back to article Google Now now SLURPS data from third party apps so YOU don't have to

Google has inked deals with 40 third party app makers, allowing the ad giant to rifle through data from the likes of Lyft and Airbnb to serve up "relevant information" to its Android users. The firm said in a blog post on Friday that it would begin slurping the data from inside a number of apps for its Google Now service – a …

Page:

  1. Andy Non Silver badge

    Sigh!

    Enough already. As I mainly use my android tablet for reading ebooks and listening to mp3s I now leave it offline most of the time in aircraft mode. If it isn't Google Play pestering me to install Google apps I don't want it is potentially other apps talking to their base passing god knows what information.

    1. SuccessCase

      Re: Sigh!

      The Internet of things is becoming the Internet of surveillance and contextual services are turning into data rapists, always, always seeking either to find out more about you than they need to provide the service or than you are comfortable to give (if you are someone who understands the implications).

      1. R 11

        Re: Sigh!

        It does seem a little disingenuous for el reg to criticize apps for sending information to Google when the page containing such criticism is running Google Analytics.

        Frankly, I find Google Now to be helpful. It's nice to know when to leave for an appointment, and since I placed the appointment in my Google Calendar, the fact Google knows about it doesn't usually come as a surprise. When my flight details are emailed to my gmail account, either I can read the message in gmail or I can read the same details in another format in Google Now.

        If I didn't want it, I wouldn't have opted in. If I decide I don't want it, I can opt out.

        Sure, there are privacy concerns, but they are more fundamental than Google. There are plenty of ad networks out there who are silently building treasure troves of personal information and delivering little or nothing in return. Apple may not be selling user data directly, but they're certainly collecting it. As are Amazon, Microsoft, Doubleclick and so many others.

        These are issues that will take legislation to address. Stopping using Google would only solve a tiny bit of the problem.

        1. John Tserkezis

          Re: Sigh!

          "If I didn't want it, I wouldn't have opted in. If I decide I don't want it, I can opt out."

          Tell me, as a Google shill, how much do you get paid in goods, services and/or cash?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Sigh!

            how much do you get paid in goods, services and/or cash?

            (s)he gets to use them for £0, just like everyone else.

            1. R 11

              Re: Sigh!

              Not sure why you feel the need to name call? Perhaps you're just feeling a bit insecure this evening.

              As the post above says, I get to use s multitude of Google services for zilch. Of course that has value. In the days before gmail, most webmail providers offered a few tens of megabytes of storage.

              But, like I said in my comment, I value things like Google now. I value list sharing in Google keep. I value free US phone calls and 3 cents a minute calls to UK Mobile numbers with Google voice. And in exchange for those services I value, in willing to exchange some information.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Sigh!

                "But, like I said in my comment, I value things like Google now. I value list sharing in Google keep."

                My problem as a user is that regardless of how useful the features are, the approach is always on the side of "invade their privacy", I used Google Now briefly when it first came out, the constant notifications annoyed me so I disabled it and haven't used it since until a few weeks ago to see how it changed.

                All of a sudden I'm getting "do you want location updates to this place" showing places I've been to while Google Now and the Android/Google Location Reporting was disabled. So how does Google Now know I've been to these places? It knows because I have no control of my data. That is the problem.

          2. h4rm0ny

            Re: Sigh!

            >>"Tell me, as a Google shill, how much do you get paid in goods, services and/or cash?"

            Nice - you can't even keep on the morale high-ground when the article starts you off up there!

            Lots of people like Google's services and are fine with Google nosing through their life for saleable bits of info. I'm not one of them but even I recognize that someone can feel like that without having to be paid to think it. Really, unless someone has a *very* good reason to suggest that someone is paid to post, "shill" is not a word that should be thrown around.

          3. Mr.Mischief

            Re: Sigh!

            Tell me, as an Apple / Windows shill how much do you get to say that here?

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Sigh!

          "As are Amazon, Microsoft, Doubleclick and so many others."

          Doubleclick are owned by Google.

          So when you think Google are not tracking you, Google are tracking you.

        3. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. Graham Marsden
            Thumb Up

            @Larry F53 - Re: Sigh!

            /me clicks on Upvote button.

            A little purple box from Ghostery appears saying:

            Datapoint Media

            Double Click

            Google Analytics

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Sigh!

            You mean it would run 'google analytics' if I permitted it to.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Samsung

    Where's my high spec Tizen phone?

  3. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Relevant Information?

    Relevant to Who exactly?

    my guess is not the owner of the device.

    Where the 'up yours' Icon when you need it?

  4. John Lilburne

    Time to cancel ...

    ... my guardian account.

    1. Captain Queeg

      Re: Time to cancel ...

      Agreed! And actually The Guardian's stance probably sums things up nicely.

      Murdoch (and I can't stress enough my dislike of the Murdoch press) set up a paywall. The message is clear - if you value his journalism you pay a fee to enjoy it.

      The Guardian on the other hand, snipes away at that same paywall, spouting puff after sanctimonious puff about content being free and rejecting a pay model:

      http://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2010/jul/02/welcome-to-guardian-co-uk-for-former-times-readers

      To quote - "We're very sorry you awoke to find you could no longer read your newspaper online without a credit card and we feel your pain". Indeed...

      Is the implication of that quote (That you can read The Grauniad without giving them your credit card details) still true? Yes, but isn't it also now also just a little disingenuous?

      In the end we're either going to have to come to accept being the product or accepting we have to pay for things. :-/

      As you say, time to uninstall...

      1. John Tserkezis

        Re: Time to cancel ...

        "if you value his journalism you pay a fee to enjoy it."

        "if you value his journalism you pay a fee to endure it."

        There we go, I fixed your typo.

        1. Captain Queeg

          Re: Time to cancel ...

          Thank you - my bad! :-)

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Time to cancel ...

      The Guardian doing this is a bit odd considering Snowden and Whisper. But wouldn't the right thing to do in this case be to disable Google Now since it's slurping data from all over your phone?

  5. Andy Non Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Trust is gone

    Any trust I had in Google evaporated long ago. They have become a spyware corporation. Maybe I've read too much El Reg, but with all the articles about pre-loaded android Chinese malware/spyware; vulnerabilities via blue-tooth, untrustworthy public WiFi, apps that slurp personal data, apps spewing malware via adverts, premium rate scam diallers and Google trying to watch everything a user does on Android; I have no confidence in the security of my own android tablet or any apps I download. My tablet is relegated to none serious entertainment uses only and only rarely is allowed online. I most certainly wouldn't use it for accessing my bank account or any other online services. The trust has gone. I view the android tablet as the sort of "friend" who likes to spy on you and blab behind your back to whoever will listen.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Trust is gone

      But....

      What are all thos Fandrods who lurk here going to do now? Their beloved Google is really pure evil yet any post that is pro Crapple gets downvoted in an instant.

      Yet Apple are clear that they don't sell any data they might collect from your iDevice to other people whereas Google?

      I'm like others who have posted on this thread in that my Android Tablet spends 99.999% in Flight mode and would never be used for banking or anything other than downloading e-books.

      When it comes time to replace it, I will have to seriously look at an iPad. Now I'll have to go and wash my mouth out with soap for slighlty preferring Apple to Google.

      1. VinceH

        Re: Trust is gone

        "What are all thos Fandrods who lurk here going to do now? Their beloved Google is really pure evil yet any post that is pro Crapple gets downvoted in an instant."

        Don't confuse people who use Android (and dislike Apple['s products]) with people who somehow worship Google.

        I'm an Android user who despises Apple, but I also have a very strong dislike and distrust of Google.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Blackberry

          Maybe this is Blackberry's way to remain somewhat relevant in the smartphone world. I can see the advertising campaign: "We're not Apple, Google, or Microsoft!"

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Trust is gone

          I'm an Android user who despises Apple, but I also have a very strong dislike and distrust of Google.

          Exactly.

          I can't help but find Google's products to be excellent (when people complain about them, the majority of times it's about privacy). But I do wish I could pay for them with cash, rather than be a speck on their data mine but I guess the bulk of the population are freeloaders who have no concerns about their privacy as long as they save a few quid.

      2. Mr.Mischief

        Re: Trust is gone

        "Yet Apple are clear that they don't sell any data they might collect from your iDevice to other people whereas Google?"

        But Apple lie though. All the time.

      3. Andy Gates

        Re: Trust is gone

        Since the quality of posts - and boy howdy, the quality of comments - has dropped so much, I'm just not here much. This thread with it's uninformed screeching confirms the wisdom of my decision.

        1. jrd

          Re: Trust is gone

          Welcome back - we've missed you! Nice to see you are already working hard to improve the quality of discussion here... :-)

          Joking aside, we live in interesting times - I would not like to predict where the privacy debate will be in 10 or 20 years but the chances are we'll look back at this time and say this was when it all started to change...

  6. Mage Silver badge
    Devil

    Goog-Zilla

    Definitely Evil.

    They don't know what privacy or evil means. Or else don't care about yours. I bet they wouldn't like their stuff exposed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Goog-Zilla

      I bet they wouldn't like their stuff exposed.

      We already found out how they like it. Google's reaction to the NSA tapping Google's inter-data-center traffic was to super-encrypt everything. Now! They want our data but aren't willing to share. They don't play well with others.

      1. lucki bstard

        Re: Goog-Zilla

        ' super-encrypt everything' - That's just marketing. They are based in an repressive regime where the government can use orders that compel you had over data and to not reveal those orders, and you honestly believe that the NSA does still not have access to that data?

        But it sounds good for the press to say it is super-encrypted

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apps vs web?

    A quote in the article talks about phone apps.

    Does that mean that the equivalent service when delivered via traditional browser+web site is likely to be any more trustworthy than the app version? Or are "apps", that do stuff that webpage/browser should be able to do, now so ubiquitous that there is no escape?

    Of two named in the article, Lyft seems to require an app (why?), Airbnb works via web page if you wish??

    I'm thinking that web pages should be safer, because your browser shouldn't have much access to much of your personal data, but I'm happy to be corrected.

    I'm also thinking that, courtesy of smartphones, a large part of the web is or soon will be dying, to be replaced by a maze of semi-interconnected apps sharing data server-side, apps which don't/can't share data the way the user wants, they just share data the way the vendors want.

    Progress?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Apps vs web?

      Well, if your browser is Chrome it has access to all of your navigation on Google behalf.. If your browser has some add-ons like a Google toolbar, or you use search completion, your giving away a lot of information. There are other techniques used to track you via web navigation.

      Apps, exactly because they bypass the browser and may even use protocols not HTTP based, may be harder to get data from. That's the very reason of the Google deal, plug Google data collector into each app, of course to notify you better... 'what big mouth you have, grandma....'

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Apps vs web?

        "Well, if your browser is Chrome "

        Ah, I see I should have clarified that more explicitly than just saying "your browser shouldn't have much access to much of your personal data". Call me a dinosaur, I go back to Lynx and beyond, a browser's function imo is largely to request and receive HTML and display it, and to do a bit of associated housekeeping, not hoovering up all kinds of stuff it has no reason to need.

        Consequently I'm not using Chrome anywhere, and unlikely ever to be using Chrome anywhere.

        I assume people who care about (and are informed about) privacy don't use Chrome, for the very reasons you mention, which are similar to the reasons I choose not to use Google calendar, and the reasons my gmail account is never used for anything significant, etc.

        Currently still browsing with Firefox but open to suggestions.

        Further input on browsers vs apps, and apps vs the Web, still welcome.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm totally surprised.

    No, not really.

    Like a bloated spider coming out to feed, Google wants to pork out on anything on the web.

  9. Palpy

    But trusting any corporation is risky.

    Doesn't matter much if it's Google, Microsoft, or Apple. All corporations evolve to make money in as many ways as possible. If you want privacy you have to do it yourself.

    As noted, tablets are currently as private as dancing naked in the Fontana di Trevi on a July weekend when there are a dozen tour buses at the curb. That will change when decent privacy-enhanced Android forks hit the scene -- see SE Android, which is not exactly a fork but "a worked example of how to enable and apply SELinux at the lower layers of the Android software stack." Given the way the FOSS community tends to operate, a user-friendly secure Android will come along eventually.

    So work with reality. Realize that tablet technology is immature and insecure, and treat it as such. Realize that plain-vanilla browsers leak user info, and armor at least one of them with privacy tweaks. Use pseudonyms and fake accounts. Use a VPN. Use anonymous proxies. Never click on an ad, ever. Use FDroid instead of Google Store. In general, use FOSS instead of proprietary software. Etc.

    Google, Microsoft, and Apple make some very cool stuff. But they are not your friends. No corporation is your friend -- ecologically, they are predators who feed on your pocketbook. Your job as a consumer is to get the value you want while paying as little as possible -- in money or in information.

    1. Mage Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: But trusting any corporation is risky.

      And block loads of domains completely with Noscript in Firefox.

      Though my Linux Firefox seems to be only able to install Ghostery, which is reputed to sell info to advertisers about their ads being blocks.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Apple and Google aren't the same AT ALL

      Google made nothing off the sale of the 99% or so of the billion Android devices sold last year that weren't Nexus, so obviously they have to make their money in other ways to justify the expense of developing Android. Apple makes its money from the sales of hardware, especially iPhone hardware. They have a direct customer relationship with an iPhone owner, which Google does not with Android owners.

      We have empirical evidence that selling out smartphone owners generates far less profit than selling them marked-up hardware like Apple: Android outsold Apple over 4 to 1 last year, yet Apple made 3x more profit on iPhone/iPad ALONE than Google did in everything they did! So Apple has a very strong disincentive to start selling out its customers, because whatever they may gain by doing so is far outweighed by what they'd lose if that customer never buys an Apple product in the future.

      Why should Apple risk making hundreds of dollars off me when I buy another iPhone, by violating my privacy today to make a few dollars off selling my data like Google is doing here? Claiming that "it is OK that Google does it, because they all try to make money in as many ways as possible" is just plain wrong. Apple haters just don't want to admit that iPhone owners do get something of value for the hefty margin we pay Apple for our phones. Even if you figure one smartphone is pretty much the same as another in capability, how much is your privacy worth?

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Apple and Google aren't the same AT ALL

        I can see your point but are you suggesting Google didn't make money from Play licences as well as Play Services itself being a data hoover?

      2. returnmyjedi

        Re: Apple and Google aren't the same AT ALL

        @DougS

        If you believe that Apple don't peddle your inside leg size and such like, you clearly haven't read the Ts&Cs for any of their products, whether it be OSX, iOS our iTunes. All of these have declarations hidden amongst them declaring Cook et al will share your details with a preferred partner or two.

        1. Handy Plough

          Re: Apple and Google aren't the same AT ALL

          @returnmyjedi

          Let's have some empirical evidence on that please.

          1. Handy Plough

            Re: Apple and Google aren't the same AT ALL

            Just downvotes? Stay classy fandroids.

    3. jrd

      Re: But trusting any corporation is risky.

      Not predators, parasites - they don't want to kill you (or your wallet), they want you happy and healthy and continuing to use their services (or at least not actively trying to stop or get rid of them).

  10. Mark 85

    So,

    At what point does Google and NSA/etc.. merge together? I'm sure both sides would love to get their hands on each other's info and not only provide you with a richer experience but also ensure that you're not a troublemaker.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So,

      I'm sure one day Google will buy the NSA....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So,

        I'm sure one day Google will buy the NSA....

        And mark it down as a profit loss, so avoiding paying any taxes.

  11. Alan Denman
    Big Brother

    No one at all is here..

    except us dodgy politicians.

  12. Captain DaFt

    And I was downvoted to Hell

    When I said that Android was the new Windows 98.

    So, which is worse? A buggy, hole ridden OS that lets anyone slip spyware in, or a supposedly secure OS that designed as spyware from the ground up?

    1. RyokuMas
      Thumb Up

      Re: And I was downvoted to Hell

      "So, which is worse? A buggy, hole ridden OS that lets anyone slip spyware in, or a supposedly secure OS that designed as spyware from the ground up?

      In the former's case, it was because Microsoft completely missed the boat with the paradigm shift brought about when wide-scale internet availability came about - or they just chose to ignore what was happening around them.

      Either way, it's unbelievably stupid - but I guess that when you think you rule the world, you get arrogant and eventually mess up hugely.

      Deliberately building an OS as "spyware" on the other hand - that's just plain evil, however you dress it up. And although I know I'll get downvoted to hell for suggesting it (only last week I got accused of spreading FUD for just suggesting that Google had the power to manipulate their search results if they so desired), I'd say that deliberate evil is worse than arrogant and stupid any day of the week.

      ... that's not to say that Microsoft didn't do their fair share of evil, back in the day.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: And I was downvoted to Hell

        Downvoted for "paradigm shift". This isn't Harvard Business Review, mate.

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like