Hacker News Reader

Comment by JepZ | Hacker News Reader

While I like the idea and the listed apps are just awesome (didn't know about termux, wow), the whole setup depends too much on google services for my taste :-/

View on HN

Yeah, this is a no go for me. I don't use anything by Google at all. How can a security conscious person talk about privacy and security on a Google device? They are listening, filming and tracking every single thing you do near that device.

That ("They are listening, filming and tracking every single thing you do near that device") is a claim you're going to have to substantiate. Don't spread such rumours unless you can back them up.

Indeed, how dare they suggest that Google would track! They would never do such a thing!

If the claim being made was that they track your usage of their products, that would have been a reasonable response. But the claim being made is that they continuously monitor you through the webcam and microphone. That is extremely bold and, may I say, complete tinfoil nuttery.

Why is that so hard to believe? Personalized ads are huge right now, if you could listen in to people's conversations you can use the data to improve your ad conversion rate. If there's ROI in recording and doing the data collection you can bet they have at least experimented with it.

Can't imagine what recording webcams would do- but I suppose it might be effective for something.

> Why is that so hard to believe?

Because there's no actual evidence to support it.

He's not suggesting they are tracking you through their ad network as you go to websites that use them.

He's suggesting they are secretly filming you, logging your keystrokes, and rerouting your mic audio. That is a very bold claim that should be backed up or retracted.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com