zlacker

>>ridicu+(OP)
Truthfully... Yes. Many other apps and services do as well. Careful what you give camera and mic permissions to, and always read the privacy agreements, especially for FAANG. If you don't think Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft are watching/listening (with and without the light indicators), think again.

>>scrum-+V2
Now this is the type of FUD I'd expect from my aunt.

>>Commit+v5
Don't write off what you're hearing from your aunt as "FUD". What she's saying is a poor technical understanding of the very real overarching dynamic.

I've tried many times to explain to people things like that GPS satellites do not track you, and there are things you can do with your own phone which drastically cut down on tracking. There's no interest, no understanding that I'm simultaneously sharing their concerns while trying to tell them that they aren't powerless. They just think surveillance is a foregone conclusion, and then distance themselves and rationalize it any number of ways, and then share their nutty mechanism-of-action condemnations as a way of advertising their political tribe.

>>mindsl+pa
Tell me you have a way of proving that they're not listening to you all the time through your phone. I don't, the average person certainly doesn't. But it's certainly physically possible, not like I can prove these permissions controls do what they say in my phone, and every couples of months out comes some news about how you car was tracking you all these years.

>>kelips+Qd
I can tell you that I have a pretty good idea that the application software and operating system on my phone isn't listening to me all the time. I have a pretty good idea that the permissions controls (capabilities) do what they say. This is because I run libre Graphene OS on my phone, rather than a proprietary Android.

(I cannot prove that the baseband chipset/software is betraying me by listening all the time. The point is you have to dig through most of the layers of avoidable surveillance to focus on the real technical flaws)

> every couples of months out comes some news about how you car was tracking you all these years.

Please try not to take this too personally, but this is the effect I'm talking about where it feels like all this complexity gets bundled into learned helplessness. Does your car have a cell modem? It so, "it is" tracking your location - meaning the cell provider(s) are obtaining your location, and most likely selling it to the surveillance industry, in addition to whatever your car manufacturer is doing. If you want to be assured that it's not, remove the cell modem or buy an older car without built in surveillance.

(I'm certainly not putting forth self-help options as a substitute for needed overarching privacy legislation like the EU's GDPR. They're both independent topics worthy of discussion)