Indian Air Force Issues Security Warning; Xiaomi Clears the Air
ibtimes.co.in
ibtimes.co.in
Privacy should be a serious concern for everyone and this should be taken seriously.
The purpose of many many apps and even manufacturers, cough Apple, and Googles "services" is to collect as much data as possible, including privacy violations.
This is fine, because the companies and the data is stored and can be accessed US government agencies.
You could implement Android's storage app framework API around git running on each of your devices, and peering to your own servers (and other devices). This would give you at least a Dropbox style system that works, but the rewards for the (not that large, but non-trivial) investment needed to do it are non-existent.
Example of ZTE blatantly violating an NDA it signed. http://thepatentinvestor.com/federal-judge-says-vringo-has-c...
The way that Xiomi blatantly copies Apple, including the "one more thing", I wouldn't expect them to have any qualms turning any and all info to their govt. for any small benefit.
Also, a couple of months ago, Xiaomi phones uploaded adsressbook information to their servers without user permission. After the backlash, they issued software updates to ask for consent.
On a general note, one wonders how many instances of arbitrary data uploading they - by which I mean pretty much every 'cloud' integration provider - get away with.
Gather any data, upload it to an IP otherwise publicly known for benign purposes, over an encrypted connection with a closed-source sync daemon, and cover your ass with some vague and easily glossed-over clause in the privacy policy that no one reads. I hope otherwise but I am almost certain something like this exists in every commerical mobile OS today. :-/
I assume the consideration here is that the Chinese government (via Xiomai's cloud) is to be feared more than the US (via Google's Android backup) - which of course is a topic worthy of debate itself
Xiaomi is moving its servers out of China to address such concerns : http://www.financialexpress.com/news/xiaomi-shifts-user-data...
I think the point here is that India and China have a neutral relationship at best and India doesn't want military leaks. India and the US are on relatively friendly terms.
All things considered, I wouldn't blame anyone on being paranoid over sharing info with Beijing. Totalitarian government, iron curtain and serious lack of freedom of expression all work against its favor.
Ya. I wouldn't trust Beijing with any of my beeswax. Same way I distrust Pyongyang.
The non-story is everyone with an internet property, or an internet interaction device, is trying to collect data about you because selling that is more valuable than the money you are willing to pay for the phone.
A useful story would be "new phone maker FooAmi is successfully selling phones for $200 more than their competitors because they explicitly prevent others from using them as tracking devices." That would be where consumers actually paid money for a phone or device that didn't make up its cost in data sales.
The thing I struggle with is that it seems most people just don't care, and I have convinced myself that it isn't because they don't understand what is being said, they just don't care. And that makes me profoundly sad when I think about it too much.
This isn't to say they're perfect but if you care about your privacy and you're in the 99.9999% that isn't being explicitly targeted by a TLA it's your best choice.
Yes, Apple has made some changes which mitigate some of that, just as Microsoft made a lot of changes when they were called out as the security joke of the computer world. Neither example though speak to my point.
My point, and my experience in trying to get more secure systems out there, is that regular consumers, those between the boundaries of the upper and lower first standard deviation, the folks who go out and buy most of the phones or computers or internet of things type devices like fitness bracelets do not pay more for a device with equivalent features but better security. And the people two standard deviations out who would pay extra, can't or won't pay extra enough to cover for those who don't.
There is another experiment running right now, its called the Blackphone[1], I'm watching it to see how they do. If history repeats itself they will got out of business in 1.5 to 2 years. I liked the editorial though which was "Why should I have to buy this phone to get these features?" its at the heart of my opinion on the marginal market value of 'security' in an electronic device.
There are people who care about privacy. They are not 'nutsos'.