That's sadly not really surprising. Of course they want access to your data, so they can continue to market new crap to you. I could make a comment about "serves you right for listening to something as bad as a Jay-Z album," but... oh wait I just did. ~Luke
On Thursday, September 26, 2013 10:47:27 AM UTC-4, cwpreston wrote: > > Get a brand new MacBook Air starting at $756: > <http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/> Apple Price Guides > updated Sept 26th (Get the lowest prices > anywhere)<http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/> > [image: AppleInsider] <http://appleinsider.com> > > - Home <http://appleinsider.com> > - Reviews <http://appleinsider.com/reviews/> > - Backpage <http://appleinsider.com/backpage/> > - Price Guides <http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/> > - New Macs <http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/> > - Macs with > AppleCare<http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/#applecare> > - Previous Macs<http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/previous_gen> > - iPads <http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/#ipad> > - Apple Wireless > Devices<http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/wireless> > - Bid on New & Used Apple Products<http://appleinsider.com/auctions/> > - Follow Us <http://appleinsider.com/appleinsider.rss> > - Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/appleinsider/> > - Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/AppleInsider/135590163123753> > - Google+ <http://plus.google.com/u/0/105631121714924037011/posts> > - RSS Feeds & Qrius <http://appleinsider.com/rss/> > - iPhone App <http://appleinsider.com/apps/iphone> > - Tip Us <http://appleinsider.com/submit_story/> > - Send us a tip <http://appleinsider.com/submit_story/> > - tip us anonymously <http://appleinsider.com/anonymous_mailer/> > - Contact us by e-mail <http://appleinsider.com/contact/> > - Forums <http://forums.appleinsider.com> > - > - > - AAPL: 487.21 ( +5.68 ) > - > > > - *Review: * Apple's iPhone 5s running iOS 7 > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/in-depth-review-apples-iphone-5s-running-ios-7><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/in-depth-review-apples-iphone-5s-running-ios-7> > - *iMac: * New update adds Haswell, 802.11ac Wi-Fi & faster graphics > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/apple-updates-imac-with-haswell-cpus-80211ac-wi-fi-nvidia-geforce-700-series-graphics><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/apple-updates-imac-with-haswell-cpus-80211ac-wi-fi-nvidia-geforce-700-series-graphics> > - *Record launch: * iPhone 5s & 5c sales reach 9 million in 3 > days<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/23/apple-announces-sales-of-9-million-iphone-5s-5c-units-in-first-3-days><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/23/apple-announces-sales-of-9-million-iphone-5s-5c-units-in-first-3-days> > - *Out now: * Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/20/apples-iphone-5s-and-5c-draw-massive-crowds-on-launch-day><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/20/apples-iphone-5s-and-5c-draw-massive-crowds-on-launch-day> > - *Now available: * iOS 7 with new look, Control Center, iTunes > Radio<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/18/apple-releases-redesigned-ios-7-for-iphone-ipad-with-control-center-airdrop-itunes-radio-more><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/18/apple-releases-redesigned-ios-7-for-iphone-ipad-with-control-center-airdrop-itunes-radio-more> > - *Feature: * Inside Apple's two latest iPhones > > <http://appleinsider.com/topic/Inside+2013+iPhones><http://appleinsider.com/topic/Inside+2013+iPhones> > - *Future products: * 'iPad 5' & 'iPad mini 2' coming this > fall<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/04/next-gen-ipad-and-ipad-mini-on-track-for-q4-release-low-cost-ipad-mini-coming-in-2014><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/04/next-gen-ipad-and-ipad-mini-on-track-for-q4-release-low-cost-ipad-mini-coming-in-2014> > - *Exclusive: * Get the lowest prices anywhere on dozens of > MacBooks<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/06/16/deals-dozens-of-new-macbook-air-and-macbook-pro-retina-configs-at-lowest-prices-anywhere><http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/06/16/deals-dozens-of-new-macbook-air-and-macbook-pro-retina-configs-at-lowest-prices-anywhere> > > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/in-depth-review-apples-iphone-5s-running-ios-7> > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/24/apple-updates-imac-with-haswell-cpus-80211ac-wi-fi-nvidia-geforce-700-series-graphics> > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/23/apple-announces-sales-of-9-million-iphone-5s-5c-units-in-first-3-days> > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/20/apples-iphone-5s-and-5c-draw-massive-crowds-on-launch-day> > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/18/apple-releases-redesigned-ios-7-for-iphone-ipad-with-control-center-airdrop-itunes-radio-more> > <http://appleinsider.com/topic/Inside+2013+iPhones> > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/04/next-gen-ipad-and-ipad-mini-on-track-for-q4-release-low-cost-ipad-mini-coming-in-2014> > > <http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/06/16/deals-dozens-of-new-macbook-air-and-macbook-pro-retina-configs-at-lowest-prices-anywhere> > Never miss an update *Follow AppleInsider<http://twitter.com/appleinsider> > * > [image: RSS] <http://appleinsider.com/appleinsider.rss> > > – <#[email protected]_> > A <#[email protected]_> > + <#[email protected]_> > > > Friday, July 05, 2013, 10:21 am PT (01:21 pm ET) > Samsung's "free" Jay Z album delivered via Android spyware app > > By Daniel Eran Dilger <http://twitter.com/danieleran> > In a promotion for its Galaxy phones, Samsung announced it would deliver a > million free copies of Brooklyn rapper Jay Z's new album days before its > official release. But it did so using a spyware Android app designed to > track your location and harvest phone numbers you call, your device ID and > which apps you use. > > [image: Jay Z Samsung app] > > Source: Google Play > > Samsung's free Android mobile app "JAY Z Magna Carta" only works with > select models, specifically the new Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note > II. But as *New York Times* music critic Jon Pareles > wrote<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/arts/music/jay-z-is-watching-and-he-knows-your-friends.html>, > > "It’s an ugly piece of software." > > "It’s an ugly piece of software."Samsung paid $5 million for the early > distribution rights of the "Magna Carta Holy Grail" album, which ironically > comes from an artist with lyrics that are "indignant about phone > surveillance and bribing witnesses," Pareles stated. > > The singer's 2010 track "Jay’s Back ASAP" complained, "They tap, them feds > don’t play fair/They pay rats to say that they’re part of your operation." > > Samsung-style Free and Open > > Taking advantage of Google's "Trojan Horse" Android security model, the > Samsung app simply demands access to a broad range of rights on the user's > phone before allowing installation, even though all it really does is play > back the album. It does not add the songs to a user's music library. > > This includes tracking users' "precise GPS location." The app permissions > page is so unnecessarily invasive that fellow rapper Killer Mike tweeted in > response, "I read this and… 'Naw I'm cool.'" > > > > > Unlike Apple's iOS, installed Android apps don't have to alert the user or > ask for permission when they want to track the GPS location or access > contacts or social network accounts, and there's actually provisions for > apps to access users' phone call information and running apps. iOS is an > app platform, not an ad platform. > > Free love, NSA > > Pareles added, "it demands permissions, including reading the phone’s > status and identity." On Android, this includes obtaining a unique device > ID that can be used by advertisers like a web cookie (but not eased by the > user), but also includes collecting the user's phone number, tracking when > the phone is in use on a call, and even "the remote number connected by a > call." > > In contrast, Apple has been incrementally working to increase users' > privacy on iOS, warning developers in 2011 that they needed to stop relying > upon iOS users' Unique User IDs because they would no longer be available. > iOS 6 removed UUID > access<http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/03/25/apple_begins_blanket_rejections_of_apps_that_access_udids>, > > effectively terminating OS-wide user tracking by ad networks. > > In place of UUID, Apple's iOS 6 turned the tables to introduce an > "Advertising > Identifier<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/25/apple-reportedly-rejecting-cookie-tracking-apps-in-push-for-its-ad-identifier>," > > which serves as "a non-permanent, non-personal device identifier, that > advertising networks will use to give you more control over advertisers' > ability to use tracking methods." > > I will tell your friends you love us > > Samsung's new app "also gathers 'accounts,' the e-mail addresses and > social-media user names connected to the phone," Pareles added. "When > installed, it demanded a working log in to Facebook or Twitter and > permission to post on the account." > > In order to "unlock" lyrics within the app, users must tweet out a promo > for each song on the album they want to read. > > "It’s telling that Jay-Z — who boasts regularly about his millions of > sales — and Samsung didn’t simply trust fans to post or tweet on their > own," Pareles wrote. > > Additionally, the app also demands permission to "retrieve running apps," > which means it can "discover information about which applications are used > on the device," another feature Google supports as a common permission on > Android apps. > > Why Samsung's "free" album app would need to track the GPS location, phone > numbers, phone calls, social accounts and installed apps on users' phones > is questionable enough, but even more interesting is that Android supports > and enforces such invasive "app distributor's rights." > > Fed-style surveillance on your open platform > > "On some level, Jay-Z knows better. A streak of paranoia has been running > through his lyrics for years," Pareles wrote, citing a line from “Somewhere > in America” that says, “Feds still lurking/They see I’m still putting work > in.” > > "Yet now, it’s Jay-Z who’s lurking — in my phone," he added. "Another > song, 'Nickels and Dimes,' insists, 'The greatest form of giving is > anonymous to anonymous.' For the gift of the album, fans aren’t anonymous > to Jay-Z now. He’s another data miner, gathering more than half a million > e-mail and social-media accounts. Maybe he should send us an apology." > > The app's rollout wasn't without flaw either, Pareles noted. "The app > didn’t deliver my album for more than hour after it was supposed to be > available. Jay-Z’s sponsors at Samsung proved themselves not only > intrusive, but technically inept." > > With official Samsung Android apps like these, who needs malware authors? > > Earlier this week, Bluebox Labs noted a security > flaw<http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/07/03/security-flaw-opens-all-modern-android-devices-to-zombie-botnet-takeover>that > can enable anyone to surreptitiously replace a vendors' trusted > installed apps with a rogue version that the Android OS can't identify as > corrupted, therefore gaining widespread access to spy on the user. > > However, given Samsung's first party spyware tool disguised as a free > album, users don't have to worry about rogue malware developers snooping on > their activities, calls, apps and location. They're already being exploited > by their phone's maker and the operating system it runs, which are > optimized for data collection and remote monitoring. > Tags: > > - Google <http://appleinsider.com/topic/Google> > - Samsung <http://appleinsider.com/topic/Samsung> > - Android <http://appleinsider.com/topic/Android> > > Jump to comments > (81)<#[email protected]_comments> > Categories: > > - iOS <http://appleinsider.com/category/iOS> > > <iframe name="fb_xdm_frame_https" frameborder="0" > allowtransparency="true" scrolling="no" id="fb_xdm_frame_https" > aria-hidden="true" title="Facebook Cross Domain Communication Frame" > tab-index="-1" style="border: none; " src=" > https://s-static.ak.facebook.com/connect/xd_arbiter.php?version=27#channel=f2271e2c4&channel_path=%2Farticles%2F13%2F07%2F05%2Fsamsungs-free-jay- > ... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
