Sony's better than the used to be about proprietary crap, but they're still not great. I'm glad that their camcorders use standard SD cards in addition to Memory Stick now, though mostly because I got one as a gift.
Blackphone (no relation to BlackBerry) is a new encrypted smartphone that supposedly protects its users from hackers, governments, the whole gamut.
Yes and no. I've been following Blackphone for a while and even its creators say it's not fool-proof. It can't protect you if you do something stupid like install Malware App 2014 and give said app full permission to do what it wants. It also can't protect you if the government really, really wants to snoop on you in particular. However, it does make it harder for them to snoop on you -- especially when it comes to bulk snooping (there really is no real defense against targeted snooping by a determined enough adversary with enough resources). It also requires you to use the various Silent Circle encrypted communication apps to get the full benefit (it comes with a 2 year subscription at no extra charge and 3 one year "friends and family" subscriptions, again, at no extra charge). That said, even if you don't use the Silent Circle apps, the privacy and security controls of their Android fork are certainly much more granular and powerful than those offered by the stock version of the OS. It also doesn't come with any sort of biometric scanner, which is another plus in my book.
I'm actually thinking about getting one of these when the time comes to upgrade my smart phone. I'm happy with my iPhone 4s, but I absolutely refuse to get any phone with any sort of fingerprint scanner or any other biometrics. If it means I get the lower-cost iPhone derivative when I buy a new one, so be it. If, however, all of Apple's iPhones come with fingerprint scanner, I'm ditching Apple.
Yeah, there are loads of security measures on every device, but not every person has to use all of them. Or, to look at it another way, there are loads of security shortcuts available for those who want more ease of use, but not everyone has to use all of them.
Why so opposed to fingerprint scanners? You can simply not use them.
The possibility of them being backdoored and slurping my fingerprints up to some entity who I'd prefer didn't have them. Yes, it's a bit of a tin foil hat thing here, but I want to minimize my exposure profile as much as possible.
Alternatively, I could just cover the sensor up with black electrical tape, but it's more the principle of the thing...
And yes, I know, the camera, the microphone, etc., could also be backdoored. Nothing's perfect, but I do want to minimize exposure, as I said. Plus, I've had some run-ins with cops with bad attitudes in the past, which is another reason why I'd want to minimize exposure.
Heck, I'm borderline considering ditching the smartphone and going back to a feature phone at this point.
Wow. I didn't think people like you even still existed. You do realize that level of paranoia is unhealthy, right? The next step will be to get rid of all technology and sweep for microphones in your home every time you enter. It's just crazy.
Wow. I didn't think people like you even still existed. You do realize that level of paranoia is unhealthy, right? The next step will be to get rid of all technology and sweep for microphones in your home every time you enter. It's just crazy.
Given what's been coming out about the NSA and other government institutions over the last year, I think dismissing Lou's thinking as paranoia is going out of fashion.
I mean, you can argue that privacy doesn't matter much, and I'd probably agree with you, but the lack of privacy is being rather badly abused right now and that IS a pretty important issue.
It doesn't help when companies like Apple have massive security holes in their software but never tell anyone. More so when the hole has been around for over a year and links up almost conspiratorially with the government's assertion that they have zero difficulty spying on iPhone traffic.
I think the fact is that the revelations about Apple web security being broken is what plays into my very point.
There are so many multitudes of ways and methods for anyone to get any data about you at all, that the only way to live in the real world is to accept that. Finger prints? Do you wipe your prints off every glass you drink from? THAT is what you must do if you are concerned about anyone getting your prints.
Being suspicious of any single technology is pointless. You have to admit that you live in a statistical universe. You are faaaaaar more likely to be harmed in person, or just with straight credit card fraud, than any wishy washy conspiracy involving finger prints.
Fair enough. That's more or less the way I look at things, and why I'm a comfortable and happy Gmail/ Google Drive / Android / etc customer.
It's a funny sort of frog boiling transition, though, from "you're a conspiracy nut, none of this stuff is happening" to "you're a paranoid nut, ALL of that stuff is happening to such a degree that it's moot!" :-)
That's why I said "borderline." I'm not quite going to go that far... It's more of a "fleeting thought" thing that crops up every so often before I shake my head and say, "okay, now you're being too paranoid."
However, there are also various legal issues involving fingerprint IDs and smartphones and such that I'd rather not have any way of getting my fingerprint, intentionally or unintentionally, on my smartphone. If you're going to want my prints, then yeah, go ahead and track down a glass I've drunk from. At least that takes some real-world effort (and probably a proper search warrant) to track down said glass.
Finally, I know the statistics are saying I'm more likely to be hit by a car or have my credit card stolen (hell, it happened to me once before) then to have my fingerprints taken for nefarious purposes. However, if avoiding having my fingerprints stolen is as simple as not using a device that can steal them so long as I have a choice where I can still have all the functionality I actually care about, what's wrong with making that choice?
In all likelihood, I'll still own a smartphone when I choose to replace my 4s. It'll just be a smartphone without any sort of fingerprint capability. I'm sure someone will still make them.
The only way to get finger print data from your iPhone is to steal or otherwise acquire your iPhone and then use usual and old techniques to lift the print physically from the screen or other flat part. You know, exactly the same as taking the finger print from a glass. And then the only thing that finger print is good for is unlocking (or other "security" feature on) the same iPhone.
Meanwhile, every time I enter the USA my photo is taken, along with all my finger prints and both my thumb prints. Do I trust the USA immigration servers are more secure than a single chip inside my iPhone? The question isn't even worth asking.
And you know what, if my iPhone is stolen or otherwise physically taken from me, then yeah, you're right, I'm screwed.
As far as said finger print only being good for unlocking the phone or other security features on said phone, well, two things.
First, the fact that it can be used to unlock anything on the phone is a huge, huge problem. The Fifth Amendment protects you from being compelled to provide a passcode/password/PIN/etc., but it doesn't protect you from being compelled to provide your finger print to unlock the phone or any apps on said phone. Given that you can disable the finger print unlock for the phone itself, this is somewhat mitigated. However, if the idea of finger print readers becomes ubiquitous on smartphones, I can see the potential problem of finger print readers being the only way to unlock the phone. As I've stated earlier, I've been harassed by borderline corrupt cops in the past who were just itching for something to bust me on (I'll share the story if anyone's curious). The last thing I want to do is let them have access to my smartphone and potentially find some juicy tidbits of information there that I may have thought harmless but that they could use against me.
Second, Apple's finger print ID security really hasn't been vetted by any legitimate security organizations/researchers/etc. It all comes down to "trust us, we're Apple, we know what we're doing." Even ruling out malice, the whole "goto fail" fiasco shows that Apple doesn't necessarily know what the hell they're doing when it comes to security. That's also ignoring the possibility of insertion of malware or hardware snooping devices (far fetched, I know, unless you're already a high profile target -- in which case you're already fucked anyway). Of course, if push comes to shove, there is always the black electrical tape method of blocking the silly thing (at least until if/when you have no choice but to use it).
I'll give you that it's quite possible that the USA's immigration server security is also lax. I also think it's bullshit that they take your photo and finger prints.
Anyway, I'm just about trying to keep my privacy up as much as possible. I'm willing to make that trade-off in some areas. Being able to phone someone and always having a camera handy but with the risk that the microphone and/or camera could be backdoored is an acceptable trade-off to me. Having additional biometric information that could slurped off without my knowledge or consent is just too much for me to stomach.
Given what's been coming out about the NSA and other government institutions over the last year, I think dismissing Lou's thinking as paranoia is going out of fashion.
Not really. I had people saying the same thing when I dismissed the Xbone spying on people silliness, and people said "Oh, but the NSA have a deal with Microsoft! You can't dismiss this!" - Uh, yeah, I can, because it doesn't matter if they have a deal with the fucking purple people eater, your conspiracy theory makes no sense. Then, the Xbox One is released, lo and behold - literally nothing they said came true.
So now, of course, the prevailing theory is that they were going to do what the crazier people thought they were going to do, but public outcry stopped them - but that's not the point. The point is that prevailing circumstances like the NSA basically buying and harvesting their data by the pound, doesn't make every data-slurping theory true. The theory itself still has to make actual sense, and have things like motives, opportunity, risk assessment, and so on backing it rather than the opposite.
I don't think Lou is talking about any specific plot or theory but just a general aversion to having his data collected.
I mean, as others have already said, good fucking luck with that, but that doesn't make it an invalid concern.
Rym's point is a good one, but fingerprints aren't the only issue for someone worried about how easily the government can put together a profile on them.
Right now we have people being paid our tax dollars to go on places like reddit and actively destroy the reputations of political activists, mouthy bloggers, and so on. It's scary shit, and the ability to just reach into your digital existence and pull out your weak spots certainly enables it.
You know how the TSA makes people who are truly afraid of terrorism feel safe? You know how that is really stupid because the TSA is just an illusion of security, and terrorism is extremely unlikely?
Well, all the tin-foil hat nonsense is the same has having a TSA for your life. You are doing things that make your life less convenient. These things you do provide no actual protection from any harms. The harms you are trying to avoid are ridiculously unlikely to ever happen to you, just like terrorism.
If you somehow become the target of law enforcement or government agencies, you are fucked. If they want your day, or your life, to be hell, it will be hell. Having or not having a fingerprint reader on a smartphone will not make one iota of difference. Removing that fingerprint scanner from your phone is exactly the same as adding the bullshit x-ray machines at the airports.
The root problem is irrational paranoid fears. They are minor fears, and not extreme paranoid delusions that require immediate professional help. But they are still the problem. Don't suffer with a shittier smartphone because some part of your brain is irrational. Enjoy life with a kickass smartphone, and get rid of the fear instead. You have nothing to fear, but fear itself, right?!
Agreed that modification of one's life resulting in inconvenience and hassle isn't worth it, but it's still valid to be worried about all of the abuses (which I'm sure you agree with anyway.) Like I think you're saying, I wouldn't take it to the point of making myself miserable (or even significantly less comfortable) in day to day life. I can compartmentalize my concern for the direction of our messed up society and government away from what cell phone I buy.
Again, it's about making acceptable trade-offs. For that matter, a fingerprint scanner does not make my life any more convenient either. If I can get just as good of a smartphone w/o a fingerprint scanner, then I'm golden. If I can only get smartphones with fingerprint scanners, then I'd be, let's just say, very annoyed. I'd argue that finger print scanners are also an illusion of security as they don't really make your phone that much more secure either. It's just a stupid, gimmicky feature, IMHO.
As I mentioned earlier, right now you can turn the scanner off and just use a password, so yeah, issues with unlocking under duress are moot. If that ever were to change, then things would be different.
And yes, I realize if anyone in the government wants to make my life hell, they pretty much can, fingerprint scanner or not. However, if they're going to make my life hell, I wouldn't want to make it any easier for them to do so, especially if there's no benefit to me by making things easier for them to do so.
Agreed that modification of one's life resulting in inconvenience and hassle isn't worth it, but it's still valid to be worried about all of the abuses (which I'm sure you agree with anyway.) Like I think you're saying, I wouldn't take it to the point of making myself miserable (or even significantly less comfortable) in day to day life. I can compartmentalize my concern for the direction of our messed up society and government away from what cell phone I buy.
Yes, it is a real thing. As I said, if law enforcement or government gets on your bad side for whatever reason, things will be bad for you. This has, does, and will always happen to many innocent people. It can happen to you.
But there is next to nothing you can do about it. It is a real possibility, but so is an asteroid slamming into earth killing us all. It could even land on your head.
There are many things that can make life very bad for you, but you have no control over whatsoever. You must simply accept these things. Worrying about something you can not control is a guaranteed way to result in a life of misery. Even if I could guarantee that one of these bad things would happen to you next week, you can not let yourself worry about it this week. You know you can't stop it. What's most important is to make the absolute most of the week you still have.
Again, it's about making acceptable trade-offs. For that matter, a fingerprint scanner does not make my life any more convenient either. If I can get just as good of a smartphone w/o a fingerprint scanner, then I'm golden. If I can only get smartphones with fingerprint scanners, then I'd be, let's just say, very annoyed. I'd argue that finger print scanners are also an illusion of security as they don't really make your phone that much more secure either. It's just a stupid, gimmicky feature, IMHO.
As I mentioned earlier, right now you can turn the scanner off and just use a password, so yeah, issues with unlocking under duress are moot. If that ever were to change, then things would be different.
And yes, I realize if anyone in the government wants to make my life hell, they pretty much can, fingerprint scanner or not. However, if they're going to make my life hell, I wouldn't want to make it any easier for them to do so, especially if there's no benefit to me by making things easier for them to do so.
It literally does not matter whether a cop can get into your phone and read your social media accounts and texts and so on or not. Unless you're running an illegal drug selling operation out of your smartphone, there's nothing in there that they need to make you any more miserable than they can already.
Considering that SCOTUS just ruled that police can conduct a warrentless search of your home after you say no by arresting you and removing you from the home so you can no longer object...
The race to the bottom is intractible and inevitable because the average American citizen has high speed internet to watch Vine compilations on Youtube and DOES NOT CARE.
Considering that SCOTUS just ruled that police can conduct a warrentless search of your home after you say no by arresting you and removing you from the home so you can no longer object...
Article about this case, please? Not that I don't believe you... it's just that it's scary and I want to get the details myself.
Found it... That's a bit of a grey area as they still got consent, albeit from a roommate and not the arrested party. If that person lived on his own, they couldn't just arrest him and walk in without a warrant, at least the way I read the story.
Found it... That's a bit of a grey area as they still got consent, albeit from a roommate and not the arrested party. If that person lived on his own, they couldn't just arrest him and walk in without a warrant, at least the way I read the story.
True but reading through analysis on scotusblog it appears that in this particular case the one who gave consent may have been pressured by the police to give consent. There are also issues with a previous case where the person who gave consent after the objector was removed did not in fact have standing to grant consent.
Previously in Georgia vs Randolph the court held that when there is more than one resident a single objection will block the search. There is also some weird logic in the majority opinion that Ginsberg pokes holes in about what a hassle it is for the cops to get a warrant.
Yeah, the complicating factor is that there are subtleties, such as who can give consent, whether someone was pressured by the police, etc. I can't say I agree with this, but I can somewhat see the logic to an extent. It's not completely egregious, but it's not something I like either.
Comments
I'm actually thinking about getting one of these when the time comes to upgrade my smart phone. I'm happy with my iPhone 4s, but I absolutely refuse to get any phone with any sort of fingerprint scanner or any other biometrics. If it means I get the lower-cost iPhone derivative when I buy a new one, so be it. If, however, all of Apple's iPhones come with fingerprint scanner, I'm ditching Apple.
Alternatively, I could just cover the sensor up with black electrical tape, but it's more the principle of the thing...
And yes, I know, the camera, the microphone, etc., could also be backdoored. Nothing's perfect, but I do want to minimize exposure, as I said. Plus, I've had some run-ins with cops with bad attitudes in the past, which is another reason why I'd want to minimize exposure.
Heck, I'm borderline considering ditching the smartphone and going back to a feature phone at this point.
I mean, you can argue that privacy doesn't matter much, and I'd probably agree with you, but the lack of privacy is being rather badly abused right now and that IS a pretty important issue.
There are so many multitudes of ways and methods for anyone to get any data about you at all, that the only way to live in the real world is to accept that. Finger prints? Do you wipe your prints off every glass you drink from? THAT is what you must do if you are concerned about anyone getting your prints.
Being suspicious of any single technology is pointless. You have to admit that you live in a statistical universe. You are faaaaaar more likely to be harmed in person, or just with straight credit card fraud, than any wishy washy conspiracy involving finger prints.
And I include the NSA activities in this too!
It's a funny sort of frog boiling transition, though, from "you're a conspiracy nut, none of this stuff is happening" to "you're a paranoid nut, ALL of that stuff is happening to such a degree that it's moot!" :-)
However, there are also various legal issues involving fingerprint IDs and smartphones and such that I'd rather not have any way of getting my fingerprint, intentionally or unintentionally, on my smartphone. If you're going to want my prints, then yeah, go ahead and track down a glass I've drunk from. At least that takes some real-world effort (and probably a proper search warrant) to track down said glass.
Finally, I know the statistics are saying I'm more likely to be hit by a car or have my credit card stolen (hell, it happened to me once before) then to have my fingerprints taken for nefarious purposes. However, if avoiding having my fingerprints stolen is as simple as not using a device that can steal them so long as I have a choice where I can still have all the functionality I actually care about, what's wrong with making that choice?
In all likelihood, I'll still own a smartphone when I choose to replace my 4s. It'll just be a smartphone without any sort of fingerprint capability. I'm sure someone will still make them.
Meanwhile, every time I enter the USA my photo is taken, along with all my finger prints and both my thumb prints. Do I trust the USA immigration servers are more secure than a single chip inside my iPhone? The question isn't even worth asking.
As far as said finger print only being good for unlocking the phone or other security features on said phone, well, two things.
First, the fact that it can be used to unlock anything on the phone is a huge, huge problem. The Fifth Amendment protects you from being compelled to provide a passcode/password/PIN/etc., but it doesn't protect you from being compelled to provide your finger print to unlock the phone or any apps on said phone. Given that you can disable the finger print unlock for the phone itself, this is somewhat mitigated. However, if the idea of finger print readers becomes ubiquitous on smartphones, I can see the potential problem of finger print readers being the only way to unlock the phone. As I've stated earlier, I've been harassed by borderline corrupt cops in the past who were just itching for something to bust me on (I'll share the story if anyone's curious). The last thing I want to do is let them have access to my smartphone and potentially find some juicy tidbits of information there that I may have thought harmless but that they could use against me.
Second, Apple's finger print ID security really hasn't been vetted by any legitimate security organizations/researchers/etc. It all comes down to "trust us, we're Apple, we know what we're doing." Even ruling out malice, the whole "goto fail" fiasco shows that Apple doesn't necessarily know what the hell they're doing when it comes to security. That's also ignoring the possibility of insertion of malware or hardware snooping devices (far fetched, I know, unless you're already a high profile target -- in which case you're already fucked anyway). Of course, if push comes to shove, there is always the black electrical tape method of blocking the silly thing (at least until if/when you have no choice but to use it).
I'll give you that it's quite possible that the USA's immigration server security is also lax. I also think it's bullshit that they take your photo and finger prints.
Anyway, I'm just about trying to keep my privacy up as much as possible. I'm willing to make that trade-off in some areas. Being able to phone someone and always having a camera handy but with the risk that the microphone and/or camera could be backdoored is an acceptable trade-off to me. Having additional biometric information that could slurped off without my knowledge or consent is just too much for me to stomach.
So now, of course, the prevailing theory is that they were going to do what the crazier people thought they were going to do, but public outcry stopped them - but that's not the point. The point is that prevailing circumstances like the NSA basically buying and harvesting their data by the pound, doesn't make every data-slurping theory true. The theory itself still has to make actual sense, and have things like motives, opportunity, risk assessment, and so on backing it rather than the opposite.
I mean, as others have already said, good fucking luck with that, but that doesn't make it an invalid concern.
Rym's point is a good one, but fingerprints aren't the only issue for someone worried about how easily the government can put together a profile on them.
Right now we have people being paid our tax dollars to go on places like reddit and actively destroy the reputations of political activists, mouthy bloggers, and so on. It's scary shit, and the ability to just reach into your digital existence and pull out your weak spots certainly enables it.
Well, all the tin-foil hat nonsense is the same has having a TSA for your life. You are doing things that make your life less convenient. These things you do provide no actual protection from any harms. The harms you are trying to avoid are ridiculously unlikely to ever happen to you, just like terrorism.
If you somehow become the target of law enforcement or government agencies, you are fucked. If they want your day, or your life, to be hell, it will be hell. Having or not having a fingerprint reader on a smartphone will not make one iota of difference. Removing that fingerprint scanner from your phone is exactly the same as adding the bullshit x-ray machines at the airports.
The root problem is irrational paranoid fears. They are minor fears, and not extreme paranoid delusions that require immediate professional help. But they are still the problem. Don't suffer with a shittier smartphone because some part of your brain is irrational. Enjoy life with a kickass smartphone, and get rid of the fear instead. You have nothing to fear, but fear itself, right?!
As I mentioned earlier, right now you can turn the scanner off and just use a password, so yeah, issues with unlocking under duress are moot. If that ever were to change, then things would be different.
And yes, I realize if anyone in the government wants to make my life hell, they pretty much can, fingerprint scanner or not. However, if they're going to make my life hell, I wouldn't want to make it any easier for them to do so, especially if there's no benefit to me by making things easier for them to do so.
But there is next to nothing you can do about it. It is a real possibility, but so is an asteroid slamming into earth killing us all. It could even land on your head.
There are many things that can make life very bad for you, but you have no control over whatsoever. You must simply accept these things. Worrying about something you can not control is a guaranteed way to result in a life of misery. Even if I could guarantee that one of these bad things would happen to you next week, you can not let yourself worry about it this week. You know you can't stop it. What's most important is to make the absolute most of the week you still have.
Previously in Georgia vs Randolph the court held that when there is more than one resident a single objection will block the search. There is also some weird logic in the majority opinion that Ginsberg pokes holes in about what a hassle it is for the cops to get a warrant.