

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Thankfully I don't use any of the apps mentioned. In fact, my phone still has the same apps that came with it in "stock" form. Which is surprising since I'm usually a tech nerd about such things.

 

[SignManiac]

Smart phones and apps that might track you for the purposes of marketing and ad companies are the least of your worries. If you think you have any real privacy today, you are disillusioned. The government, big corporations, banks, insurance companies have tons of information on everyone already. Just behave yourself and go on living your day to day life. Most of us are of no real interest to the bad guys.

 

[CES020]

Smart phones and apps that might track you for the purposes of marketing and ad companies are the least of your worries. If you think you have any real privacy today, you are disillusioned. The government, big corporations, banks, insurance companies have tons of information on everyone already. Just behave yourself and go on living your day to day life. Most of us are of no real interest to the bad guys.

I agree with that. There was a show on tv the other night and I only caught a few minutes of it, but it was showing how to "go off the grid". In the few minutes I watched it, it was pretty interesting.

My only issue is that I don't think my contact list on my phone should be sucked out of my phone and used to send junk to because I download an application. To me, that's like a stranger walking into my office, sitting at my desk, opening my personal info, taking it all, and then using that data to market to my contacts via unsolicited emails or phone calls (since they now have the names/numbers/emails) without me knowing about it.

If a person did that in real life, they would go to jail for breaking and entering. Yet they can snake it through software and use a "privacy policy" hidden deep in the application, and they are all legal.

Jerks.

 

[iSign]

jerks? yes!!

and you already know this, but your analogy should show it... it's like a stranger walks in your office with a shiny gizmo, and a 15 page contract... says want this gizmo? here sign the last page here, agreeing to the 15 page contract (which allows him to root around taking data from your folders)...and he slides the last page on top & hands you a shiny pen, and flashes a friendly smile...


what do you do/ read the 15 pages, or sign & git-yer-gizmo?

yep... me too

 

[CES020]

This probably doesn't change anything, but............

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ations-giving-information-to-advertisers.html

 

[round man]

when I got my first computer back in 1990 a buddy of mine was already writing code and using the earliest form of the internet when everyone else was still using windows version 1(back then it was a point and click file list) Well when windows 3.11 came out with netscape he showed me on his linux based machine the info that as available on me out there at that time,it was scary how much you could find out about someone at the time because your personal information at that time as not considered worth protecting,....henceforth I have spent the last 21 years purposely not giving out any personal info unless I was sure it was protected and secured by law,..the results? I don't get any junk mail,I don't get annoying telephone sales calls, I don't have any info out there for folks to get other than the info I want for clients to contact me, and three or four email accounts that get regular spam,....It took alot of fussing with cash register clerks and folks when I was asked for my info and alot of them felt insulted that I wouldn't participate in their data gathering that everyone else did willingly,..but I KNOW who and where my personal data is and the rest that is out there can be found out by any of several different common means and is of no use of anyone with bad intent,unless they want to confront me face to face,...I like it like that.