Many of you have probably already read the news:
Apple, Google Receive Phone Users' Locations
I must say, they're doing it to a degree beyond what most of us may have assumed was taking place.
How can we stop this? Do we know if cooked ROMs also do it?
Update 4/25/2011 5:00PM ET:
- Here's how I stop Android from phoning home.
- I dont' use this, but here's a sweet google removal script.
- A seperate thread for discussion: Why the data Android sends to Google is less anonymous than Apple's implementation
Update 4/26/2011 9:25PM ET:
- [Q] How do we protect our Android device from the CelleBrite UFED?
Update 6/8/2011 5:24PM ET:
- Use Autostarts to stop apps from opening behind your back!
Its not that they care where you are personally, you're more of an anonomous statistic to them. They use these huge mountains of collected data to decide which markets are the most potentially lucrative fir them to invest their zillions of dollars of advertising and marketing money into. You and I will likely never be directly affected by our locations being disclosed, save for more accurate search suggestions from our google search widgets.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I'll ask again to try and keep this thread on topic. Anyone who wants to discuss why the companies do it is free to start another thread and discuss that there.
How can we stop this? Do we know if cooked ROMs also do it?
Droidwall...
I was so mad when I heard what they were doing, I wanted to throw my phone out the window. How is it even legal for them to do this, regardless of where its anonymous or not its still bs and I want that crap off my phone. I am a newb to the whole android and software thing and I wish I could help.
There out to find your house and steal your prized poodle. Honestly if its for marketing then it what it is. Honestly if you want to get mad at something, get mad at T-Mobile for throttling 4G speeds. I see what your saying but I would like them putting the right ads for my area and know quickest way to the quickie-e-mart.
Also we are using their OS.
Every other OS is monitored also.
Sent from my UD Glacier
What's with the useless comments defending these companies?
Can anyone answer the question - DO cooked ROMs also track your location?
According to this article, Android tracks the last 50 mobile masts and last 200 WiFi networks.
This is a problem, anyone have the solution?
I found this comment on one of the articles, does this explain it?
All mobile phones keep a record of the locations and unique IDs of the most recent mobile masts that it has communicated with. It's called the neighbour cell list and normally it enables the phone to connect to the network more quickly than it otherwise would. GSM mobile phones have done this since about 1992.
To see the benefits storing the neighbour cell list compare the time it takes a mobile to find a network after it is switched on in a new location, e.g., after a long flight, with the time it takes to find a network when the phone is switched on in the location where it was switched off.
The difference in the iPhone case is that the iPhone is keeping this information for such a long period of time.
Click to expand...
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wrapper said:
I found this comment on one of the articles, does this explain it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is about the iPhone storing, not about a device sending GPS location data day and night.
So far, the only mentioned potential solution is Droidwall.
I'm going to play around with that.
There's a related app named HiSurfing, but one reviewer says that does not work as well as DroidWall. Seems DroidWall does a better job of keeping things from slipping out when they've been blocked.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
So far, the only mentioned potential solution is Droidwall.
I'm going to play around with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only viable option I can see to block is "10052: Network Location, Google Calendar Sync, Google Services Framework, Google Contacts Sync."
Problem is, I use some of these.
I have ultimate juice defender it has a section in it where you can control how and when apps connect to the network, but I don't know if it will stop the Droid from phoning home.
wrapper said:
The only viable option I can see to block is "10052: Network Location, Google Calendar Sync, Google Services Framework, Google Contacts Sync."
Problem is, I use some of these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, it uses a different listing number on my device, but "Network Location, Google Calendar Sync, Google Services Framework, Google Contacts Sync" may be the one to disable to stop the device from phoning home. I sync my data locally (via MyPhoneExplorer), so I can't think of any personal need for those, I've disabled that from all network and WiFi connectivity.
I've done some testing (blocking an app I could test with) and the firewall continues to work even after exiting DroidWall and even after killing DroidWall with a task killer. That's good to see so it won't be any burden on the battery.
I'm not any expert that can test for "certain" whether my device has really stopped phoning Google with my location data, but this seems to be the best shot for now.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
I've done some testing (blocking an app I could test with) and the firewall continues to work even after exiting DroidWall and even after killing DroidWall with a task killer. That's good to see so it won't be any burden on the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because DroidWall is just an interface for iptables, the built-in firewall. So your battery life will not change at all, that's correct.
I'm not any expert that can test for "certain" whether my device has really stopped phoning Google with my location data, but this seems to be the best shot for now.
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You could connect to your wireless network, run a sniffer like Wireshark on your PC and check whether any packets are transmitted to Google servers.
frosty_ice said:
You could connect to your wireless network, run a sniffer like Wireshark on your PC and check whether any packets are transmitted to Google servers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or turn on my router's logging and check there, yea either of those would work.
Not sure if/when I'll get around to it .
droidhell said:
I have ultimate juice defender it has a section in it where you can control how and when apps connect to the network, but I don't know if it will stop the Droid from phoning home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that seems like the best app if it works, any way to verify?
slapshot136 said:
that seems like the best app if it works, any way to verify?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm new to Droid, I really don't know how to test and see, it does stop other app really well, as far as a OS I don't know.
From what i here it's all stored in a location history file.
One simple solution might be to routinely delete this file.
Doesn't exactly solve the problem.
Might we consider expanding the subject to protecting our privacy? If not, I apologize in advance, as I think it is all connected.
It is probably Darnell's call, as he started the thread.
In the meantime, please consider this article: http://bit.ly/gCynrh
So let me understand this. I buy access to a network for my phone, which I also paid for. My location information, which is the result of my purchases is being used to generate income. So I'm allowing my spent cash to generate data and be leveraged to generate income. My information wouldn't exist with out my investment in the technology, so I own it.
I'm paying to be stalked !!!
Reduce my bill, provide remuneration for my investment in this technology, prove that it's anonymous, remember since I paid for the means to generate the data- the data belongs to me.
BTW for $1.50 I'll wire the battery to switch off, try getting data then.
I'd rather have an app which monitors my relevant info and bills the users for access to it.
So on most public/free wifi hotspots nowadays, there is some kinda of HTTP auth page that comes up when you try to visit a website. Personally, I find that VERY annoying. I would like to know if there is an app of any kind that would allow automatic bypass of these auth pages, and/or remember login processes for them. I understand preprogrammed auth methods would be difficult, think of every single hotspot or hotspot provider. Maybe one that just remembers the auth process (isn't mainly just simple get/post commands, nothing special?) would be more likely to find. If you know of one, please share it! Thank you!
EDIT: Mod, I forgot to add the question prefix to the title, could you do that for me?
a_p3rson said:
So on most public/free wifi hotspots nowadays, there is some kinda of HTTP auth page that comes up when you try to visit a website. Personally, I find that VERY annoying. I would like to know if there is an app of any kind that would allow automatic bypass of these auth pages, and/or remember login processes for them. I understand preprogrammed auth methods would be difficult, think of every single hotspot or hotspot provider. Maybe one that just remembers the auth process (isn't mainly just simple get/post commands, nothing special?) would be more likely to find. If you know of one, please share it! Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an app on google play, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.uk.syslynx.wifiwebloginapp . It's a paid app, but it works excellent.
If you want to learn, you may look for another similar open source app, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bobarctor.Rm3Wifi , the problem is that this app is only for a university, not for every auth page, but the source is here: http://code.google.com/p/rm3wifiauthentication/ , so it's possible to use it as the base of another similar app
Has anyone tried "WIFI AUTO-LOGON" ?
I installed the bit torrent app. Is there an app like peer block which i use on my pc, so i can download torrents more safely?
I am in no way supporting any software of the such, but here :
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...qf.&fp=215a8248afbd2d8&ion=1&biw=1777&bih=872
There is no virus a torrent might contain that will mess with an android phone
if youre worried about downloading "free paid apps" from a torrent that may harm your phone...download at your own risk and dont expect an answer
but like i said ..you can download an AV on the Play store but viruses that harm your computer wont work on an android phone
so its pointless
Nah. I didn't think i'd have to spell it out....
i was lead to believe that downloading a torrent could lead to some kind of tracker. A peer block program will safeguard against that happening.
Does that make sense to anyone
ARTAQaf said:
Nah. I didn't think i'd have to spell it out....
i was lead to believe that downloading a torrent could lead to some kind of tracker. A peer block program will safeguard against that happening.
Does that make sense to anyone
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Click to collapse
Ive never heard of that to be honest..
only thing ive heard or seen is the air push ads but there is apps to black that
also if youre really concerned, check what permissions the apps ask for when downloading from market
i use torrents to "preview" music and havent had any kind of problem to this day
ARTAQaf said:
Nah. I didn't think i'd have to spell it out....
i was lead to believe that downloading a torrent could lead to some kind of tracker. A peer block program will safeguard against that happening.
Does that make sense to anyone
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Click to collapse
I assume that you're taking about downloading a movie and not wanting the MPAA seeing your ip from the trackers, yes?
AFAIK there isn't anything like that. Something you could try, this is just theory btw, would be to add the list of ip addys to the hosts file the same way the ad blocking apps use. It would stop you from connecting to them, however they might still be able to see your addy from the swarm tracker information.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
admittedly i am a relative noob about internets stuff. but i'm 51% sure that what i'm saying is true. gotta be someone here in this techy forum who knows for a certainty though. and if it is true, idk how there can not be an app that can cover your tracks like Peer Block for PC does.
Using peerblock 1.1 on my PCs works just great i cannot live without it and also looking for something on my android... she is a bit paranoid.... Using LBE Security Master so i can filter out adverts and unwanted stuff...
Peerblock is there to protect you from Copyright holders, there is no additional benefit gained from blocking the IPs in the lists from accessing your tarffic. There is no need to discuss its use on these forums as XDA does not condone Warez. if you're worried about getting reported to MPAA, RIAA, or any other copyright holder for the ILLEGAL download of copyrighted materials look elsewhere or stick with your PC/Peerblock combination. There is no comparable app for android phones and the extent of the methods you would need to implement would be beyond a headache.
peer block is an application that collects lists of sites you dont want your device connecting to and blocking access.
it is not just used for piracy but for many other uses..
don't want your computer connecting to devices is a particular country or continent? peer block can block that.
don't want ads on your device..?? peerblock blocks the major and many minor sites that host ads
don't want software calling home ( for any reason) peek block can block that..
don't want your web browser connecting to Microsoft?? peer block can block that
don't want government or corporate agencies connecting to your computer? peer block can block that
don't want your ftp used by schools ? peerblock can block that
don't want your weather station used by fox? peer block can block that
its all about the lists..
the biggest issue with peer block ( and the main use of it) is that the lists get old (even a few hours can be a problem)
and someone you don't want to have access to your device gets it.. and your compromised..
i have not seen any app that gathers block lists and incorporates them into a firewall for your phone
adblock plus dose a similar thing but just for ads..
you could build a hosts file every day and do that...
but really peerblock is only about 75% effective if even that for blocking.
but 75% is better than nothing...
but don't do anything you don't want to come back to you.. on any Internet in your real name..
what is legal in some places is not legal in others, and the Internet is a world wide community
go irc, nntp and some others for privacy from corporate/goverment snooping and spying.
(I just checked and ad block allows custom lists from web sites so you COULD set it up to act just like peerblock if you can find the lists you need in compatible format)
Again not condoning the act of piracy, but if you don't want people to know your ip from a sense of security, you could use a vpn service. I use one at home because I don't want my isp tapping into my datastream which has been deemed legal to do without a warrant of a wiretap.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Hey guys, I've been seeking an alternate of Network Log (you can find it on Google Play Store) for quite a while but with no luck, so come out to ask if anyone knows one suitable for me .
I have to say Network Log is almost worthy for purchasing (although it is not a paid app), considering the job it's done in categorizing by protocols, by apps, displaying packets by size and time, graphing as a timeline, and that made it an excellent choice for analyzing apps consuming data and draining battery, but unfortunately the app owner doesn't respond to bug summit or emails.
The thing is, Network Log no longer works after Android 6.0, while others in the market relies on system-built-in VPN function to capture data, which is not suitbale for people like me in China using proxies to reach out to world .
So if anyone knows apps that can capture packets (not necessarily able to decrypt contents) and display by apps, just to make it easy to let me see the amounts and frequency Android apps uses the Internet, I‘ll be thankful that you recommend them to me (again it cannot be using Android VPN function since Shadowsocks is already using VPN, so I think the app maybe require root permission but I'm OK)
check...
will somebody know that???
my problem is that i have a non rooted phone with vpn always on and im searching for an app to activating ad block on it.
My fix for it would be to use an android wide proxy or a custom dns that overrides vpn dns.
as title said an root app or an app that provides vpn solution wouldnt be what im searching for. I had once an adblock app that routes traffic trough local proxy beside the vpn but cant find it anymore
Update: i found AdHell but its only for Samsung Devices with knox. Any other solutions?
HeathenMan said:
Update: i found AdHell but its only for Samsung Devices with knox. Any other solutions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any news on this one?
I wanna use protonVPN and adblcoker at same time
a bit of elbow grease to protect self from Privacy Raping
Some [open]vpn clients allow vpn side connection to Socks5. Some even allow toggle of LAN access from device. I am not claiming a finish product exists but perhaps this gives you some joy.
Perhaps your socks5 instance runs in Amazon AWS free tier. Maybe it runs locally on your android handset. Perhaps you run Privoxy itself on android. [@mod: privoxy is F/OSS older than this forum]. There are a few privoxy projects for android on github. Perhaps you pick their brain. It was that against which proxomitron competed [also F/OSS. Thank God for Scott Lemmon].
Using things in differing order you might search the article to which I may not link: Privoxy on Android (with EC2 VPN)
I wanted to bring the Amazon EC2-based Privoxy service to it, by way of a VPN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was no obvious way to contact the author who hasn't posted since 2016.
There is an OpenVPN service you can likely find the name of yourself offering *recently* an adblock toggle and AntiTracker toggle with a hardcode mode to protect you from predators like google and Fbook. It shouldn't be long before others emulate this functionality. It sports the vpn side socks5 option.
Or privoxy tunnel to remote [cloud (openvpn)]. See? Fun with permutations. Maybe from phone with ShadowSocks to cloud to vpn to web. "OpenVPN over shadowsocks". At this point look into sites helping Chinese dissidents.
You definitely then return here with your improvements to share.
The remaining question is how much is your time worth? Not much? Then search the web ad naseum for the 'ideal free' solution. Elsewise pony up some pennies for some cloud time as part of a solution.
Same question here !
And it seems that adhell is now only available for entreprise use
Wasn't AdGuard doing that?
yes you are right. it works with setting a private dns in the system settings with dns.adguard.com - no batterydrain - no more ads - no vpn - no root