# Google, Android, and Privacy



## Xyp (Jun 14, 2011)

All -

As an Android user, I've been mulling over the ramifications of using Google as my main way of accessing the internet through my GNex. The recent changes to their privacy policy, as well as the recent fracas over Carrier IQ and SOPA and PIPA have got me thinking a lot about how the world is changing through the internet, and what that might mean for us all in the future.

I know I'm not the only one, and that this issue is going to continue to evolve- but I wanted to pose some questions to the group and see if I can increase my knowledge about what might be going on with information pertaining to me via my phone... and also just to see what you all think.

Let me start off by saying that I don't believe (at the present time, anyway) that Google is doing anything truly evil with our search and location information. So far as I can tell, the new privacy policy is fairly straightforward about telling us what Google is doing with the information they collect about us. They say that they use it to make my online experience better by culling search results based on my past searches and recommending food, places, and events near to me that they think I might like.

Among other things, I guess.

Here's where I'm uncomfortable: in writing this post so far I've tried to refrain from using the words "my information" when talking about the tidbits that Google gathers about my life via my searches and my Android. But I DO feel that this is "my information" even though I am using the services that Google provides- which I love, by the way. Pretty much all of them (Gmail, Maps, Search, Calendar, etc.).

Is this wrong to think about this information as "mine"? I think that I should have the ability to tell Google that I don't want my information collected or stored for any reason: while I don't they're doing anything necessarily wrong at this point in time, I think that the power to do what they're doing legally is corruptive, not to mention very easy to make a mistake with (i.e. people's personal information, credit cards, etc, are hacked from some various huge organization nearly weekly, it seems).

To this end, I've been looking into other webmail services (ones NOT affiliated with any search engines) to try to keep my email more private than I think it is with Google. I find it really unfortunate, because as I mentioned, I love Google's suite of services and how they've evolved over time to become quite intuitive to use.

So one of my questions is this: does rooting and ROMing my phone offer me any additional privacy than it would over a stock OEM build? I'm inclined to think maybe it does, but I could just be dreaming. Maybe it does over using one with an OEM skin like Sense or Blur... who know what the manufacturers are collecting. Maybe some of the Devs on this site can weigh in on what they see in the code of both Android and various apps... I consider myself a power user, but I definitely cannot read code.

Thus far, the "Privacy" apps have been rather disappointing as far as being able to manipulate the permissions of any given Android app while maintaining the app's functionality. Xeudoxus' "Privacy Blocker" was a really interesting idea using smali and baksmali to reverse engineer to take elements out of any given app that would possibly be sending information about the user... but it seems like most of the time it ended up actually breaking the engineered app itself and has now become "abandonware", sort of. (I'm just talking here; I've had great interactions with Xeudoxus and do not mean to speak ill of his app; It was an awesome idea and I think maybe it was just taken as far as it could reasonably go...).

I really love Android and the openness that it represents, and I'm more than a little disappointed to know that it really is just another way for Google to increase its ad revenues (that's what Google is at this point: an advertising company). I'm hoping that over time we as users can play a larger role in managing what happens with our information.

Anyway, that's my thoughts at the moment. I'll come back and edit if I have anything to add. Mods, please obviously move this thread if it should be somewhere else. Thanks for listening, everyone.

-x-


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## Swiftmazda (Oct 29, 2011)

Xyp said:


> All -
> 
> As an Android user, I've been mulling over the ramifications of using Google as my main way of accessing the internet through my GNex. The recent changes to their privacy policy, as well as the recent fracas over Carrier IQ and SOPA and PIPA have got me thinking a lot about how the world is changing through the internet, and what that might mean for us all in the future.
> 
> ...


I just wanted to comment on the part of your post regarding ad revenues. Android OS is open source, and Google doesn't make any money actually selling the OS since it's free. Their primary revenue from Android is ad revenue. Without ad revenue, it wouldn't really be worthwhile to develop and maintain a mobile OS since it wouldn't generate what all companies want, money.









The beautiful thing about Google and the plethora of free services they offer is that us as consumers don't have to pay to utilize them. We get these services for free as a result of ad revenue. Facebook operates in a very similar manner, with the exception of the 30% cut or so they get from app purchases on their site.

In regards to privacy, I'm really not too concerned either since I trust the company. There are alternatives to the suite of services Google offers, but none of them are as streamlined or stable. In my opinion, it's really not a big deal as long as the company discloses what they're collecting. I get angry and switch products when a company decides not to disclose what they're collecting. In Google's case, they're pretty transparent.


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## Gman (Sep 4, 2011)

I think that privacy as a whole is fundamentally new to us all with the explosion of the mobile space. Even if it is brought into better controls and opt out options, that doesn help us now. All good questions you brought up, but this shouldn't be left up to the companies, I would like to see some legislation change protecting our privacy and rights. Sadly you and I don't have the lobby $. Just my opinion


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## TwinShadow (Oct 17, 2011)

Gman said:


> I think that privacy as a whole is fundamentally new to us all with the explosion of the mobile space. Even if it is brought into better controls and opt out options, that doesn help us now. All good questions you brought up, but this shouldn't be left up to the companies, I would like to see some legislation change protecting our privacy and rights. Sadly you and I don't have the lobby $. Just my opinion


This is the same government that wants to track your every movement, including a possible internet ID system where you're screwed from whatever you do.

In all seriousness, I do take my own privacy to high regard. That's why I don't do much on my phone aside from texting a couple friends, or enjoy a few games here and there. I don't believe flashing a ROM will do much in protecting your privacy, as I believe there's more to it than that alone. But, we're rapidly approaching a time and age where privacy is going to mean zip to people because companies will always dig for your information, private or not. Google is a good company, but I do fear that they may grow into a monopoly, and that's not exactly what we want.


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