61 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
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# When Talking About Mobile Tracking, Don't Veil Bad Actors With Blanket Statements
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It's difficult to have useful conversations about mobile tracking when
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someone says "your phone / mobile device tracks you";
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such statements don't often lead to constructive conversation because they
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are too vague and therefore easily dismissed as sensationalism or
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paranoia.
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And they are all too often without substance because,
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while users do have legitimate concerns,
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they aren't necessarily aware of the specific problems contributing to
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those concerns.
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A mobile device is nothing more than a small computer that you carry around
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with you.
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The networks that you connect to can spy on you---your
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cellular network, bluetooth, wifi, etc.
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To help mitigate these threats,
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you can disable those communications until you are in a safe place that
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you don't mind others knowing about.
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We can only have confidence that these connections have been disabled by
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physical means,
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like a hardware switch or a bag that acts like a Faraday cage.
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[iOS deceives users][ios-deceive] when they ask to disable those communications
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for example.
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The software running on your device often spies on you:
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the operating system itself often spies;
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the apps you install often spy.
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This is the fault of the individual _authors_---_they_
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are the problem.
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Consider using free/libre software that empowers you and serves _you_ rather
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than its creators;
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it's much harder to hide secrets in free software.
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On Android,
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consider using only free software available in [F-Droid][].
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We also need fully free mobile operating systems,
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like [Replicant][] and hopefully Purism's Librem 5 that is still under
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development.
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Don't be fooled into thinking the Android on most phones is free
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software---only
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its core (AOSP) is.
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Call out those that do harm---don't
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veil and protect them using statements like "your phone tracks you".
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Talk about the specific issues.
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Demand change and have the courage to reject them entirely.
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This involves inconvenience and sacrifice.
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But if we're strong now,
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then in the near future perhaps we won't have to make any sacrifices,
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much like the fully free GNU/Linux system desktops we have today.
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Fore more information on tracking,
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see my [LibrePlanet 2017 and 2018 talks](/talks) "The Surreptitious Assault on Privacy,
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Security, and Freedom" and "The Ethics Void", respectively.
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[F-Droid]: https://f-droid.org
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[ios-deceive]: https://web.archive.org/web/20170922011748/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208086
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[Replicant]: https://replicant.us
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