[aklug] Re: OFFTOPIC (sort of) android and ATT samsung S4 Active. And a question.

On 07/31/2013 12:41 AM, Arthur Corliss wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Jul 2013, techno curmudgeon wrote:
>
>
>
> Let me get this straight: You're using a "smart" phone running Google's
> platform, and you're suspicious of the *carrier* ?! Really? It's
> okay that
> Chrome, under the pretense of "safe browsing" is logging and storing
> every
> page you view, and AT&T has the spyware? Really?? Google tracks your
> movements across the web on every site that uses a Google API,
> service, or
> web stats, and demands that you "opt out" of recording your history --
> never
> mind the leap of faith required to believe they actually delete that
> history
> -- and AT&T is the bad guy here? Really???
>
> Google, a company potentially more dangerous to the American pursuit of
> liberty than the NSA itself, gets a clean pass?
>
> Hell, if AT&T did surreptitiously record your activity at least you'd
> have
> some legal avenue to pursue since it was done without your
> acknowledgement
> and permission. Federal judges, however, are already on board with the
> concept that you have no expectations of privacy for any information you
> willingly share with a commercial entity, and that means Google has legal
> authority to abuse the crap out of you fanboys.
>
> I wasn't going to respond to this e-mail, but the hypocrisy and misplaced
> anger, man, it's just mind blowing.
>
> Disclaimer: yes, I work for AT&T. That said, I don't work for
> mobility and
> I have no knowledge, direct or otherwise, of any illegal shenanigans
> being
> perpetrated by AT&T. Feel free to dismiss the above as a mindless
> drone protecting his overlords. Or take the time to think about it.
>
> *All* commercial and government entities need to be watched like a
> hawk if
> you give a damn about liberty. That includes AT&T and that sure as hell
> includes Google.
>
> --Arthur Corliss
> Live Free or Die
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Now, tell us how you really feel. ;)

For my part, Amen to most of the above. I'm certainly not going to trust
Google, don't use their e-mail, apps, whatever; except for what my boss
forces me to use at work.

Nevertheless, it is a little hard to see curmudgeon's "hyprocrisy". The
source code for Android is out there, so you can know for yourself what
it does and doesn't do. Of course, your typical Android will be filled
with Google spyware and DRM junk... but curm's point was that, if you
can unlock the phone, at least you can install Cyanogen Mod and get a
phone that is pretty much completely under your control. So I'd be a
little ticked off as well if I found out that the "active" version of my
old phone completely locked me out.

(In my particular case, I'm too poor to own a smart phone. And I've
decided I'm never going to use a TracPhone so long as they have a
sticker on the outside of the box which states, "By opening this box,
you are agreeing to be bound by all of the terms inside of this box,
including an agreement never to tamper with your phone, unlock your
phone, or figure out how it works." Just saying.)
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Received on Wed Jul 31 20:38:00 2013