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- <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> <!-- Parent-Version: 1.79 1.86 --> <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please do not edit <ul class="blurbs">! Instead, edit /proprietary/workshop/mal.rec, then regenerate pages. See explanations in /proprietary/workshop/README.md. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --> <title>Proprietary Surveillance - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> <style type="text/css" media="print,screen"><!-- .announcement { background: none; } #surveillance div.toc { width: 24.5em; max-width: 94%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin: 1em 0; } @media (min-width: 48em) { #surveillance div.toc { float: left; width: auto; max-width: 48%; margin: .2em 1.2em 0 1em; } #surveillance .medium { width: 43%; margin: 7em 0 1em 1.5em; } } --></style> <!-- GNUN: localize URL /graphics/dog.small.jpg --> <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/po/proprietary-surveillance.translist" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> <h2>Proprietary Surveillance</h2> <p><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html"> Other examples of proprietary malware</a></p> <div class="comment"> <p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers, which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p> <div class="announcement"> <p>This document attempts <p>One common form of mistreatment is to track snoop on the user. This page records <strong>clearly established cases of proprietary software that spies on or tracks users</strong>.</p> <p><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html"> Other examples users</strong>. Manufacturers even refuse to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/19/smart-home-devices-hoard-data-government-demands/">say whether they snoop on users for the state</a>.</p> <p>All appliances and applications that are tethered to a specific server are snoopers by nature. We do not list them in this page because they have their own page: <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-tethers.html">Proprietary Tethers</a>.</p> <div class="important" style="margin-bottom: 2em"> <p>If you know of proprietary malware</a></p> an example that ought to be in this page but isn't here, please write to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a> to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two to serve as specific substantiation.</p> </div> </div> <div id="surveillance"> <div class="pict medium"> <a href="/graphics/dog.html"> <img src="/graphics/dog.small.jpg" alt="Cartoon of a dog, wondering at the three ads that popped up on his computer screen..." /></a> <p>“How did they find out I'm a dog?”</p> </div> <div class="toc"> <h3 id="TableOfContents">Table of Contents</h3> <ul> <li><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="#OSSpyware">Spyware in Operating Systems</a> Laptops and Desktops</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareInWindows">Spyware in Windows</a></li> href="#SpywareInWindows">Windows</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInMacOS">Spyware in MacOS</a></li> href="#SpywareInMacOS">MacOS</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInAndroid">Spyware in Android</a></li> href="#SpywareInBIOS">BIOS</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareOnMobiles">Spyware on Mobiles</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareIniThings">Spyware in iThings</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInTelephones">Spyware in Telephones</a></li> href="#SpywareInTelephones">All “Smart” Phones</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInMobileApps">Spyware in Mobile Applications</a></li> href="#SpywareIniThings">iThings</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInGames">Spyware in Games</a></li> href="#SpywareInAndroid">Android Telephones</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInToys">Spyware in Toys</a></li> href="#SpywareInElectronicReaders">E-Readers</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareAtLowLevel">Spyware at Low Level</a> href="#SpywareInApplications">Spyware in Applications</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareInBIOS">Spyware in BIOS</a></li> <!-- href="#SpywareInDesktopApps">Desktop Apps</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInFirmware">Spyware in Firmware</a></li> --> </ul> </li> href="#SpywareInMobileApps">Mobile Apps</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareAtWork">Spyware at Work</a> <ul> href="#SpywareInSkype">Skype</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInSkype">Spyware in Skype</a></li> href="#SpywareInGames">Games</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareOnTheRoad">Spyware on the Road</a> href="#SpywareInEquipment">Spyware in Connected Equipment</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareInCameras">Spyware in Cameras</a></li> href="#SpywareInTVSets">TV Sets</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInElectronicReaders">Spyware in e-Readers</a></li> href="#SpywareInCameras">Cameras</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInVehicles">Spyware in Vehicles</a></li> </ul> </li> href="#SpywareInToys">Toys</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareAtHome">Spyware at Home</a> href="#SpywareInDrones">Drones</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareAtHome">Other Appliances</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareOnWearables">Wearables</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareInTVSets">Spyware in TV Sets</a></li> href="#SpywareOnSmartWatches">“Smart” Watches</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareAtPlay">Spyware at Play</a></li> href="#SpywareInVehicles">Vehicles</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInVR">Virtual Reality</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareOnTheWeb">Spyware on the Web</a> <ul> <li><a href="#SpywareInChrome">Spyware in Chrome</a></li> href="#SpywareInChrome">Chrome</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInFlash">Spyware in Flash</a></li> href="#SpywareInJavaScript">JavaScript</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInFlash">Flash</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="#SpywareEverywhere">Spyware Everywhere</a></li> <li><a href="#SpywareInVR">Spyware In VR</a></li> href="#SpywareInNetworks">Spyware in Networks</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <!-- #Introduction --> </div> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="Introduction">Introduction</h3> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <p>For decades, the Free Software movement has been denouncing the abusive surveillance machine of <a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">proprietary software</a> companies such as <a href="/proprietary/malware-microsoft.html">Microsoft</a> and <a href="/proprietary/malware-apple.html">Apple</a>. In the recent years, this tendency to watch people has spread across industries, not only in the software business, but also in the hardware. Moreover, it also spread dramatically away from the keyboard, in the mobile computing industry, in the office, at home, in transportation systems, and in the classroom.</p> <h3 <h4 id="AggregateInfoCollection">Aggregate Information Collection</h3> or anonymized data</h4> <p>Many companies, in their privacy policy, have a clause that claims they share aggregate, non-personally identifiable information with third parties/partners. Such claims are worthless, for several reasons:</p> <ul> <li>They could change the policy at any time.</li> <li>They can twist the words by distributing an “aggregate” of “anonymized” data which can be reidentified and attributed to individuals.</li> <li>The raw data they don't normally distribute can be taken by data breaches.</li> <li>The raw data they don't normally distribute can be taken by subpoena.</li> </ul> <p>Therefore, we must never pay any attention to not be distracted by companies' statements of what companies say they will <em>do</em> with the data they collect. The wrong is that they collect it at all.</p> <h3 <h4 id="LatestAdditions">Latest additions</h3> <p>Latest additions additions</h4> <p>Entries in each category are found in reverse chronological order, based on top under each category.</p> <!-- #OSSpyware --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure to place new items the dates of publication of linked articles. The latest additions are listed on top under each subsection --> the <a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html#latest">main page</a> of the Malware section.</p> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="OSSpyware">Spyware in Operating Systems</h3> Laptops and Desktops</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#OSSpyware">#OSSpyware</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInWindows">Spyware in Windows</h4> id="SpywareInWindows">Windows</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInWindows">#SpywareInWindows</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>By default, Windows 10 <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201712110"> <p>HP's proprietary operating system <a href="http://betanews.com/2016/11/24/microsoft-shares-windows-10-telemetry-data-with-third-parties">sends debugging href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42309371">includes a proprietary keyboard driver with a key logger in it</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201710134"> <p>Windows 10 telemetry program sends information to Microsoft, including core dumps</a>. Microsoft now distributes them to another company.</p></li> <li><p>Some portable phones <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kryptowire-discovered-mobile-phone-firmware-that-transmitted-personally-identifiable-information-pii-without-user-consent-or-disclosure-300362844.html">are sold with spyware sending lots about the user's computer and their use of data to China</a>.</p></li> <li>In order to increase Windows the computer.</p> <p>Furthermore, for users who installed the fourth stable build of Windows 10, called the “Creators Update,” Windows maximized the surveillance <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/dutch-privacy-regulator-says-that-windows-10-breaks-the-law"> by force setting the telemetry mode to “Full”</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization#full-level"> “Full” telemetry mode</a> allows Microsoft Windows engineers to access, among other things, registry keys <a href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc939702.aspx">which can contain sensitive information like administrator's login password</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201702020"> <p>DRM-restricted files can be used to <a href="https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/02/02/231229/windows-drm-protected-files-used-to-decloak-tor-browser-users"> identify people browsing through Tor</a>. The vulnerability exists only if you use Windows.</p> </li> <li id="M201611240"> <p>By default, Windows 10 <a href="http://betanews.com/2016/11/24/microsoft-shares-windows-10-telemetry-data-with-third-parties">sends debugging information to Microsoft, including core dumps</a>. Microsoft now distributes them to another company.</p> </li> <li id="M201608170.1"> <p>In order to increase Windows 10's install base, Microsoft <a class="not-a-duplicate" href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/08/windows-10-microsoft-blatantly-disregards-user-choice-and-privacy-deep-dive"> blatantly disregards user choice and privacy</a>. privacy</a>.</p> </li> <li><p><a <li id="M201603170"> <p><a href="https://duo.com/blog/bring-your-own-dilemma-oem-laptops-and-windows-10-security"> Windows 10 comes with 13 screens of snooping options</a>, all enabled by default, and turning them off would be daunting to most users.</p></li> <li><p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/12/28/recently-bought-a-windows-computer-microsoft-probably-has-your-encryption-key/"> Microsoft has already backdoored its disk encryption</a>.</p></li> <li>It users.</p> </li> <li id="M201601050"> <p>It appears <a href="http://www.ghacks.net/2016/01/05/microsoft-may-be-collecting-more-data-than-initially-thought/"> Windows 10 sends data to Microsoft about what applications are running</a>.</li> <li><p>A running</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201512280"> <p>Microsoft has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/12/28/recently-bought-a-windows-computer-microsoft-probably-has-your-encryption-key/"> backdoored its disk encryption</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201511264"> <p>A downgrade to Windows 10 deleted surveillance-detection applications. Then another downgrade inserted a general spying program. Users noticed this and complained, so Microsoft renamed it <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160407082751/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/26/microsoft_renamed_data_slurper_reinserted_windows_10/"> href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/26/microsoft_renamed_data_slurper_reinserted_windows_10/"> to give users the impression it was gone</a>.</p> <p>To use proprietary software is to invite such treatment.</p> </li> <li><p> <li id="M201508180"> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150905163414/http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/134954-cortana-is-always-listening-with-new-wake-on-voice-tech-even-when-windows-10-is-sleeping"> Intel devices will be able to listen for speech all the time, even when “off.”</a></p> </li> <li id="M201508130"> <p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/"> Windows 10 sends identifiable information to Microsoft</a>, even if a user turns off its Bing search and Cortana features, and activates the privacy-protection settings.</p> </li> <li id="M201507300"> <p>Windows 10 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151001035410/https://jonathan.porta.codes/2015/07/30/windows-10-seems-to-have-some-scary-privacy-defaults/"> href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180923125732/https://jonathan.porta.codes/2015/07/30/windows-10-seems-to-have-some-scary-privacy-defaults/"> ships with default settings that show no regard for the privacy of its users</a>, giving Microsoft the “right” to snoop on the users' files, text input, voice input, location info, contacts, calendar records and web browsing history, as well as automatically connecting the machines to open hotspots and showing targeted ads.</p></li> <li><p> <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/"> Windows 10 sends identifiable information to Microsoft</a>, even if a user turns off its Bing search and Cortana features, and activates the privacy-protection settings.</p></li> <li><p> ads.</p> <p>We can suppose Microsoft look at users' files for the US government on demand, though the “privacy policy” does not explicitly say so. Will it look at users' files for the Chinese government on demand?</p> </li> <li id="M201506170"> <p>Microsoft uses Windows 10's “privacy policy” to overtly impose a “right” to look at users' files at any time. Windows 10 full disk encryption <a href="https://edri.org/microsofts-new-small-print-how-your-personal-data-abused/"> gives Microsoft a key</a>.</p> <p>Thus, Windows is overt malware in regard to surveillance, as in other issues.</p> <p>We can suppose Microsoft look at users' files for the US government on demand, though the “privacy policy” does not explicit say so. Will it look at users' files for the Chinese government on demand?</p> <p>The unique “advertising ID” for each user enables other companies to track the browsing of each specific user.</p> <p>It's as if Microsoft has deliberately chosen to make Windows 10 maximally evil on every dimension; to make a grab for total power over anyone that doesn't drop Windows now.</p></li> <li><p>It now.</p> </li> <li id="M201410040"> <p>It only gets worse with time. <a href="http://www.techworm.net/2014/10/microsofts-windows-10-permission-watch-every-move.html"> Windows 10 requires users to give permission for total snooping</a>, including their files, their commands, their text input, and their voice input.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/2611451/microsoft-windows/a-look-at-the-black-underbelly-of-windows-8-1--blue-.html"> <li id="M201401150"> <p id="baidu-ime"><a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/asian-technology/japanese-government-warns-baidu-ime-is-spying-on-users/"> Baidu's Japanese-input and Chinese-input apps spy on users</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201307080"> <p>Spyware in older versions of Windows: <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/28/windows_update_keeps_tabs/"> Windows Update snoops on the user</a>. <a href="https://www.infoworld.com/article/2611451/a-look-at-the-black-underbelly-of-windows-8-1--blue-.html"> Windows 8.1 snoops on local searches.</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>And searches</a>. And there's a <a href="http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article40836.html"> secret NSA key in Windows</a>, whose functions we don't know.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Microsoft's snooping on users did not start with Windows 10. There's a lot more <a href="/proprietary/malware-microsoft.html"> Microsoft malware</a>.</p> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInMacOS">Spyware in MacOS</h4> id="SpywareInMacOS">MacOS</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInMacOS">#SpywareInMacOS</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/30/how-one-mans-private-files-ended-up-on-apples-icloud-without-his-consent/"> MacOS automatically sends to Apple servers unsaved documents being edited</a>. The <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201809070"> <p>Adware Doctor, an ad blocker for MacOS, <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/10/apple_copies_yo.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter/"> things you have not decided to save are even more sensitive than href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjye8x/mac-anti-adware-doctor-app-steals-browsing-history">reports the things you have stored in files</a>.</p> user's browsing history</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Apple <li id="M201411040"> <p>Apple has made various <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/04/apple-data-privacy-icloud"> MacOS programs send files to Apple servers without asking permission</a>. This exposes the files to Big Brother and perhaps to other snoops.</p> <p>It also demonstrates how you can't trust proprietary software, because even if today's version doesn't have a malicious functionality, tomorrow's version might add it. The developer won't remove the malfeature unless many users push back hard, and the users can't remove it themselves.</p> </li> <li><p>Various operations in <a href="http://lifehacker.com/safari-and-spotlight-can-send-data-to-apple-heres-how-1648453540"> the latest <li id="M201410300"> <p> MacOS send reports automatically <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170831144456/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/10/30/how-one-mans-private-files-ended-up-on-apples-icloud-without-his-consent/"> sends to Apple</a> servers.</p> Apple servers unsaved documents being edited</a>. The things you have not decided to save are <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/10/apple_copies_yo.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter/"> even more sensitive</a> than the things you have stored in files.</p> </li> <li><p>Apple <li id="M201410220"> <p>Apple admits the <a href="http://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/spotlight-suggestions-in-os-x-yosemite-and-ios-are-you-staying-private/"> spying in a search facility</a>, but there's a lot <a href="https://github.com/fix-macosx/yosemite-phone-home"> more snooping that Apple has not talked about</a>.</p> </li> <li><p><a <li id="M201410200"> <p>Various operations in <a href="http://lifehacker.com/safari-and-spotlight-can-send-data-to-apple-heres-how-1648453540"> the latest MacOS send reports to Apple</a> servers.</p> </li> <li id="M201401100.1"> <p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/privacy-advocates-worry-over-new-apple-iphone-tracking-feature-161836223.html"> Spotlight search</a> sends users' search terms to Apple.</p> </li> </ul> <p>There's a lot more <a href="#SpywareIniThings">iThing spyware</a>, and <a href="/proprietary/malware-apple.html">Apple malware</a>.</p> <div class="big-subsection"> <span id="SpywareAtLowLevel"></span> <h4 id="SpywareInAndroid">Spyware in Android</h4> id="SpywareInBIOS">BIOS</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInAndroid">#SpywareInAndroid</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInBIOS">#SpywareInBIOS</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>More than 73% of the most popular Android apps <a href="http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/index.php">share personal, behavioral <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201509220"> <p><a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/2984889/lenovo-collects-usage-data-on-thinkpad-thinkcentre-and-thinkstation-pcs.html"> Lenovo stealthily installed crapware and location information</a> of their users with third parties.</p> </li> <li><p>“Cryptic communication,” unrelated to the app's functionality, was <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/data-transferred-android-apps-hiding-1119"> found in spyware via BIOS</a> on Windows installs. Note that the 500 most popular gratis Android apps</a>.</p> <p>The article should not have described these apps as “free”—they are specific sabotage method Lenovo used did not free software. The clear way to say “zero price” affect GNU/Linux; also, a “clean” Windows install is “gratis.”</p> not really clean since <a href="/proprietary/malware-microsoft.html">Microsoft puts in its own malware</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareOnMobiles">Spyware on Mobiles</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareOnMobiles">#SpywareOnMobiles</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInTelephones">All “Smart” Phones</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInTelephones">#SpywareInTelephones</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201601110"> <p>The article takes for granted that the usual analytics tools are legitimate, but natural extension of monitoring people through “their” phones is that valid? Software developers have no right to analyze what users are doing or how. “Analytics” tools that snoop are just as wrong as any other snooping.</p> </li> <li><p>Gratis Android apps (but not <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>) connect href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2016/01/fool-activity-tracker.html"> proprietary software to 100 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/06/free-android-apps-connect-tracking-advertising-websites">tracking and advertising</a> URLs, on make sure they can't “fool” the average.</p> monitoring</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Spyware is present in some Android devices when they are sold. Some Motorola phones modify Android <li id="M201510050"> <p>According to Edward Snowden, <a href="http://www.beneaththewaves.net/Projects/Motorola_Is_Listening.html"> send personal href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34444233">agencies can take over smartphones</a> by sending hidden text messages which enable them to turn the phones on and off, listen to the microphone, retrieve geo-location data from the GPS, take photographs, read text messages, read call, location and web browsing history, and read the contact list. This malware is designed to Motorola</a>.</p> disguise itself from investigation.</p> </li> <li><p>Some manufacturers add a <li id="M201311120"> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180816030205/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/privacy-scandal-nsa-can-spy-on-smart-phone-data-a-920971.html"> The NSA can tap data in smart phones, including iPhones, Android, and BlackBerry</a>. While there is not much detail here, it seems that this does not operate via the universal back door that we know nearly all portable phones have. It may involve exploiting various bugs. There are <a href="http://androidsecuritytest.com/features/logs-and-services/loggers/carrieriq/"> hidden general surveillance package such as Carrier IQ.</a></p> href="http://www.osnews.com/story/27416/The_second_operating_system_hiding_in_every_mobile_phone"> lots of bugs in the phones' radio software</a>.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#samsung"> Samsung's back door</a> provides access to any file <li id="M201307000"> <p>Portable phones with GPS <a href="http://www.aclu.org/government-location-tracking-cell-phones-gps-devices-and-license-plate-readers"> will send their GPS location on the system.</p> remote command, and users cannot stop them</a>. (The US says it will eventually require all new portable phones to have GPS.)</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareOnMobiles --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure to place new items on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareOnMobiles">Spyware on Mobiles</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareOnMobiles">#SpywareOnMobiles</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareIniThings">Spyware in iThings</h4> id="SpywareIniThings">iThings</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareIniThings">#SpywareIniThings</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>iPhones <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201906030"> <p>Apple can <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/11/17/iphones-secretly-send-call-history-to-apple-security-firm-says">send lots of personal data href="https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/03/apples-new-find-my-app/"> track iMonsters even when they are suspended</a>.</p> <p>This distributed bluetooth network is said to Apple's servers</a>. Big Brother can get them be “secure,” but it is obviously <em>not</em> secure from there.</p> </li> <li><p>The iMessage app on iThings <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/09/28/apple-logs-your-imessage-contacts-and-may-share-them-with-police/">tells a server every phone number Apple or from governments that can command Apple's obedience (such as the user types into it</a>; the server records these numbers for at least 30 days.</p> US and China).</p> </li> <li><p>Users cannot make an Apple ID <li id="M201905280"> <p>In spite of Apple's supposed commitment to privacy, iPhone apps contain trackers that are busy at night <a href="http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/49951/how-can-i-download-free-apps-without-registering-an-apple-idcool">(necessary href="https://freediggz.com/2019/05/28/perspective-its-the-middle-of-the-night-do-you-know-who-your-iphone-is-talking-to/"> sending users' personal information to install even gratis apps)</a> without giving a valid third parties</a>.</p> <p>The article mentions specific examples: Microsoft OneDrive, Intuit's Mint, Nike, Spotify, The Washington Post, The Weather Channel (owned by IBM), the crime-alert service Citizen, Yelp and DoorDash. But it is likely that most nonfree apps contain trackers. Some of these send personally identifying data such as phone fingerprint, exact location, email address, phone number or even delivery address (in the case of DoorDash). Once this information is collected by the company, there is no telling what it will be used for.</p> </li> <li id="M201711250"> <p>The DMCA and receiving the code EU Copyright Directive make it <a href="https://boingboing.net/2017/11/25/la-la-la-cant-hear-you.html"> illegal to study how iOS cr…apps spy on users</a>, because this would require circumventing the iOS DRM.</p> </li> <li id="M201709210"> <p>In the latest iThings system, “turning off” WiFi and Bluetooth the obvious way <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/ios-11-apple-toggling-wifi-bluetooth-control-centre-doesnt-turn-them-off"> doesn't really turn them off</a>. A more advanced way really does turn them off—only until 5am. That's Apple sends for you—“We know you want to it.</p> be spied on”.</p> </li> <li><p>Around 47% of <li id="M201702150"> <p>Apple proposes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/15/apple-removing-iphone-home-button-fingerprint-scanning-screen">a fingerprint-scanning touch screen</a>—which would mean no way to use it without having your fingerprints taken. Users would have no way to tell whether the most popular iOS apps phone is snooping on them.</p> </li> <li id="M201611170"> <p>iPhones <a href="http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/index.php">share personal, behavioral and location information</a> href="https://theintercept.com/2016/11/17/iphones-secretly-send-call-history-to-apple-security-firm-says/">send lots of their users with third parties.</p> personal data to Apple's servers</a>. Big Brother can get them from there.</p> </li> <li id="M201609280"> <p>The iMessage app on iThings <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/09/28/apple-logs-your-imessage-contacts-and-may-share-them-with-police/">tells a server every phone number that the user types into it</a>; the server records these numbers for at least 30 days.</p> </li> <li><p>iThings <li id="M201509240"> <p>iThings automatically upload to Apple's servers all the photos and videos they make.</p> <blockquote><p> iCloud Photo Library stores every photo and video you take, and keeps them up to date on all your devices. Any edits you make are automatically updated everywhere. [...] […] </p></blockquote> <p>(From <a href="https://www.apple.com/icloud/photos/">Apple's iCloud information</a> as accessed on 24 Sep 2015.) The iCloud feature is <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202033">activated by the startup of iOS</a>. The term “cloud” means “please don't ask where.”</p> <p>There is a way to <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201104"> deactivate iCloud</a>, but it's active by default so it still counts as a surveillance functionality.</p> <p>Unknown people apparently took advantage of this to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/01/naked-celebrity-hack-icloud-backup-jennifer-lawrence">get nude photos of many celebrities</a>. They needed to break Apple's security to get at them, but NSA can access any of them through <a href="/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html#digitalcash">PRISM</a>. </p></li> <li><p>Spyware in iThings: href="/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html#digitalcash">PRISM</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201409220"> <p>Apple can, and regularly does, <a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/05/new-guidelines-outline-what-iphone-data-apple-can-give-to-police/"> remotely extract some data from iPhones for the state</a>.</p> <p>This may have improved with <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/2014/09/17/2612af58-3ed2-11e4-b03f-de718edeb92f_story.html"> iOS 8 security improvements</a>; but <a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/22/apple-data/"> not as much as Apple claims</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201407230"> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/23/iphone-backdoors-surveillance-forensic-services"> Several “features” of iOS seem to exist for no possible purpose other than surveillance</a>. Here is the <a href="http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/iOS_Backdoors_Attack_Points_Surveillance_Mechanisms_Moved.pdf"> Technical presentation</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201401100"> <p>The <a class="not-a-duplicate" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/privacy-advocates-worry-over-new-apple-iphone-tracking-feature-161836223.html"> iBeacon</a> lets stores determine exactly where the iThing is, and get other info too.</p> </li> <li><p>There <li id="M201312300"> <p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-30/how-nsa-hacks-your-iphone-presenting-dropout-jeep"> Either Apple helps the NSA snoop on all the data in an iThing, or it is totally incompetent</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201308080"> <p>The iThing also a <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/08/ios7_tracking_now_its_a_favourite_feature/"> tells Apple its geolocation</a> by default, though that can be turned off.</p> </li> <li id="M201210170"> <p>There is also a feature for web sites to track users, which is <a href="http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/10/17/how-to-disable-apple-ios-user-tracking-ios-6/"> enabled by default</a>. (That article talks about iOS 6, but it is still true in iOS 7.)</p> </li> <li><p>The iThing also <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160313215042/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/08/ios7_tracking_now_its_a_favourite_feature/"> tells <li id="M201204280"> <p>Users cannot make an Apple its geolocation</a> by default, though that can be turned off.</p> </li> <li><p>Apple can, ID (<a href="https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/49951/how-can-i-download-free-apps-without-registering-an-apple-id">necessary to install even gratis apps</a>) without giving a valid email address and regularly does, <a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/05/new-guidelines-outline-what-iphone-data-apple-can-give-to-police/"> remotely extract some data from iPhones for receiving the state</a>.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-30/how-nsa-hacks-your-iphone-presenting-dropout-jeep"> Either verification code Apple helps the NSA snoop on all the data in an iThing, or it is totally incompetent.</a></p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/23/iphone-backdoors-surveillance-forensic-services"> Several “features” of iOS seem sends to exist for no possible purpose other than surveillance</a>. Here is the <a href="http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/iOS_Backdoors_Attack_Points_Surveillance_Mechanisms_Moved.pdf"> Technical presentation</a>.</p> it.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInTelephones">Spyware in id="SpywareInAndroid">Android Telephones</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInTelephones">#SpywareInTelephones</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInAndroid">#SpywareInAndroid</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>According to Edward Snowden, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34444233">agencies can take over smartphones</a> by sending hidden text messages which enable them to turn <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201904130"> <p>Google tracks the phones on movements of Android phones, and off, listen sometimes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-location-tracking-police.html"> saves the data for years</a>.</p> <p>Nonfree software in the phone has to be responsible for sending the microphone, retrieve geo-location location data to Google.</p> </li> <li id="M201812060"> <p>Facebook's app got “consent” to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/dec/06/facebook-emails-reveal-discussions-over-call-log-consent"> upload call logs automatically from Android phones</a> while disguising what the GPS, take photographs, read text messages, read call, “consent” was for.</p> </li> <li id="M201811230"> <p>An Android phone was observed to track location even while in airplane mode. It didn't send the location data while in airplane mode. Instead, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/7811918/google-is-tracking-you-even-with-airplane-mode-turned-on/"> it saved up the data, and web browsing history, and read sent them all later</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201711210"> <p>Android tracks location for Google <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171121/09030238658/investigation-finds-google-collected-location-data-even-with-location-services-turned-off.shtml"> even when “location services” are turned off, even when the contact list. This malware is designed to disguise itself from investigation.</p> phone has no SIM card</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Samsung <li id="M201611150"> <p>Some portable phones come with <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/samsung-sued-for-loading-devices-with-unremovable-crapware-in-china/">apps that users can't delete</a>, and they send so much href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kryptowire-discovered-mobile-phone-firmware-that-transmitted-personally-identifiable-information-pii-without-user-consent-or-disclosure-300362844.html">are sold with spyware sending lots of data that to China</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201609140"> <p>Google Play (a component of Android) <a href="https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/235594-yes-google-play-is-tracking-you-and-thats-just-the-tip-of-a-very-large-iceberg"> tracks the users' movements without their permission</a>.</p> <p>Even if you disable Google Maps and location tracking, you must disable Google Play itself to completely stop the tracking. This is yet another example of nonfree software pretending to obey the user, when it's actually doing something else. Such a thing would be almost unthinkable with free software.</p> </li> <li id="M201507030"> <p>Samsung phones come with <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/samsung-sued-for-loading-devices-with-unremovable-crapware-in-china/">apps that users can't delete</a>, and they send so much data that their transmission is a substantial expense for users. Said transmission, not wanted or requested by the user, clearly must constitute spying of some kind.</p></li> <li><p>A Motorola phone <a href="http://www.itproportal.com/2013/07/25/motorolas-new-x8-arm-chip-underpinning-the-always-on-future-of-android/"> listens for voice all kind.</p> </li> <li id="M201403120"> <p><a href="/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#samsung"> Samsung's back door</a> provides access to any file on the time</a>.</p> system.</p> </li> <li><p>Spyware <li id="M201308010"> <p>Spyware in Android phones (and Windows? laptops): The Wall Street Journal (in an article blocked from us by a paywall) reports that <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/1/4580718/fbi-can-remotely-activate-android-and-laptop-microphones-reports-wsj"> the FBI can remotely activate the GPS and microphone in Android phones and laptops</a>. (I suspect this means Windows laptops.) Here is <a href="http://cryptome.org/2013/08/fbi-hackers.htm">more info</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Portable phones with GPS will send their GPS location on remote command and users cannot stop them: <li id="M201307280"> <p>Spyware is present in some Android devices when they are sold. Some Motorola phones, made when this company was owned by Google, use a modified version of Android that <a href="http://www.aclu.org/government-location-tracking-cell-phones-gps-devices-and-license-plate-readers"> http://www.aclu.org/government-location-tracking-cell-phones-gps-devices-and-license-plate-readers</a>. (The US says it will eventually require all new portable phones href="http://www.beneaththewaves.net/Projects/Motorola_Is_Listening.html"> sends personal data to have GPS.)</p> Motorola</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>The nonfree Snapchat app's principal purpose <li id="M201307250"> <p>A Motorola phone <a href="http://www.itproportal.com/2013/07/25/motorolas-new-x8-arm-chip-underpinning-the-always-on-future-of-android/"> listens for voice all the time</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201302150"> <p>Google Play intentionally sends app developers <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/google-play-store-policy-raises-privacy-concerns-331116"> the personal details of users that install the app</a>.</p> <p>Merely asking the “consent” of users is not enough to restrict legitimize actions like this. At this point, most users have stopped reading the use of data on “Terms and Conditions” that spell out what they are “consenting” to. Google should clearly and honestly identify the user's computer, but information it does surveillance too: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/27/snapchat-may-be-exposed-hackers"> collects on users, instead of hiding it tries in an obscurely worded EULA.</p> <p>However, to get the user's list of other truly protect people's phone numbers.</a></p> privacy, we must prevent Google and other companies from getting this personal information in the first place!</p> </li> <li id="M201111170"> <p>Some manufacturers add a <a href="http://androidsecuritytest.com/features/logs-and-services/loggers/carrieriq/"> hidden general surveillance package such as Carrier IQ</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInMobileApps">Spyware in Mobile Applications</h4> id="SpywareInElectronicReaders">E-Readers</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInMobileApps">#SpywareInMobileApps</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInElectronicReaders">#SpywareInElectronicReaders</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>The Uber app tracks <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/28/uber-background-location-data-collection/">clients' movements before <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201603080"> <p>E-books can contain JavaScript code, and after the ride</a>.</p> <p>This example illustrates how “getting the user's consent” for surveillance is inadequate as a protection against massive surveillance.</p> </li> <li><p>Google's new voice messaging app <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-message-logs-google">logs all conversations</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Apps that include <a href="http://techaeris.com/2016/01/13/symphony-advanced-media-software-tracks-your-digital-life-through-your-smartphone-mic/"> Symphony surveillance software snoop on what radio and TV programs are playing nearby</a>. Also on what users post href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/08/men-make-up-their-minds-about-books-faster-than-women-study-finds"> sometimes this code snoops on various sites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.</p> readers</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Facebook's new Magic Photo app <li id="M201410080"> <p>Adobe made “Digital Editions,” the e-reader used by most US libraries, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160605165148/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/10/facebook_scans_camera_for_your_friends/"> scans your mobile phone's photo collections for known faces</a>, and suggests you href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/blogs/open-enterprise/drm-strikes-again-3575860/"> send lots of data to share the picture you take according Adobe</a>. Adobe's “excuse”: it's needed to who is check DRM!</p> </li> <li id="M201212030"> <p>Spyware in many e-readers—not only the frame.</p> <p>This spyware feature seems to require online access to some known-faces database, which means the pictures are likely to be sent across the wire to Facebook's servers and face-recognition algorithms.</p> <p>If so, none of Facebook users' pictures are private anymore, Kindle: <a href="https://www.eff.org/pages/reader-privacy-chart-2012"> they report even if which page the user didn't “upload” them to the service.</p> reads at what time</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Like most “music screaming” disservices, Spotify is based on proprietary malware (DRM and snooping). In August 2015 it </ul> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareInApplications">Spyware in Applications</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInApplications">#SpywareInApplications</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInDesktopApps">Desktop Apps</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInDesktopApps">#SpywareInDesktopApps</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201811020"> <p>Foundry's graphics software <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/21/spotify-faces-user-backlash-over-new-privacy-policy"> demanded users submit to increased snooping</a>, and some are starting href="https://torrentfreak.com/software-company-fines-pirates-after-monitoring-their-computers-181102/"> reports information to realize identify who is running it</a>. The result is often a legal threat demanding a lot of money.</p> <p>The fact that it this is nasty.</p> used for repression of forbidden sharing makes it even more vicious.</p> <p>This article shows the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160313214751/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/21/spotify_worse_than_the_nsa/"> twisted ways illustrates that they present snooping as making unauthorized copies of nonfree software is not a way to “serve” users better</a>—never mind whether they want that. This is a typical example of cure for the attitude injustice of the proprietary software industry towards those they have subjugated.</p> <p>Out, out, damned Spotify!</p> </li> <li><p>Many proprietary apps nonfree software. It may avoid paying for mobile devices report which other apps the user has installed. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/26/twitter-app-graph/">Twitter nasty thing, but cannot make it less nasty.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInMobileApps">Mobile Apps</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInMobileApps">#SpywareInMobileApps</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201905300"> <p>The Femm “fertility” app is doing this in secretly a way that at least is visible and optional</a>. Not as bad as what the others do.</p> </li> <li><p>FTC says most mobile apps for children don't respect privacy: <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/ftc-disclosures-severely-lacking-in-kids-mobile-appsand-its-getting-worse/"> http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/ftc-disclosures-severely-lacking-in-kids-mobile-appsand-its-getting-worse/</a>.</p> href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/30/revealed-womens-fertility-app-is-funded-by-anti-abortion-campaigners"> tool for propaganda</a> by natalist Christians. It spreads distrust for contraception.</p> <p>It snoops on users, too, as you must expect from nonfree programs.</p> </li> <li><p>Widely used <li id="M201905060"> <p>BlizzCon 2019 imposed a <a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/kollarssmith/scan-this-or-scan-me-user-privacy-barcode-scanning-applications/">proprietary QR-code scanner apps snoop on the user</a>. This is in addition href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/blizzcon-2019-tickets-revolve-around-invasive-poorly-reviewed-smartphone-app/"> requirement to the snooping done by the run a proprietary phone company, and perhaps by the OS in the phone.</p> <p>Don't app</a> to be distracted by the question of whether allowed into the event.</p> <p>This app developers get users to say “I agree”. That is no excuse for malware.</p> </li> <li><p>The Brightest Flashlight app <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/06/android-app-50m-downloads-sent-data-advertisers"> sends user a spyware that can snoop on a lot of sensitive data, including geolocation, for use by companies.</a></p> <p>The FTC criticized this app because it asked user's location and contact list, and has <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/bkd5ew/you_need_to_have_a_phone_to_attend_blizzcon_this/emg38xv/"> near-complete control</a> over the user to approve sending personal data phone.</p> </li> <li id="M201904131"> <p>Data collected by menstrual and pregnancy monitoring apps is often <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/13/theres-a-dark-side-to-womens-health-apps-menstrual-surveillance"> available to employers and insurance companies</a>. Even though the app developer but did not ask about sending data is “anonymized and aggregated,” it can easily be traced back to other companies. This shows the weakness of woman who uses the reject-it-if-you-dislike-snooping “solution” app.</p> <p>This has harmful implications for women's rights to surveillance: why should a flashlight app send any information equal employment and freedom to anyone? A free software flashlight make their own pregnancy choices. Don't use these apps, even if someone offers you a reward to do so. A free-software app would not.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInGames">Spyware in Games</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInGames">#SpywareInGames</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>nVidia's proprietary GeForce Experience that does more or less the same thing without spying on you is available from <a href="http://www.gamersnexus.net/industry/2672-geforce-experience-data-transfer-analysis">makes users identify themselves href="https://search.f-droid.org/?q=menstr">F-Droid</a>, and then sends personal data about them to nVidia servers</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2019-04-10/building-a-better-period-tracking-app-podcast"> a new one is being developed</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Angry Birds <li id="M201903251"> <p>Many Android phones come with a huge number of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/spy-agencies-scour-phone-apps-for-personal-data.html"> spies for companies, and the NSA takes advantage href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/22/inenglish/1553244778_819882.html"> preinstalled nonfree apps that have access to spy through sensitive data without users' knowledge</a>. These hidden apps may either call home with the data, or pass it too</a>. Here's information on <a href="http://confabulator.blogspot.com/2012/11/analysis-of-what-information-angry.html"> more spyware apps</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/spy-agencies-probe-angry-birds-and-other-apps-for-personal-data"> More about NSA app spying</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInToys">Spyware to user-installed apps that have access to the network but no direct access to the data. This results in Toys</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInToys">#SpywareInToys</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>A company massive surveillance on which the user has absolutely no control.</p> </li> <li id="M201903201"> <p>A study of 24 “health” apps found that makes internet-controlled vibrators <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/14/wevibe-sex-toy-data-collection-chicago-lawsuit">is being sued for collecting lots 19 of them <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pan9e8/health-apps-can-share-your-data-everywhere-new-study-shows"> send sensitive personal information about how people use it</a>.</p> <p>The company's statement that it anonymizes the data may be true, but to third parties</a>, which can use it doesn't really matter. If for invasive advertising or discriminating against people in poor medical condition.</p> <p>Whenever user “consent” is sought, it sells the data is buried in lengthy terms of service that are difficult to understand. In any case, “consent” is not sufficient to legitimize snooping.</p> </li> <li id="M201902230"> <p>Facebook offered a convenient proprietary library for building mobile apps, which also <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/02/23/surveillance-zucksterism.html"> sent personal data broker, to Facebook</a>. Lots of companies built apps that way and released them, apparently not realizing that all the personal data broker they collected would go to Facebook as well.</p> <p>It shows that no one can figure out who trust a nonfree program, not even the user is.</p> </li> <li><p>A computerized vibrator <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/10/vibrator-phone-app-we-vibe-4-plus-bluetooth-hack">snoops on its users through the proprietary control app</a>.</p> developers of other nonfree programs.</p> </li> <li id="M201902140"> <p>The app reports AppCensus database gives information on <a href="https://www.appcensus.mobi"> how Android apps use and misuse users' personal data</a>. As of March 2019, nearly 78,000 have been analyzed, of which 24,000 (31%) transmit the temperature <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html#M201812290"> Advertising ID</a> to other companies, and <a href="https://blog.appcensus.mobi/2019/02/14/ad-ids-behaving-badly/"> 18,000 (23% of the vibrator minute total) link this ID to hardware identifiers</a>, so that users cannot escape tracking by minute (thus, indirectly, whether it resetting it.</p> <p>Collecting hardware identifiers is surrounded by a person's body), and the vibration frequency.</p> <p>Note in apparent violation of Google's policies. But it seems that Google wasn't aware of it, and, once informed, was in no hurry to take action. This proves that the totally inadequate proposed response: policies of a labeling standard with which manufacturers would make statements about their products, rather than free development platform are ineffective at preventing nonfree software which users can check and change.</p> developers from including malware in their programs.</p> </li> <li><p>Barbie <li id="M201902060"> <p>Many nonfree apps have a surveillance feature for <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/wi-fi-spy-barbie-records-childrens-5177673">is going to spy on children and adults.</a>.</p> href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/06/iphone-session-replay-screenshots/"> recording all the users' actions</a> in interacting with the app.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareAtLowLevel --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure <li id="M201902041.1"> <p>Twenty nine “beauty camera” apps that used to place new items be on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareAtLowLevel">Spyware at Low Level</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareAtLowLevel">#SpywareAtLowLevel</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInBIOS">Spyware in BIOS</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInBIOS">#SpywareInBIOS</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p> Google Play had one or more malicious functionalities, such as <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2984889/windows-pcs/lenovo-collects-usage-data-on-thinkpad-thinkcentre-and-thinkstation-pcs.html"> Lenovo stealthily installed crapware href="https://www.teleanalysis.com/news/national/these-29-beauty-camera-apps-steal-private-photo-29923"> stealing users' photos</a> instead of “beautifying” them, pushing unwanted and spyware via BIOS</a> often malicious ads on Windows installs. Note users, and redirecting them to phishing sites that stole their credentials. Furthermore, the specific sabotage method Lenovo used did not affect GNU/Linux; also, user interface of most of them was designed to make uninstallation difficult.</p> <p>Users should of course uninstall these dangerous apps if they haven't yet, but they should also stay away from nonfree apps in general. <em>All</em> nonfree apps carry a “clean” Windows install potential risk because there is not no easy way of knowing what they really clean since <a href="/proprietary/malware-microsoft.html">Microsoft puts in its own malware</a>. </p></li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareAtWork --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure do.</p> </li> <li id="M201902010"> <p>An investigation of the 150 most popular gratis VPN apps in Google Play found that <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/free-vpn-android-app-risk-index/"> 25% fail to place new items protect their users' privacy</a> due to DNS leaks. In addition, 85% feature intrusive permissions or functions in their source code—often used for invasive advertising—that could potentially also be used to spy on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareAtWork">Spyware at Work</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareAtWork">#SpywareAtWork</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul> <li><p>Investigation Shows users. Other technical flaws were found as well.</p> <p>Moreover, a previous investigation had found that <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160602/17210734610/investigation-shows-gchq-using-us-companies-nsa-to-route-around-domestic-surveillance-restrictions.shtml">GCHQ Using US Companies, NSA To Route Around Domestic Surveillance Restrictions</a>.</p> <p>Specifically, it can collect the emails of members href="https://www.top10vpn.com/free-vpn-app-investigation/">half of Parliament this way, because the top 10 gratis VPN apps have lousy privacy policies</a>.</p> <p>It is unfortunate that these articles talk about “free apps.” These apps are gratis, but they pass it through Microsoft.</p></li> <li><p>Spyware in Cisco TNP IP phones: are <em>not</em> <a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/12/29/your-cisco-phone-is-listening.html"> http://boingboing.net/2012/12/29/your-cisco-phone-is-listening.html</a></p> href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInSkype">Spyware in Skype</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInSkype">#SpywareInSkype</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>Spyware in Skype: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/06/20/project-chess-how-u-s-snoops-on-your-skype/"> http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/06/20/project-chess-how-u-s-snoops-on-your-skype/</a>. Microsoft changed Skype <li id="M201901050"> <p>The Weather Channel app <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data"> specifically for spying</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareOnTheRoad --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/04/weather-channel-app-lawsuit-location-data-selling"> stored users' locations to place new items on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareOnTheRoad">Spyware on the company's server</a>. The Road</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareOnTheRoad">#SpywareOnTheRoad</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInCameras">Spyware in Cameras</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInCameras">#SpywareInCameras</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li> <p>The Nest Cam “smart” camera company is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34922712">always watching</a>, even when being sued, demanding that it notify the “owner” switches users of what it “off.”</p> <p>A “smart” device means will do with the manufacturer data.</p> <p>I think that lawsuit is using it to outsmart you.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInElectronicReaders">Spyware in e-Readers</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInElectronicReaders">#SpywareInElectronicReaders</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>E-books can contain Javascript code, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/08/men-make-up-their-minds-about-books-faster-than-women-study-finds">sometimes this code snoops on readers</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Spyware in many e-readers—not only about a side issue. What the Kindle: <a href="https://www.eff.org/pages/reader-privacy-chart-2012"> they report even which page company does with the user reads data is a secondary issue. The principal wrong here is that the company gets that data at what time</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Adobe made “Digital Editions,” the e-reader used by most US libraries, <a href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/blogs/open-enterprise/drm-strikes-again-3575860/"> send lots of data to Adobe</a>. Adobe's “excuse”: it's needed to check DRM!</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInVehicles">Spyware in Vehicles</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInVehicles">#SpywareInVehicles</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>Computerized cars with nonfree software all.</p> <p><a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/gy77wy/stop-using-third-party-weather-apps"> Other weather apps</a>, including Accuweather and WeatherBug, are <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/your-car-s-been-studying-you-closely-and-everyone-wants-the-data"> snooping devices</a>.</p> tracking people's locations.</p> </li> <li><p>The Nissan Leaf has a built-in cell phone modem which allows effectively anyone <li id="M201812290"> <p>Around 40% of gratis Android apps <a href="https://www.troyhunt.com/controlling-vehicle-features-of-nissan/">to access its computers remotely and make changes in various settings</a>.</p> <p>That's easy href="https://privacyinternational.org/report/2647/how-apps-android-share-data-facebook-report"> report on the user's actions to do because Facebook</a>.</p> <p>Often they send the system has no authentication when accessed through machine's “advertising ID,” so that Facebook can correlate the modem. However, even if data it asked for authentication, you couldn't be confident that Nissan has no access. The software obtains from the same machine via various apps. Some of them send Facebook detailed information about the user's activities in the car app; others only say that the user is proprietary, <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">which means it demands blind faith from its users</a>.</p> <p>Even if no one connects to using that app, but that alone is often quite informative.</p> <p>This spying occurs regardless of whether the car remotely, user has a Facebook account.</p> </li> <li id="M201810244"> <p>Some Android apps <a href="https://www.androidauthority.com/apps-uninstall-trackers-917539/amp/"> track the cell phone modem enables phones of users that have deleted them</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201808030"> <p>Some Google apps on Android <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/13/google-location-tracking-android-iphone-mobile"> record the phone company user's location even when users disable “location tracking”</a>.</p> <p>There are other ways to track turn off the car's other kinds of location tracking, but most users will be tricked by the misleading control.</p> </li> <li id="M201806110"> <p>The Spanish football streaming app <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/06/11/spanish-football-app-turns-use.html">tracks the user's movements all and listens through the time; microphone</a>.</p> <p>This makes them act as spies for licensing enforcement.</p> <p>I expect it implements DRM, too—that there is possible no way to physically remove save a recording. But I can't be sure from the cell phone modem though.</p> </li> <li><p>Proprietary software article.</p> <p>If you learn to care much less about sports, you will benefit in cars many ways. This is one more.</p> </li> <li id="M201804160"> <p>More than <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/03/24/car-spying-edr-data-privacy/1991751/">records href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/16/child-apps-games-android-us-google-play-store-data-sharing-law-privacy">50% of the 5,855 Android apps studied by researchers were found to snoop and collect information about drivers' movements</a>, which is made available its users</a>. 40% of the apps were found to car manufacturers, insurance companies, and others.</p> <p>The case insecurely snitch on its users. Furthermore, they could detect only some methods of toll-collection systems, mentioned snooping, in this article, is not really a matter of these proprietary surveillance. These systems are an intolerable invasion of privacy, and should be replaced with anonymous payment systems, but the invasion isn't done by malware. apps whose source code they cannot look at. The other cases mentioned are done by proprietary malware apps might be snooping in the car.</p></li> <li><p>Tesla cars allow the company to extract data remotely other ways.</p> <p>This is evidence that proprietary apps generally work against their users. To protect their privacy and determine freedom, Android users need to get rid of the car's location at any time. (See proprietary software—both proprietary Android by <a href="http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/tmi_privacy_statement_external_6-14-2013_v2.pdf"> Section 2, paragraphs b href="https://replicant.us">switching to Replicant</a>, and c.</a>). The company says it doesn't store this information, but if the state orders it to get proprietary apps by getting apps from the data and hand it over, free software only <a href="https://f-droid.org/">F-Droid store</a> that <a href="https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/Antifeatures"> prominently warns the state can store it.</p> user if an app contains anti-features</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareAtHome --> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure <li id="M201804020"> <p>Grindr collects information about <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/02/egregious-breach-privacy-popular-app-grindr-supplies-third-parties-users-hiv-status"> which users are HIV-positive, then provides the information to companies</a>.</p> <p>Grindr should not have so much information about its users. It could be designed so that users communicate such info to place new items on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareAtHome">Spyware at Home</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareAtHome">#SpywareAtHome</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul> <li><p><a href="http://consumerman.com/Rent-to-own%20giant%20accused%20of%20spying%20on%20its%20customers.htm"> Rent-to-own computers were programmed other but not to spy on the server's database.</p> </li> <li id="M201803050"> <p>The moviepass app and dis-service spy on users even more than users expected. It <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/05/moviepass-ceo-proudly-says-the-app-tracks-your-location-before-and-after-movies/">records where they travel before and after going to a movie</a>.</p> <p>Don't be tracked—pay cash!</p> </li> <li id="M201711240"> <p>Tracking software in popular Android apps is pervasive and sometimes very clever. Some trackers can <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/24/staggering-variety-of-clandestine-trackers-found-in-popular-android-apps/"> follow a user's movements around a physical store by noticing WiFi networks</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201708270"> <p>The Sarahah app <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/27/hit-app-sarahah-quietly-uploads-your-address-book/"> uploads all phone numbers and email addresses</a> in user's address book to developer's server. Note that this article misuses the words “<a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>” referring to zero price.</p> </li> <li id="M201707270"> <p>20 dishonest Android apps recorded <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/stealthy-google-play-apps-recorded-calls-and-stole-e-mails-and-texts">phone calls and sent them and text messages and emails to snoopers</a>.</p> <p>Google did not intend to make these apps spy; on the contrary, it worked in various ways to prevent that, and deleted these apps after discovering what they did. So we cannot blame Google specifically for the snooping of these apps.</p> <p>On the other hand, Google redistributes nonfree Android apps, and therefore shares in the responsibility for the injustice of their being nonfree. It also distributes its own nonfree apps, such as Google Play, <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">which are malicious</a>.</p> <p>Could Google have done a better job of preventing apps from cheating? There is no systematic way for Google, or Android users, to inspect executable proprietary apps to see what they do.</p> <p>Google could demand the source code for these apps, and study the source code somehow to determine whether they mistreat users in various ways. If it did a good job of this, it could more or less prevent such snooping, except when the app developers are clever enough to outsmart the checking.</p> <p>But since Google itself develops malicious apps, we cannot trust Google to protect us. We must demand release of source code to the public, so we can depend on each other.</p> </li> <li id="M201705230"> <p>Apps for BART <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171124190046/https://consumerist.com/2017/05/23/passengers-say-commuter-rail-app-illegally-collects-personal-user-data/"> snoop on users</a>.</p> <p>With free software apps, users could <em>make sure</em> that they don't snoop.</p> <p>With proprietary apps, one can only hope that they don't.</p> </li> <li id="M201705040"> <p>A study found 234 Android apps that track users by <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/234-android-applications-are-currently-using-ultrasonic-beacons-to-track-users/">listening to ultrasound from beacons placed in stores or played by TV programs</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201704260"> <p>Faceapp appears to do lots of surveillance, judging by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/04/26/everything-thats-wrong-with-faceapp-the-latest-creepy-photo-app-for-your-face/"> how much access it demands to personal data in the device</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201704190"> <p>Users are suing Bose for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/04/19/bose-headphones-have-been-spying-on-their-customers-lawsuit-claims/"> distributing a spyware app for its headphones</a>. Specifically, the app would record the names of the audio files users listen to along with the headphone's unique serial number.</p> <p>The suit accuses that this was done without the users' consent. If the fine print of the app said that users gave consent for this, would that make it acceptable? No way! It should be flat out <a href="/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html"> illegal to design the app to snoop at all</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201704074"> <p>Pairs of Android apps can collude to transmit users' personal data to servers. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/when-apps-collude-to-steal-your-data/522177/">A study found tens of thousands of pairs that collude</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201703300"> <p>Verizon <a href="https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/03/30/0112259/verizon-to-force-appflash-spyware-on-android-phones"> announced an opt-in proprietary search app that it will</a> pre-install on some of its phones. The app will give Verizon the same information about the users' searches that Google normally gets when they use its search engine.</p> <p>Currently, the app is <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/04/update-verizons-appflash-pre-installed-spyware-still-spyware"> being pre-installed on only one phone</a>, and the user must explicitly opt-in before the app takes effect. However, the app remains spyware—an “optional” piece of spyware is still spyware.</p> </li> <li id="M201701210"> <p>The Meitu photo-editing app <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/21/popular-selfie-app-sending-user-data-to-china-researchers-say/">sends user data to a Chinese company</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201611280"> <p>The Uber app tracks <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/28/uber-background-location-data-collection/">clients' movements before and after the ride</a>.</p> <p>This example illustrates how “getting the user's consent” for surveillance is inadequate as a protection against massive surveillance.</p> </li> <li id="M201611160"> <p>A <a href="https://research.csiro.au/ng/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2016/08/paper-1.pdf"> research paper</a> that investigated the privacy and security of 283 Android VPN apps concluded that “in spite of the promises for privacy, security, and anonymity given by the majority of VPN apps—millions of users may be unawarely subject to poor security guarantees and abusive practices inflicted by VPN apps.”</p> <p>Following is a non-exhaustive list, taken from the research paper, of some proprietary VPN apps that track users and infringe their privacy:</p> <dl class="compact"> <dt>SurfEasy</dt> <dd>Includes tracking libraries such as NativeX and Appflood, meant to track users and show them targeted ads.</dd> <dt>sFly Network Booster</dt> <dd>Requests the <code>READ_SMS</code> and <code>SEND_SMS</code> permissions upon installation, meaning it has full access to users' text messages.</dd> <dt>DroidVPN and TigerVPN</dt> <dd>Requests the <code>READ_LOGS</code> permission to read logs for other apps and also core system logs. TigerVPN developers have confirmed this.</dd> <dt>HideMyAss</dt> <dd>Sends traffic to LinkedIn. Also, it stores detailed logs and may turn them over to the UK government if requested.</dd> <dt>VPN Services HotspotShield</dt> <dd>Injects JavaScript code into the HTML pages returned to the users. The stated purpose of the JS injection is to display ads. Uses roughly five tracking libraries. Also, it redirects the user's traffic through valueclick.com (an advertising website).</dd> <dt>WiFi Protector VPN</dt> <dd>Injects JavaScript code into HTML pages, and also uses roughly five tracking libraries. Developers of this app have confirmed that the non-premium version of the app does JavaScript injection for tracking the user and displaying ads.</dd> </dl> </li> <li id="M201609210"> <p>Google's new voice messaging app <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-message-logs-google">logs all conversations</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201606050"> <p>Facebook's new Magic Photo app <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/10/facebook_scans_camera_for_your_friends/"> scans your mobile phone's photo collections for known faces</a>, and suggests you to share the picture you take according to who is in the frame.</p> <p>This spyware feature seems to require online access to some known-faces database, which means the pictures are likely to be sent across the wire to Facebook's servers and face-recognition algorithms.</p> <p>If so, none of Facebook users' pictures are private anymore, even if the user didn't “upload” them to the service.</p> </li> <li id="M201605310"> <p>Facebook's app listens all the time, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-using-people-s-phones-to-listen-in-on-what-they-re-saying-claims-professor-a7057526.html">to snoop on what people are listening to or watching</a>. In addition, it may be analyzing people's conversations to serve them with targeted advertisements.</p> </li> <li id="M201604250"> <p>A pregnancy test controller application not only can <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/25/11503718/first-response-pregnancy-pro-test-bluetooth-app-security"> spy on many sorts of data in the phone, and in server accounts, it can alter them too</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201601130"> <p>Apps that include <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180913014551/http://techaeris.com/2016/01/13/symphony-advanced-media-software-tracks-your-digital-life-through-your-smartphone-mic/"> Symphony surveillance software snoop on what radio and TV programs are playing nearby</a>. Also on what users post on various sites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.</p> </li> <li id="M201511190"> <p>“Cryptic communication,” unrelated to the app's functionality, was <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/data-transferred-android-apps-hiding-1119"> found in the 500 most popular gratis Android apps</a>.</p> <p>The article should not have described these apps as “free”—they are not free software. The clear way to say “zero price” is “gratis.”</p> <p>The article takes for granted that the usual analytics tools are legitimate, but is that valid? Software developers have no right to analyze what users are doing or how. “Analytics” tools that snoop are just as wrong as any other snooping.</p> </li> <li id="M201510300"> <p>More than 73% and 47% of mobile applications, from Android and iOS respectively <a href="https://techscience.org/a/2015103001/">share personal, behavioral and location information</a> of their users with third parties.</p> </li> <li id="M201508210"> <p>Like most “music screaming” disservices, Spotify is based on proprietary malware (DRM and snooping). In August 2015 it <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/21/spotify-faces-user-backlash-over-new-privacy-policy"> demanded users submit to increased snooping</a>, and some are starting to realize that it is nasty.</p> <p>This article shows the <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/21/spotify_worse_than_the_nsa/"> twisted ways that they present snooping as a way to “serve” users better</a>—never mind whether they want that. This is a typical example of the attitude of the proprietary software industry towards those they have subjugated.</p> <p>Out, out, damned Spotify!</p> </li> <li id="M201506264"> <p><a href="http://www.privmetrics.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wisec2015.pdf">A study in 2015</a> found that 90% of the top-ranked gratis proprietary Android apps contained recognizable tracking libraries. For the paid proprietary apps, it was only 60%.</p> <p>The article confusingly describes gratis apps as “free”, but most of them are not in fact <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>. It also uses the ugly word “monetize”. A good replacement for that word is “exploit”; nearly always that will fit perfectly.</p> </li> <li id="M201505060"> <p>Gratis Android apps (but not <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>) connect to 100 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/06/free-android-apps-connect-tracking-advertising-websites">tracking and advertising</a> URLs, on the average.</p> </li> <li id="M201504060"> <p>Widely used <a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/kollarssmith/scan-this-or-scan-me-user-privacy-barcode-scanning-applications/">proprietary QR-code scanner apps snoop on the user</a>. This is in addition to the snooping done by the phone company, and perhaps by the OS in the phone.</p> <p>Don't be distracted by the question of whether the app developers get users to say “I agree”. That is no excuse for malware.</p> </li> <li id="M201411260"> <p>Many proprietary apps for mobile devices report which other apps the user has installed. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/26/twitter-app-graph/">Twitter is doing this in a way that at least is visible and optional</a>. Not as bad as what the others do.</p> </li> <li id="M201401150.1"> <p>The Simeji keyboard is a smartphone version of Baidu's <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html#baidu-ime">spying <abbr title="Input Method Editor">IME</abbr></a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201312270"> <p>The nonfree Snapchat app's principal purpose is to restrict the use of data on the user's computer, but it does surveillance too: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/27/snapchat-may-be-exposed-hackers"> it tries to get the user's list of other people's phone numbers</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201312060"> <p>The Brightest Flashlight app <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/06/android-app-50m-downloads-sent-data-advertisers"> sends user data, including geolocation, for use by companies</a>.</p> <p>The FTC criticized this app because it asked the user to approve sending personal data to the app developer but did not ask about sending it to other companies. This shows the weakness of the reject-it-if-you-dislike-snooping “solution” to surveillance: why should a flashlight app send any information to anyone? A free software flashlight app would not.</p> </li> <li id="M201212100"> <p>FTC says most mobile apps for children don't respect privacy: <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/ftc-disclosures-severely-lacking-in-kids-mobile-appsand-its-getting-worse/"> http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/ftc-disclosures-severely-lacking-in-kids-mobile-appsand-its-getting-worse/</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInSkype">Skype</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInSkype">#SpywareInSkype</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201307110"> <p>Skype contains <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130928235637/http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/06/20/project-chess-how-u-s-snoops-on-your-skype/">spyware</a>. Microsoft changed Skype <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data"> specifically for spying</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInGames">Games</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInGames">#SpywareInGames</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201806240"> <p>Red Shell is a spyware that is found in many proprietary games. It <a href="https://nebulous.cloud/threads/red-shell-illegal-spyware-for-steam-games.31924/"> tracks data on users' computers and sends it to third parties</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201804144"> <p>ArenaNet surreptitiously installed a spyware program along with an update to the massive multiplayer game Guild Wars 2. The spyware allowed ArenaNet <a href="https://techraptor.net/content/arenanet-used-spyware-anti-cheat-for-guild-wars-2-banwave"> to snoop on all open processes running on its user's computer</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201711070"> <p>The driver for a certain gaming keyboard <a href="https://thehackernews.com/2017/11/mantistek-keyboard-keylogger.html">sends information to China</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201512290"> <p>Many <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/12/29/how-much-data-are-video-games-collecting-about-you.html/"> video game consoles snoop on their users and report to the internet</a>—even what their users weigh.</p> <p>A game console is a computer, and you can't trust a computer with a nonfree operating system.</p> </li> <li id="M201509160"> <p>Modern gratis game cr…apps <a href="http://toucharcade.com/2015/09/16/we-own-you-confessions-of-a-free-to-play-producer/"> collect a wide range of data about their users and their users' friends and associates</a>.</p> <p>Even nastier, they do it through ad networks that merge the data collected by various cr…apps and sites made by different companies.</p> <p>They use this data to manipulate people to buy things, and hunt for “whales” who can be led to spend a lot of money. They also use a back door to manipulate the game play for specific players.</p> <p>While the article describes gratis games, games that cost money can use the same tactics.</p> </li> <li id="M201401280"> <p>Angry Birds <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/spy-agencies-scour-phone-apps-for-personal-data.html"> spies for companies, and the NSA takes advantage to spy through it too</a>. Here's information on <a href="http://confabulator.blogspot.com/2012/11/analysis-of-what-information-angry.html"> more spyware apps</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/spy-agencies-probe-angry-birds-and-other-apps-for-personal-data"> More about NSA app spying</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M200510200"> <p>Blizzard Warden is a hidden “cheating-prevention” program that <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2005/10/new-gaming-feature-spyware"> spies on every process running on a gamer's computer and sniffs a good deal of personal data</a>, including lots of activities which have nothing to do with cheating.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareInEquipment">Spyware in Connected Equipment</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInEquipment">#SpywareInEquipment</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201708280"> <p>The bad security in many Internet of Stings devices allows <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170828/08152938092/iot-devices-provide-comcast-wonderful-new-opportunity-to-spy-you.shtml">ISPs to snoop on the people that use them</a>.</p> <p>Don't be a sucker—reject all the stings.</p> <p>It is unfortunate that the article uses the term <a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Monetize">“monetize”</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInTVSets">TV Sets</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInTVSets">#SpywareInTVSets</a>)</span> </div> <p>Emo Phillips made a joke: The other day a woman came up to me and said, “Didn't I see you on television?” I said, “I don't know. You can't see out the other way.” Evidently that was before Amazon “smart” TVs.</p> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201901070"> <p>Vizio TVs <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit-vizio-tv-bill-baxter-interview-vergecast-ces-2019"> collect “whatever the TV sees,”</a> in the own words of the company's CTO, and this data is sold to third parties. This is in return for “better service” (meaning more intrusive ads?) and slightly lower retail prices.</p> <p>What is supposed to make this spying acceptable, according to him, is that it is opt-in in newer models. But since the Vizio software is nonfree, we don't know what is actually happening behind the scenes, and there is no guarantee that all future updates will leave the settings unchanged.</p> <p>If you already own a Vizio smart TV (or any smart TV, for that matter), the easiest way to make sure it isn't spying on you is to disconnect it from the Internet, and use a terrestrial antenna instead. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Another option, if you are technically oriented, is to get your own router (which can be an old computer running completely free software), and set up a firewall to block connections to Vizio's servers. Or, as a last resort, you can replace your TV with another model.</p> </li> <li id="M201804010"> <p>Some “Smart” TVs automatically <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180405014828/https:/twitter.com/buro9/status/980349887006076928"> load downgrades that install a surveillance app</a>.</p> <p>We link to the article for the facts it presents. It is too bad that the article finishes by advocating the moral weakness of surrendering to Netflix. The Netflix app <a href="/proprietary/malware-google.html#netflix-app-geolocation-drm">is malware too</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201702060"> <p>Vizio “smart” <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2017/02/what-vizio-was-doing-behind-tv-screen">TVs report everything that is viewed on them, and not just broadcasts and cable</a>. Even if the image is coming from the user's own computer, the TV reports what it is. The existence of a way to disable the surveillance, even if it were not hidden as it was in these TVs, does not legitimize the surveillance.</p> </li> <li id="M201511130"> <p>Some web and TV advertisements play inaudible sounds to be picked up by proprietary malware running on other devices in range so as to determine that they are nearby. Once your Internet devices are paired with your TV, advertisers can correlate ads with Web activity, and other <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/beware-of-ads-that-use-inaudible-sound-to-link-your-phone-tv-tablet-and-pc/"> cross-device tracking</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201511060"> <p>Vizio goes a step further than other TV manufacturers in spying on their users: their <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/own-a-vizio-smart-tv-its-watching-you"> “smart” TVs analyze your viewing habits in detail and link them your IP address</a> so that advertisers can track you across devices.</p> <p>It is possible to turn this off, but having it enabled by default is an injustice already.</p> </li> <li id="M201511020"> <p>Tivo's alliance with Viacom adds 2.3 million households to the 600 millions social media profiles the company already monitors. Tivo customers are unaware they're being watched by advertisers. By combining TV viewing information with online social media participation, Tivo can now <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/viacom-tivo-idUSL1N12U1VV20151102"> correlate TV advertisement with online purchases</a>, exposing all users to new combined surveillance by default.</p> </li> <li id="M201507240"> <p>Vizio “smart” TVs recognize and <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/24/vizio-ipo-inscape-acr/">track what people are watching</a>, even if it isn't a TV channel.</p> </li> <li id="M201505290"> <p>Verizon cable TV <a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/05/verizon-fios-reps-know-what-tv-channels-you-watch/"> snoops on what programs people watch, and even what they wanted to record</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201504300"> <p>Vizio <a href="http://boingboing.net/2015/04/30/telescreen-watch-vizio-adds-s.html"> used a firmware “upgrade” to make its TVs snoop on what users watch</a>. The TVs did not do that when first sold.</p> </li> <li id="M201502090"> <p>The Samsung “Smart” TV <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/02/who-s-the-third-party-that-samsung-and-lg-smart-tvs-are-sharing-your-voice-data-with/index.htm"> transmits users' voice on the internet to another company, Nuance</a>. Nuance can save it and would then have to give it to the US or some other government.</p> <p>Speech recognition is not to be trusted unless it is done by free software in your own computer.</p> <p>In its privacy policy, Samsung explicitly confirms that <a href="http://theweek.com/speedreads/538379/samsung-warns-customers-not-discuss-personal-information-front-smart-tvs">voice data containing sensitive information will be transmitted to third parties</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201411090"> <p>The Amazon “Smart” TV is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2014/nov/09/amazon-echo-smart-tv-watching-listening-surveillance"> snooping all the time</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201409290"> <p>More or less all “smart” TVs <a href="http://www.myce.com/news/reseachers-all-smart-tvs-spy-on-you-sony-monitors-all-channel-switches-72851/">spy on their users</a>.</p> <p>The report was as of 2014, but we don't expect this has got better.</p> <p>This shows that laws requiring products to get users' formal consent before collecting personal data are totally inadequate. And what happens if a user declines consent? Probably the TV will say, “Without your consent to tracking, the TV will not work.”</p> <p>Proper laws would say that TVs are not allowed to report what the user watches—no exceptions!</p> </li> <li id="M201405200"> <p>Spyware in LG “smart” TVs <a href="http://doctorbeet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html"> reports what the user watches, and the switch to turn this off has no effect</a>. (The fact that the transmission reports a 404 error really means nothing; the server could save that data anyway.)</p> <p>Even worse, it <a href="http://rambles.renney.me/2013/11/lg-tv-logging-filenames-from-network-folders/"> snoops on other devices on the user's local network</a>.</p> <p>LG later said it had installed a patch to stop this, but any product could spy this way.</p> <p>Meanwhile, LG TVs <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140511/17430627199/lg-will-take-smart-out-your-smart-tv-if-you-dont-agree-to-share-your-viewing-search-data-with-third-parties.shtml"> do lots of spying anyway</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201212170"> <p id="break-security-smarttv"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2249303/Hackers-penetrate-home-Crack-Samsungs-Smart-TV-allows-attacker-seize-control-microphone-cameras.html"> Crackers found a way to break security on a “smart” TV</a> and use its camera to watch the people who are watching TV.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInCameras">Cameras</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInCameras">#SpywareInCameras</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201901100"> <p>Amazon Ring “security” devices <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/10/ring-gave-employees-access-customer-video-feeds/"> send the video they capture to Amazon servers</a>, which save it long-term.</p> <p>In many cases, the video shows everyone that comes near, or merely passes by, the user's front door.</p> <p>The article focuses on how Ring used to let individual employees look at the videos freely. It appears Amazon has tried to prevent that secondary abuse, but the primary abuse—that Amazon gets the video—Amazon expects society to surrender to.</p> </li> <li id="M201810300"> <p>Nearly all “home security cameras” <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/d-link-camera-poses-data-security-risk--consumer-reports-finds/"> give the manufacturer an unencrypted copy of everything they see</a>. “Home insecurity camera” would be a better name!</p> <p>When Consumer Reports tested them, it suggested that these manufacturers promise not to look at what's in the videos. That's not security for your home. Security means making sure they don't get to see through your camera.</p> </li> <li id="M201603220"> <p>Over 70 brands of network-connected surveillance cameras have <a href="http://www.kerneronsec.com/2016/02/remote-code-execution-in-cctv-dvrs-of.html"> security bugs that allow anyone to watch through them</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201511250"> <p>The Nest Cam “smart” camera is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34922712">always watching</a>, even when the “owner” switches it “off.”</p> <p>A “smart” device means the manufacturer is using it to outsmart you.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInToys">Toys</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInToys">#SpywareInToys</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201711244"> <p>The Furby Connect has a <a href="https://www.contextis.com/blog/dont-feed-them-after-midnight-reverse-engineering-the-furby-connect"> universal back door</a>. If the product as shipped doesn't act as a listening device, remote changes to the code could surely convert it into one.</p> </li> <li id="M201711100"> <p>A remote-control sex toy was found to make <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/10/16634442/lovense-sex-toy-spy-survei">audio recordings of the conversation between two users</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201703140"> <p>A computerized vibrator <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/10/vibrator-phone-app-we-vibe-4-plus-bluetooth-hack"> was snooping on its users through the proprietary control app</a>.</p> <p>The app was reporting the temperature of the vibrator minute by minute (thus, indirectly, whether it was surrounded by a person's body), as well as the vibration frequency.</p> <p>Note the totally inadequate proposed response: a labeling standard with which manufacturers would make statements about their renters</a>.</p> products, rather than free software which users could have checked and changed.</p> <p>The company that made the vibrator <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/14/wevibe-sex-toy-data-collection-chicago-lawsuit"> was sued for collecting lots of personal information about how people used it</a>.</p> <p>The company's statement that it was anonymizing the data may be true, but it doesn't really matter. If it had sold the data to a data broker, the data broker would have been able to figure out who the user was.</p> <p>Following this lawsuit, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/14/we-vibe-vibrator-tracking-users-sexual-habits"> the company has been ordered to pay a total of C$4m</a> to its customers.</p> </li> <li id="M201702280"> <p>“CloudPets” toys with microphones <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/28/cloudpets-data-breach-leaks-details-of-500000-children-and-adults"> leak childrens' conversations to the manufacturer</a>. Guess what? <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pgwean/internet-of-things-teddy-bear-leaked-2-million-parent-and-kids-message-recordings"> Crackers found a way to access the data</a> collected by the manufacturer's snooping.</p> <p>That the manufacturer and the FBI could listen to these conversations was unacceptable by itself.</p> </li> <li id="M201612060"> <p>The “smart” toys My Friend Cayla and i-Que transmit <a href="https://www.forbrukerradet.no/siste-nytt/connected-toys-violate-consumer-laws">children's conversations to Nuance Communications</a>, a speech recognition company based in the U.S.</p> <p>Those toys also contain major security vulnerabilities; crackers can remotely control the toys with a mobile phone. This would enable crackers to listen in on a child's speech, and even speak into the toys themselves.</p> </li> <li id="M201502180"> <p>Barbie <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/wi-fi-spy-barbie-records-childrens-5177673">is going to spy on children and adults</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInTVSets">Spyware in TV Sets</h4> id="SpywareInDrones">Drones</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInTVSets">#SpywareInTVSets</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInDrones">#SpywareInDrones</a>)</span> </div> <p>Emo Phillips <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201708040"> <p>While you're using a DJI drone to snoop on other people, DJI is in many cases <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/4/16095244/us-army-stop-using-dji-drones-cybersecurity">snooping on you</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareAtHome">Other Appliances</h4><span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareAtHome">#SpywareAtHome</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201905061"> <p>Amazon Alexa collects a lot more information from users than is necessary for correct functioning (time, location, recordings made without a joke: The legitimate prompt), and sends it to Amazon's servers, which store it indefinitely. Even worse, Amazon forwards it to third-party companies. Thus, even if users request deletion of their data from Amazon's servers, <a href="https://www.ctpost.com/business/article/Alexa-has-been-eavesdropping-on-you-this-whole-13822095.php"> the data remain on other day servers</a>, where they can be accessed by advertising companies and government agencies. In other words, deleting the collected information doesn't cancel the wrong of collecting it.</p> <p>Data collected by devices such as the Nest thermostat, the Philips Hue-connected lights, the Chamberlain MyQ garage opener and the Sonos speakers are likewise stored longer than necessary on the servers the devices are tethered to. Moreover, they are made available to Alexa. As a woman came up result, Amazon has a very precise picture of users' life at home, not only in the present, but in the past (and, who knows, in the future too?)</p> </li> <li id="M201904240"> <p>Some of users' commands to me the Alexa service are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/alexa-is-someone-else-listening-to-us-sometimes-someone-is-20190411-p51d4g.html"> recorded for Amazon employees to listen to</a>. The Google and said, “Didn't I see Apple voice assistants do similar things.</p> <p>A fraction of the Alexa service staff even has access to <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/amazon-s-alexa-reviewers-can-access-customers-home-addresses-1.1248788"> location and other personal data</a>.</p> <p>Since the client program is nonfree, and data processing is done “<a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#CloudComputing">in the cloud</a>” (a soothing way of saying “We won't tell you how and where it's done”), users have no way to know what happens to the recordings unless human eavesdroppers <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/three-cheers-for-amazon-s-human-eavesdroppers-1.1243033"> break their non-disclosure agreements</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201902080"> <p>The HP <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/02/08/inkjet-dystopias.html"> “ink subscription” cartridges have DRM that constantly communicates with HP servers</a> to make sure the user is still paying for the subscription, and hasn't printed more pages than were paid for.</p> <p>Even though the ink subscription program may be cheaper in some specific cases, it spies on television?” I said, “I don't know. You can't see out users, and involves totally unacceptable restrictions in the other way.” Evidently use of ink cartridges that was before would otherwise be in working order.</p> </li> <li id="M201808120"> <p>Crackers found a way to break the security of an Amazon “smart” TVs.</p> <ul> <li><p>More or less all “smart” TVs device, and <a href=" http://www.myce.com/news/reseachers-all-smart-tvs-spy-on-you-sony-monitors-all-channel-switches-72851/">spy on their users</a>.</p> <p>The report href="https://boingboing.net/2018/08/12/alexa-bob-carol.html"> turn it into a listening device</a> for them.</p> <p>It was as of 2014, but we don't expect this has got better.</p> <p>This shows that laws requiring products very difficult for them to get users' formal consent before collecting personal data are totally inadequate. do this. The job would be much easier for Amazon. And what happens if a user declines consent? Probably some government such as China or the TV will say, “Without your consent US told Amazon to tracking, do this, or cease to sell the TV will not work.”</p> <p>Proper laws product in that country, do you think Amazon would have the moral fiber to say that TVs no?</p> <p>These crackers are not allowed probably hackers too, but please <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html"> don't use “hacking” to report what the user watches — no exceptions!</p> mean “breaking security”</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Vizio goes <li id="M201804140"> <p>A medical insurance company <a href="https://wolfstreet.com/2018/04/14/our-dental-insurance-sent-us-free-internet-connected-toothbrushes-and-this-is-what-happened-next"> offers a step further than other TV manufacturers gratis electronic toothbrush that snoops on its user by sending usage data back over the Internet</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201706204"> <p>Lots of “smart” products are designed <a href="http://enews.cnet.com/ct/42931641:shoPz52LN:m:1:1509237774:B54C9619E39F7247C0D58117DD1C7E96:r:27417204357610908031812337994022">to listen to everyone in the house, all the time</a>.</p> <p>Today's technological practice does not include any way of making a device that can obey your voice commands without potentially spying on you. Even if it is air-gapped, it could be saving up records about you for later examination.</p> </li> <li id="M201407170"> <p id="nest-thermometers">Nest thermometers send <a href="http://bgr.com/2014/07/17/google-nest-jailbreak-hack">a lot of data about the user</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201310260"> <p><a href="http://consumerman.com/Rent-to-own%20giant%20accused%20of%20spying%20on%20its%20customers.htm"> Rent-to-own computers were programmed to spy on their users: their renters</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareOnWearables">Wearables</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareOnWearables">#SpywareOnWearables</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201807260"> <p>Tommy Hilfiger clothing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/jul/26/tommy-hilfiger-new-clothing-line-monitor-customers">will monitor how often people wear it</a>.</p> <p>This will teach the sheeple to find it normal that companies monitor every aspect of what they do.</p> </li> </ul> <h5 id="SpywareOnSmartWatches">“Smart” Watches</h5> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201603020"> <p>A very cheap “smart watch” comes with an Android app <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/own-a-vizio-smart-tv-its-watching-you"> “smart” TVs analyze your viewing habits in detail and link them your IP address</a> so href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/02/chinese_backdoor_found_in_ebays_popular_cheap_smart_watch/"> that advertisers can track you across devices.</p> <p>It is possible connects to turn an unidentified site in China</a>.</p> <p>The article says this off, is a back door, but having that could be a misunderstanding. However, it enabled by default is an injustice already.</p> certainly surveillance, at least.</p> </li> <li><p>Tivo's alliance with Viacom adds 2.3 million households to the 600 millions social media profiles the company already monitors. Tivo customers are unaware they're being watched by advertisers. By combining TV viewing information with online social media participation, Tivo can now <li id="M201407090"> <p>An LG “smart” watch is designed <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/viacom-tivo-idUSL1N12U1VV20151102">correlate TV advertisement with online purchases</a>, exposing all users href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/09/lg-kizon-smart-watch_n_5570234.html"> to new combined surveillance by default.</p></li> <li><p>Some web and TV advertisements play inaudible sounds report its location to be picked up by proprietary malware running on other devices in range so as someone else and to determine that they are nearby. Once your Internet devices are paired with your TV, advertisers can correlate ads with Web activity, transmit conversations too</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInVehicles">Vehicles</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInVehicles">#SpywareInVehicles</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201903290"> <p>Tesla cars collect lots of personal data, and other <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/beware-of-ads-that-use-inaudible-sound-to-link-your-phone-tv-tablet-and-pc/">cross-device tracking</a>.</p> href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/29/tesla-model-3-keeps-data-like-crash-videos-location-phone-contacts.html"> when they go to a junkyard the driver's personal data goes with them</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Vizio “smart” TVs recognize and <li id="M201902011"> <p>The FordPass Connect feature of some Ford vehicles has <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/24/vizio-ipo-inscape-acr/">track what people are watching</a>, href="https://www.myfordpass.com/content/ford_com/fp_app/en_us/termsprivacy.html"> near-complete access to the internal car network</a>. It is constantly connected to the cellular phone network and sends Ford a lot of data, including car location. This feature operates even if when the ignition key is removed, and users report that they can't disable it.</p> <p>If you own one of these cars, have you succeeded in breaking the connectivity by disconnecting the cellular modem, or wrapping the antenna in aluminum foil?</p> </li> <li id="M201811300"> <p>In China, it isn't is mandatory for electric cars to be equipped with a TV channel.</p> </li> <li><p>The Amazon “Smart” TV terminal that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2014/nov/09/amazon-echo-smart-tv-watching-listening-surveillance">is watching and listening all href="https://www.apnews.com/4a749a4211904784826b45e812cff4ca"> transfers technical data, including car location, to a government-run platform</a>. In practice, <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html#car-spying"> manufacturers collect this data</a> as part of their own spying, then forward it to the time</a>.</p> government-run platform.</p> </li> <li><p>The Samsung “Smart” TV <li id="M201810230"> <p>GM <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/02/who-s-the-third-party-that-samsung-and-lg-smart-tvs-are-sharing-your-voice-data-with/index.htm">transmits users' voice on href="https://boingboing.net/2018/10/23/dont-touch-that-dial.html"> tracked the internet to another company, Nuance</a>. Nuance can save choices of radio programs</a> in its “connected” cars, minute by minute.</p> <p>GM did not get users' consent, but it and would then could have to give got that easily by sneaking it to into the US or contract that users sign for some other government.</p> <p>Speech recognition digital service or other. A requirement for consent is not effectively no protection.</p> <p>The cars can also collect lots of other data: listening to you, watching you, following your movements, tracking passengers' cell phones. <em>All</em> such data collection should be trusted unless it forbidden.</p> <p>But if you really want to be safe, we must make sure the car's hardware cannot collect any of that data, or that the software is done by free software in so we know it won't collect any of that data.</p> </li> <li id="M201711230"> <p>AI-powered driving apps can <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43nz9p/ai-powered-driving-apps-can-track-your-every-move"> track your own computer.</p> every move</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201607160"> <p id="car-spying">Computerized cars with nonfree software are <a href="http://www.thelowdownblog.com/2016/07/your-cars-been-studying-you-closely-and.html"> snooping devices</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Spyware <li id="M201602240"> <p id="nissan-modem">The Nissan Leaf has a built-in cell phone modem which allows effectively anyone to <a href="https://www.troyhunt.com/controlling-vehicle-features-of-nissan/"> access its computers remotely and make changes in various settings</a>.</p> <p>That's easy to do because the system has no authentication when accessed through the modem. However, even if it asked for authentication, you couldn't be confident that Nissan has no access. The software in the car is proprietary, <a href="http://doctorbeet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html"> LG “smart” TVs</a> reports what href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">which means it demands blind faith from its users</a>.</p> <p>Even if no one connects to the user watches, and car remotely, the cell phone modem enables the switch phone company to turn this off has no effect. (The fact that the transmission reports a 404 error really means nothing; track the server could save that data anyway.)</p> <p>Even worse, it <a href="http://rambles.renney.me/2013/11/lg-tv-logging-filenames-from-network-folders/"> snoops on other devices on car's movements all the user's local network.</a></p> <p>LG later said time; it had installed a patch is possible to stop this, but any product could spy this way.</p> <p>Meanwhile, LG TVs <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140511/17430627199/lg-will-take-smart-out-your-smart-tv-if-you-dont-agree-to-share-your-viewing-search-data-with-third-parties.shtml"> do lots of spying anyway</a>.</p> physically remove the cell phone modem, though.</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/05/verizon-fios-reps-know-what-tv-channels-you-watch/">Verizon cable TV snoops on what programs people watch, and even what they wanted <li id="M201306140"> <p>Tesla cars allow the company to record.</a></p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareAtPlay --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareAtPlay">Spyware extract data remotely and determine the car's location at Play</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareAtPlay">#SpywareAtPlay</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul> <li><p>Many <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/12/29/how-much-data-are-video-games-collecting-about-you.html/"> video game consoles snoop on their users any time. (See Section 2, paragraphs b and report c of the <a href="http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/tmi_privacy_statement_external_6-14-2013_v2.pdf"> privacy statement</a>.) The company says it doesn't store this information, but if the state orders it to get the internet</a>— even what their users weigh.</p> <p>A game console is a computer, data and you can't trust a computer with a nonfree operating system.</p> hand it over, the state can store it.</p> </li> <li><p>Modern gratis game cr…apps <li id="M201303250"> <p id="records-drivers">Proprietary software in cars <a href="http://toucharcade.com/2015/09/16/we-own-you-confessions-of-a-free-to-play-producer/"> collect a wide range of data href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/03/24/car-spying-edr-data-privacy/1991751/"> records information about their users and their users' friends drivers' movements</a>, which is made available to car manufacturers, insurance companies, and associates</a>.</p> <p>Even nastier, they do it through ad networks that merge others.</p> <p>The case of toll-collection systems, mentioned in this article, is not really a matter of proprietary surveillance. These systems are an intolerable invasion of privacy, and should be replaced with anonymous payment systems, but the data collected invasion isn't done by various cr…apps and sites made malware. The other cases mentioned are done by different companies.</p> <p>They use this data to manipulate people to buy things, and hunt for “whales” who can be led to spend a lot of money. They also use a back door to manipulate proprietary malware in the game play car.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInVR">Virtual Reality</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInVR">#SpywareInVR</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201612230"> <p>VR equipment, measuring every slight motion, creates the potential for specific players.</p> <p>While the article describes gratis games, games that cost money most intimate surveillance ever. All it takes to make this potential real <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/23/virtual-reality-allows-the-most-detailed-intimate-digital-surveillance-yet/">is software as malicious as many other programs listed in this page</a>.</p> <p>You can use bet Facebook will implement the same tactics.</p> maximum possible surveillance on Oculus Rift devices. The moral is, never trust a VR system with nonfree software in it.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareOnTheWeb --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareOnTheWeb">Spyware on the Web</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareOnTheWeb">#SpywareOnTheWeb</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <p>In addition, many web sites spy on their visitors. Web sites are not programs, so it <a href="/philosophy/network-services-arent-free-or-nonfree.html"> makes no sense to call them “free” or “proprietary”</a>, but the surveillance is an abuse all the same.</p> <ul> <li><p>Online <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201904210"> <p>As of April 2019, it is <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/major-browsers-to-prevent-disabling-of-click-tracking-privacy-risk/">no longer possible to disable an unscrupulous tracking anti-feature</a> that <a href="https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/links.html#hyperlink-auditing">reports users when they follow ping links</a> in Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge and also in the upcoming Microsoft Edge that going to be based on Chromium.</p> </li> <li id="M201901101"> <p>Until 2015, any tweet that listed a geographical tag <a href="http://web-old.archive.org/web/20190115233002/https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-location-data-gps-privacy/"> sent the precise GPS location to Twitter's server</a>. It still contains these GPS locations.</p> </li> <li id="M201805170"> <p>The Storyful program <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/17/revealed-how-storyful-uses-tool-monitor-what-journalists-watch">spies on the reporters that use it</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201701060"> <p>When a page uses Disqus for comments, the proprietary Disqus software <a href="https://blog.dantup.com/2017/01/visiting-a-site-that-uses-disqus-comments-when-not-logged-in-sends-the-url-to-facebook">loads a Facebook software package into the browser of every anonymous visitor to the page, and makes the page's URL available to Facebook</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201612064"> <p>Online sales, with tracking and surveillance of customers, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/06/cookie-monsters-why-your-browsing-history-could-mean-rip-off-prices">enables businesses to show different people different prices</a>. Most of the tracking is done by recording interactions with servers, but proprietary software contributes.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://japandailypress.com/government-warns-agencies-against-using-chinas-baidu-application-after-data-transmissions-discovered-2741553/"> Baidu's Japanese-input and Chinese-input apps spy on users.</a></p> </li> <li><p>Pages that contain “Like” buttons <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebooks-privacy-lie-aussie-exposes-tracking-as-new-patent-uncovered-20111004-1l61i.html"> enable Facebook to track visitors to those pages</a>—even users that don't have Facebook accounts.</p> <li id="M201405140"> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190421070310/https://www.itproportal.com/2014/05/14/microsoft-openly-offered-cloud-data-fbi-and-nsa/"> Microsoft SkyDrive allows the NSA to directly examine users' data</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Many <li id="M201210240"> <p>Many web sites rat their visitors to advertising networks that track users. Of the top 1000 web sites, <a href="https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/bclt/research/privacy-at-bclt/web-privacy-census/">84% (as of 5/17/2012) fed their visitors third-party cookies, allowing other sites to track them</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Many <li id="M201208210"> <p>Many web sites report all their visitors to Google by using the Google Analytics service, which <a href="http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/434164/google_analytics_breaks_norwegian_privacy_laws_local_agency_said/"> tells Google the IP address and the page that was visited.</a></p> visited</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Many <li id="M201200000"> <p>Many web sites try to collect users' address books (the user's list of other people's phone numbers or email addresses). This violates the privacy of those other people.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://www.itproportal.com/2014/05/14/microsoft-openly-offered-cloud-data-fbi-and-nsa/"> Microsoft SkyDrive allows the NSA <li id="M201110040"> <p>Pages that contain “Like” buttons <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/facebooks-privacy-lie-aussie-exposes-tracking-as-new-patent-uncovered-20111004-1l61i.html"> enable Facebook to directly examine users' data</a>.</p> track visitors to those pages</a>—even users that don't have Facebook accounts.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- WEBMASTERS: make sure to place new items on top under each subsection --> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInChrome">Spyware in Chrome</h4> id="SpywareInJavaScript">JavaScript</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInChrome">#SpywareInChrome</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInJavaScript">#SpywareInJavaScript</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>Google Chrome makes it easy <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201811270"> <p>Many web sites use JavaScript code <a href="http://gizmodo.com/before-you-hit-submit-this-company-has-already-logge-1795906081"> to snoop on information that users have typed into a form but not sent</a>, in order to learn their identity. Some are <a href="https://www.manatt.com/Insights/Newsletters/Advertising-Law/Sites-Illegally-Tracked-Consumers-New-Suits-Allege"> getting sued</a> for an extension this.</p> <p>The chat facilities of some customer services use the same sort of malware to do <a href="https://labs.detectify.com/2015/07/28/how-i-disabled-your-chrome-security-extensions/">total snooping href="https://gizmodo.com/be-warned-customer-service-agents-can-see-what-youre-t-1830688119"> read what the user is typing before it is posted</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201807190"> <p>British Airways used <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/19/17591732/british-airways-gdpr-compliance-twitter-personal-data-security">nonfree JavaScript on its web site to give other companies personal data on its customers</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201712300"> <p>Some JavaScript malware <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/30/16829804/browser-password-manager-adthink-princeton-research"> swipes usernames from browser-based password managers</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201711150"> <p>Some websites send JavaScript code to collect all the user's browsing</a>, and many of them do so.</p> input, <a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/11/15/no-boundaries-exfiltration-of-personal-data-by-session-replay-scripts/">which can then be used to reproduce the whole session</a>.</p> <p>If you use LibreJS, it will block that malicious JavaScript code.</p> </li> </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInFlash">Spyware in Flash</h4> id="SpywareInFlash">Flash</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInFlash">#SpywareInFlash</a>)</span> </div> <ul> <li><p>Flash <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201310110"> <p>Flash and JavaScript are used for <a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/10/top-sites-and-maybe-the-nsa-track-users-with-device-fingerprinting/"> “fingerprinting” devices</a> to identify users.</p> </li> <li id="M201003010"> <p>Flash Player's <a href="http://www.imasuper.com/66/technology/flash-cookies-the-silent-privacy-killer/"> cookie feature helps web sites track visitors</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Flash is also used </ul> <div class="big-subsection"> <h4 id="SpywareInChrome">Chrome</h4> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInChrome">#SpywareInChrome</a>)</span> </div> <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201704131"> <p>Low-priced Chromebooks for schools are <a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/10/top-sites-and-maybe-the-nsa-track-users-with-device-fingerprinting/"> “fingerprinting” devices </a> href="https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy"> collecting far more data on students than is necessary, and store it indefinitely</a>. Parents and students complain about the lack of transparency on the part of both the educational services and the schools, the difficulty of opting out of these services, and the lack of proper privacy policies, among other things.</p> <p>But complaining is not sufficient. Parents, students and teachers should realize that the software Google uses to identify users.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a href="/philosophy/javascript-trap.html">Javascript code</a> spy on students is nonfree, so they can't verify what it really does. The only remedy is to persuade school officials to <a href="/education/edu-schools.html"> exclusively use free software</a> for both education and school administration. If the school is run locally, parents and teachers can mandate their representatives at the School Board to refuse the budget unless the school initiates a switch to free software. If education is another method of “fingerprinting” devices.</p> <!-- #SpywareEverywhere --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareEverywhere">Spyware Everywhere</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareEverywhere">#SpywareEverywhere</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul> <li><p>The natural extension of monitoring people run nation-wide, they need to persuade legislators (e.g., through “their” phones is <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2016/01/fool-activity-tracker.html"> proprietary free software organizations, political parties, etc.) to make sure they can't “fool” migrate the monitoring</a>.</p> </li> <li><p><a href="http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/134954-cortana-is-always-listening-with-new-wake-on-voice-tech-even-when-windows-10-is-sleeping"> Intel devices will be able public schools to listen free software.</p> </li> <li id="M201507280"> <p>Google Chrome makes it easy for speech all an extension to do <a href="https://labs.detectify.com/2015/07/28/how-i-disabled-your-chrome-security-extensions/">total snooping on the time, even when “off.”</a></p> user's browsing</a>, and many of them do so.</p> </li> <li id="M201506180"> <p>Google Chrome includes a module that <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2015/06/google-chrome-listening-in-to-your-room-shows-the-importance-of-privacy-defense-in-depth/"> activates microphones and transmits audio to its servers</a>.</p> </li> <li id="M201308040"> <p>Google Chrome <a href="https://www.brad-x.com/2013/08/04/google-chrome-is-spyware/"> spies on browser history, affiliations</a>, and other installed software.</p> </li> <li id="M200809060"> <p>Google Chrome contains a key logger that <a href="http://www.favbrowser.com/google-chrome-spyware-confirmed/"> sends Google every URL typed in</a>, one key at a time.</p> </li> </ul> <!-- #SpywareInVR --> <div class="big-section"> <h3 id="SpywareInVR">Spyware In VR</h3> id="SpywareInNetworks">Spyware in Networks</h3> <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a href="#SpywareInVR">#SpywareInVR</a>)</span> href="#SpywareInNetworks">#SpywareInNetworks</a>)</span> </div> <div style="clear: left;"></div> <ul> <li><p>VR equipment, measuring every slight motion, creates the potential <ul class="blurbs"> <li id="M201902040"> <p>Google invites people to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/04/google-screenwise-unwise-trade-all-your-privacy-cash?cd-origin=rss"> let Google monitor their phone use, and all internet use in their homes, for an extravagant payment of $20</a>.</p> <p>This is not a malicious functionality of a program with some other purpose; this is the software's sole purpose, and Google says so. But Google says it in a way that encourages most intimate surveillance ever. All people to ignore the details. That, we believe, makes it takes fitting to make this potential real list here.</p> </li> <li id="M201606030"> <p>Investigation Shows <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/23/virtual-reality-allows-the-most-detailed-intimate-digital-surveillance-yet/">is software as malicious as many other programs listed in this page</a>.</p> <p>You href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160602/17210734610/investigation-shows-gchq-using-us-companies-nsa-to-route-around-domestic-surveillance-restrictions.shtml">GCHQ Using US Companies, NSA To Route Around Domestic Surveillance Restrictions</a>.</p> <p>Specifically, it can bet Facebook will implement collect the maximum possible surveillance on Oculus Rift devices. The moral is, never trust a VR system with nonfree software in it.</p> emails of members of Parliament this way, because they pass it through Microsoft.</p> </li> <li id="M201212290"> <p>The Cisco TNP IP phones are <a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/12/29/your-cisco-phone-is-listening.html"> spying devices</a>.</p> </li> </ul> </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> <div id="footer"> <div class="unprintable"> <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, replace it with the translation of these two: We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of our web pages, see <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a>. --> Please see the <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations of this article.</p> </div> <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the document was modified, or published. If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> <p>Copyright © 2015, 2016, 2017 2017, 2018, 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p> <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p> <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> <p class="unprintable">Updated: <!-- timestamp start --> $Date: 2019/06/16 14:59:50 $ <!-- timestamp end --> </p> </div> </div> </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> </body> </html>
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