patrick.net

I dunno.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/24/cambridge-analytica-raided-by-uk-data-watchdog/

In an online statement published yesterday, the acting CEO of CA, Alexander Taylor, apologized for Facebook “data and derivatives” having been obtained without consent “from most respondents”.

But he also claimed the company believed it was acting within Facebook’s policies and UK data protection law when it licensed the data from professor Aleksandr Kogan whose survey app was the Trojan horse used to gather 270,000 Facebook users’ data and their friends’ data — resulting in some 50M profiles being harvested in all.

This seems likely to lead to at least some minimal privacy laws regarding just how much data about you that Facebook can find and sell. And that could impact their core business. Google too.

Apple comes out looking a bit better:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/24/17159610/apple-ceo-tim-cook-wants-privacy-regulation-facebook-cambridge-analytica

But then, their core business is not the collection and re-sale of personal information, so it's easy for them to advocate for regulation.

https://phys.org/news/2018-03-apple-biggest-spender-world.html


Apple is about to become worlds biggest R&D spender.

Think about the "Alexa" type electronic home assistants. They are always listening and Internet connected. Do you really think they are not collecting marketable data on what they overhear, and not just when you call out "Hey, Alexa?" Just like people puts their lives on Facebook for the world to data mine, people will ignore the Alexa super spy bot data collecting because they like the convenience and "neato" it offers.

Same thing with Android phones:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35639549

Many said they were discussing particular products or holiday destinations and shortly afterwards noticed advertising on the same theme.

Community website Reddit is full of similar stories.

One reporter mentioned his male colleague seeing online adverts for sanitary pads after discussing periods with his wife in the car.

But surely if the microphone was activated and the handset was sending data, battery life would be even worse than it is now and individual data usage would be through the roof?

Tech challenge
I challenged cybersecurity expert Ken Munro and his colleague David Lodge from Pen Test Partners to see whether it was physically possible for an app to snoop in this way.

Could something "listen in" at will without it being obvious?

"I wasn't convinced at first, it all seemed a bit anecdotal," admitted Mr Munro.

However, to our collective surprise, the answer was a resounding yes.

They created a prototype app, we started chatting in the vicinity of the phone it was on and watched our words appear on a laptop screen nearby.

#fuckzukfuck

They’ve dropped only 15%

It’s not enough for me to gamble on. If they drop over 22% I will.