Forwarded from Du Rove's Channel
7 Reasons Every iPhone User Should Be Worried About the App Store’s 30% Tax
In the last few months, many prominent app developers voiced their disapproval of the App Store policies Apple imposes on all apps. Why should that concern you if you own an iPhone? Here are 7 reasons.
HIGHER PRICES. Apple’s 30% commission makes all apps and digital goods more expensive for you. It goes on top of the price you pay to developers for any services and games you buy on your phone. You pay more for every app, even though Apple already charged you a few hundred dollars more for your iPhone than it cost to make. In short, you keep paying even after you have paid.
CENSORSHIP. Some content in apps like Telegram is unavailable to you because Apple censors what is allowed on the App Store, which it fully controls to enforce the 30% tax. Apple even restricts us – app developers – from telling our users that certain content was hidden for iPhone users specifically at their request. Apple should realize how ridiculous their attempt to globally censor content looks: imagine a web browser deciding which websites you are allowed to view.
LACK OF PRIVACY. In order to install an app from the App Store, you must first create an Apple account and log in using it. After that, every single app you download and every push notification you receive is tied to your account, making you an easier target to track. Since the main reason you have to use an Apple account to download an iPhone app is Apple’s desire to enforce their 30% commission, the cost of their greed also includes your private data.
DELAYS IN APP UPDATES. You get new versions of your apps several days or weeks after they are actually ready, because Apple’s review team is notoriously inefficient and often delays approval for no apparent reason. You would think Apple could use the billions of dollars it receives from third-party apps to hire additional moderators. Somehow they are unable to do even that, and us – big apps like Telegram – typically have to wait several days or even weeks to publish updates.
FEWER APPS. Apple’s 30% commission on apps goes on top of all the other expenses developers must pay for: government taxes such as VAT (~20%), wages, research, servers, marketing. Many apps would have been net profitable in a world without Apple’s 30% commission, but being forced to surrender 30% of their revenue to Apple makes them unsustainable. As a result, many of them go bankrupt and lots of great apps you could have enjoyed just don’t exist.
MORE ADS IN APPS. Because Apple makes selling premium services and accepting donations one-third less meaningful for developers, many of them are forced to show ads in their apps in order for their companies to survive. Apple’s policies skew the entire industry towards selling user data instead of letting them adopt more privacy-friendly business models like selling additional services to their users.
WORSE APPS. Billions of dollars are taken from developers who could have otherwise spent those funds on improving the quality of the apps you use every day. Instead, this money rests idly in Apple’s offshore bank accounts and does nothing for the world, while app developers struggle to find resources for the research and development the world needs.
The situation is so bad that one would expect Apple’s 30% cut to be unsustainable. Yet it’s been around for more than 10 years and is still there. In my Telegraph post below, I'm explaining how Apple has been able to trick consumers and regulators into inaction for so long.
In the last few months, many prominent app developers voiced their disapproval of the App Store policies Apple imposes on all apps. Why should that concern you if you own an iPhone? Here are 7 reasons.
HIGHER PRICES. Apple’s 30% commission makes all apps and digital goods more expensive for you. It goes on top of the price you pay to developers for any services and games you buy on your phone. You pay more for every app, even though Apple already charged you a few hundred dollars more for your iPhone than it cost to make. In short, you keep paying even after you have paid.
CENSORSHIP. Some content in apps like Telegram is unavailable to you because Apple censors what is allowed on the App Store, which it fully controls to enforce the 30% tax. Apple even restricts us – app developers – from telling our users that certain content was hidden for iPhone users specifically at their request. Apple should realize how ridiculous their attempt to globally censor content looks: imagine a web browser deciding which websites you are allowed to view.
LACK OF PRIVACY. In order to install an app from the App Store, you must first create an Apple account and log in using it. After that, every single app you download and every push notification you receive is tied to your account, making you an easier target to track. Since the main reason you have to use an Apple account to download an iPhone app is Apple’s desire to enforce their 30% commission, the cost of their greed also includes your private data.
DELAYS IN APP UPDATES. You get new versions of your apps several days or weeks after they are actually ready, because Apple’s review team is notoriously inefficient and often delays approval for no apparent reason. You would think Apple could use the billions of dollars it receives from third-party apps to hire additional moderators. Somehow they are unable to do even that, and us – big apps like Telegram – typically have to wait several days or even weeks to publish updates.
FEWER APPS. Apple’s 30% commission on apps goes on top of all the other expenses developers must pay for: government taxes such as VAT (~20%), wages, research, servers, marketing. Many apps would have been net profitable in a world without Apple’s 30% commission, but being forced to surrender 30% of their revenue to Apple makes them unsustainable. As a result, many of them go bankrupt and lots of great apps you could have enjoyed just don’t exist.
MORE ADS IN APPS. Because Apple makes selling premium services and accepting donations one-third less meaningful for developers, many of them are forced to show ads in their apps in order for their companies to survive. Apple’s policies skew the entire industry towards selling user data instead of letting them adopt more privacy-friendly business models like selling additional services to their users.
WORSE APPS. Billions of dollars are taken from developers who could have otherwise spent those funds on improving the quality of the apps you use every day. Instead, this money rests idly in Apple’s offshore bank accounts and does nothing for the world, while app developers struggle to find resources for the research and development the world needs.
The situation is so bad that one would expect Apple’s 30% cut to be unsustainable. Yet it’s been around for more than 10 years and is still there. In my Telegraph post below, I'm explaining how Apple has been able to trick consumers and regulators into inaction for so long.
Telegraph – Pavel Durov
7 Myths Apple Is Using to Justify Their 30% Tax on Apps
Apple spends a lot of money on PR and lobbying in order to keep their monopoly power. If you follow the debate around Apple’s 30% cut that results in higher prices and worse apps, you are guaranteed to encounter at least one of the false narratives disclosed…
Forwarded from Private Your Tech News (Techlore)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFDQvIrWYM
Historic hearing happening right now:
Amazon
Apple
Facebook
Google
Catch it while it’s still live.
Historic hearing happening right now:
Amazon
Apple
Catch it while it’s still live.
YouTube
Online Platforms and Market Power: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
TW: @HouseJudiciary | FB: HouseJudDems | IG: HouseJudDems | M: /HouseJudiciary
Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law | Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google EventID=110883
Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law | Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google EventID=110883
‘Instagram can hurt us’: Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitors - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/29/21345723/facebook-instagram-documents-emails-mark-zuckerberg-kevin-systrom-hearing
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/29/21345723/facebook-instagram-documents-emails-mark-zuckerberg-kevin-systrom-hearing
The Verge
“Instagram can hurt us”: Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitors
Antitrust panel says the messages show Zuckerberg trying to buy out his competition.
Forwarded from Du Rove's Channel
I can understand why the US gov threatens to ban TikTok unless its US assets are sold to US investors. After all, China bans pretty much every non-Chinese social media app on its territory. Why should the rest of the world, including the US, let a Chinese app have a free ride in their markets? If you want to access the markets of other countries, you should also open your market to them – that would be fair.
However, the US move against TikTok is setting a dangerous precedent that may eventually kill the internet as a truly global network (or what is left of it). Before the US-TikTok saga, only autocratic countries like Iran, China or Russia were known for bullying tech companies into selling parts of their businesses to investors with close ties to their governments. It’s not surprising, for example, that Uber had to sell both their Russian and Chinese branches to local players.
I am proud that, unlike Uber, we at Telegram have always declined offers to sell our operations in specific countries. A few years ago we received letters from two funds with ties to countries that later attempted to block Telegram. Both letters expressed the same idea: “Telegram is going to get blocked in our country soon, so your only option is to sell us the local part of your business”. My response to those offers has been along the lines of my 2011 middle finger photo: we are not in the business of betraying our users. We are not selling Telegram – neither in part, nor in full. This will always be our position.
The problem with the US-TikTok case is that it legitimises an extortion tactic previously employed only by authoritarian regimes. For decades, the US has been perceived as the defender of free trade and free speech. But now that China has started to replace them as the main beneficiary of global trade, the US (or at least the Trump administration) seems to have become less enthusiastic about those values. This is regrettable, because billions of people on this planet still like the idea of an open and interconnected world.
Last week, Turkey introduced a bunch of laws limiting social media companies. A few years ago, the US would have had the moral right to criticise such efforts, citing freedom of speech and free trade as ideological foundations for their concerns. Today it’s less clear whether the US still has that right. Authoritarian leaders all over the world are already using the TikTok case as justification in their attempts to carve out a piece of the global internet for themselves. Soon, every big country is likely to use “national security” as a pretext to fracture international tech companies. And ironically, it’s the US companies like Facebook or Google that are likely to lose the most from the fallout.
However, the US move against TikTok is setting a dangerous precedent that may eventually kill the internet as a truly global network (or what is left of it). Before the US-TikTok saga, only autocratic countries like Iran, China or Russia were known for bullying tech companies into selling parts of their businesses to investors with close ties to their governments. It’s not surprising, for example, that Uber had to sell both their Russian and Chinese branches to local players.
I am proud that, unlike Uber, we at Telegram have always declined offers to sell our operations in specific countries. A few years ago we received letters from two funds with ties to countries that later attempted to block Telegram. Both letters expressed the same idea: “Telegram is going to get blocked in our country soon, so your only option is to sell us the local part of your business”. My response to those offers has been along the lines of my 2011 middle finger photo: we are not in the business of betraying our users. We are not selling Telegram – neither in part, nor in full. This will always be our position.
The problem with the US-TikTok case is that it legitimises an extortion tactic previously employed only by authoritarian regimes. For decades, the US has been perceived as the defender of free trade and free speech. But now that China has started to replace them as the main beneficiary of global trade, the US (or at least the Trump administration) seems to have become less enthusiastic about those values. This is regrettable, because billions of people on this planet still like the idea of an open and interconnected world.
Last week, Turkey introduced a bunch of laws limiting social media companies. A few years ago, the US would have had the moral right to criticise such efforts, citing freedom of speech and free trade as ideological foundations for their concerns. Today it’s less clear whether the US still has that right. Authoritarian leaders all over the world are already using the TikTok case as justification in their attempts to carve out a piece of the global internet for themselves. Soon, every big country is likely to use “national security” as a pretext to fracture international tech companies. And ironically, it’s the US companies like Facebook or Google that are likely to lose the most from the fallout.
Android Police (@AndroidPolice) Tweeted:
OnePlus is poisoning its phones with Facebook bloatware https://t.co/NgBa6NKKl6 https://t.co/geH1py4wdp https://twitter.com/AndroidPolice/status/1290942005883748353?s=20
OnePlus is poisoning its phones with Facebook bloatware https://t.co/NgBa6NKKl6 https://t.co/geH1py4wdp https://twitter.com/AndroidPolice/status/1290942005883748353?s=20
Android Police
OnePlus is preloading its phones with Facebook bloatware
Bloatware on Android phones has been around for so long — especially on Samsung and Huawei phones — that it's hardly even news anymore. Even
Forwarded from NoGoolag
The Filthy Hypocrisy of America’s “Clean” China-Free Internet
The Trump administration wants to keep other countries from weaponizing technology the way the U.S. and its allies already have.
The State Department has a new vision for a “clean” internet, by which it means a China-free internet. This new ethno-exclusive network “is the Trump Administration’s comprehensive approach to guarding our citizens’ privacy and our companies’ most sensitive information,” by ensuring that China won’t be able to do a litany of subversive and violative things with technology that the U.S. and its allies have engaged in for years. As a policy document it’s nonsensical, but as a moral document, a piece of codified hypocrisy, it’s crystal clear: If there’s going to be a world-spanning surveillance state, it better be made in the USA.
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/06/the-filthy-hypocrisy-of-americas-clean-china-free-internet/
#us
The Trump administration wants to keep other countries from weaponizing technology the way the U.S. and its allies already have.
The State Department has a new vision for a “clean” internet, by which it means a China-free internet. This new ethno-exclusive network “is the Trump Administration’s comprehensive approach to guarding our citizens’ privacy and our companies’ most sensitive information,” by ensuring that China won’t be able to do a litany of subversive and violative things with technology that the U.S. and its allies have engaged in for years. As a policy document it’s nonsensical, but as a moral document, a piece of codified hypocrisy, it’s crystal clear: If there’s going to be a world-spanning surveillance state, it better be made in the USA.
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/06/the-filthy-hypocrisy-of-americas-clean-china-free-internet/
#us
#Delete WhatsApp, Facebook & Instagram
The Filthy Hypocrisy of America’s “Clean” China-Free Internet The Trump administration wants to keep other countries from weaponizing technology the way the U.S. and its allies already have. The State Department has a new vision for a “clean” internet, by…
Jio phones are literally made in China
Forwarded from /r/privacy
As long as it is US spying on us, not China, it is just fine
https://www.androidcentral.com/us-government-contractor-embedded-tracking-software-apps-millions-smartphone-users
https://redd.it/i60gz0
@r_privacy
https://www.androidcentral.com/us-government-contractor-embedded-tracking-software-apps-millions-smartphone-users
https://redd.it/i60gz0
@r_privacy
Android Central
A U.S. government contractor embedded tracking software in the apps of millions of smartphone users
A small U.S. government contractor based in Virginia allegedly embedded software on hundreds of mobile apps, leading to the tracking of millions of users worldwide.
I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible. - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/technology/blocking-the-tech-giants.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/technology/blocking-the-tech-giants.html
NY Times
I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible.
As lawmakers debate whether Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are monopolies, a reporter recalls her attempt to avoid interacting with the companies.
Once Facebook captures its Instagram users' protected biometrics, it uses them to bolster its facial recognition abilities across all of its products, including the Facebook application, and shares this information among various entities. Facebook does all of this without providing any of the required notices or disclosures required by Illinois law," the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint.
Instagram could face up up to $500 billion in fines in class-action lawsuit alleging it illegally harvested biometric data | Business Insider India
https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-facing-500-billion-in-fines-in-facial-recognition-lawsuit-2020-8
https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-facing-500-billion-in-fines-in-facial-recognition-lawsuit-2020-8
Business Insider
Instagram could face up to $500 billion in fines in class-action lawsuit alleging it illegally harvested biometric data
Last month, Facebook offered $650 million to settle a similar lawsuit claiming it collected biometric data without users' consent.
Forwarded from /r/privacy
My personal thoughts on Facebook's facial recognition with tips to improve privacy
Facebook has recently made the news with news outlets reporting on the court case of Whalen v. Facebook, 20-civ-03346, Superior Court of California (Redwood City). This lawsuit alleges that Instagram illegally collects, or collected biometric data through their facial recognition system. The alleged illegality in the lawsuit is specific to the state of Illinois in the US. Bloomberg reports that Facebook company spokesperson Stephanie Otway gave a statement that "Instagram doesn't use face recognition technology". While this statement may be technically true (that Instagram doesn't *directly* use face recognition), Instagram is clearly listed as a [Facebook Product](https://www.facebook.com/help/1561485474074139?ref=igtos). At least within the EU, Instagram abides by [Facebook's Data Policy](https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy) and face recognition is included in this Data Policy. So if you use any "Facebook Product" be aware that they all fall under Facebook's Data Policy. The following are "Facebook Products" I have been able to source [^(3)](https://www.facebook.com/help/1561485474074139?ref=igtos):
**Websites**
* [Internet.org](https://info.internet.org/en/)
* Aims to provide free internet to less fortunate areas of the world
While the idea behind this initiative appear altruistic, I can't help but wonder whether Facebook will (or already do) use this to pivot to selling services to the regions where Free Basic operates - maybe I'm just a cynic.
**Android Apps**
* Facebook mobile app (which includes the in-app browser), as well as the following apps (listed in alphabetical order) [^(4)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Facebook&hl=en_US)
* Creator Studio
* Discover
* Facebook Ads Manager
* Facebook Analytics
* Facebook Gaming
* Facebook Lite
* Facebook Local
* Facebook Pages Manager
* Facebook Viewpoints
* Free Basics \*
* Messenger
* Messenger Kids \*
* Messenger Lite
* Origami Live
* Portal
* Spark AR Player
* Study
* Workplace \*
* Workplace Chat
* Instagram, which also include (in alphabetical order) [^(9)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Instagram&hl=en_US):
* Boomerang
* Direct
* IGTV
* Layout
* Threads
**iPad and iPhone Apps**
* Creator Studio
* Facebook
* Facebook Ads Manager
* Facebook Analytics
* Facebook Gaming
* Facebook Local
* Facebook Pages Manager
* Facebook Partner Summit
* Messenger
* Messenger Kids \*
* Origami Live
* Portal
* Spark AR Player
* Viewpoints
* Workplace \*
* Workplace Chat
**Windows Apps**
* Facebook Watch
* Messenger
Entries marked with an \* have their own privacy policy and terms of service [^(5)](https://www.facebook.com/legal/internet.org_fbsterms) [^(6)](https://www.facebook.com/legal/messengerkids/privacypolicy) [^(7)](https://www.workplace.com/legal/Workplace_Standard_Privacy) [^(8)](https://www.workplace.com/legal/Workplace_Basic_Terms)
If you use Facebook and/or Instagram, or any of the above listed apps (owned by Facebook), here's 4 easy tips on how you can increase your privacy:
1. **Turn off facial recognition in** [**Facebook settings**](https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=facerec)
More information about this setting, according to Facebook:
When the setting is on,
\- Facebook create a template of your face ("face recognition template")
\- Used to discover photos and videos you are not tagged in yet
\- Tag suggestions for other people in the photos and videos
\- Friend suggestions for photos and videos with you in them
\- Notify you if your photo appears as someone else's profile picture
\- Accessibility feature for people with visual impairments
2. **Don't use the camera in the Facebook app (iOS and Android)**
* Instead use your phone's native camera app (see tip 3 to increase your privacy further)
* This refers to the camera option within the Facebook app (both iOS and Android)
1. **Remove metadata before sharing photos (and videos)**
*
Facebook has recently made the news with news outlets reporting on the court case of Whalen v. Facebook, 20-civ-03346, Superior Court of California (Redwood City). This lawsuit alleges that Instagram illegally collects, or collected biometric data through their facial recognition system. The alleged illegality in the lawsuit is specific to the state of Illinois in the US. Bloomberg reports that Facebook company spokesperson Stephanie Otway gave a statement that "Instagram doesn't use face recognition technology". While this statement may be technically true (that Instagram doesn't *directly* use face recognition), Instagram is clearly listed as a [Facebook Product](https://www.facebook.com/help/1561485474074139?ref=igtos). At least within the EU, Instagram abides by [Facebook's Data Policy](https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy) and face recognition is included in this Data Policy. So if you use any "Facebook Product" be aware that they all fall under Facebook's Data Policy. The following are "Facebook Products" I have been able to source [^(3)](https://www.facebook.com/help/1561485474074139?ref=igtos):
**Websites**
* [Internet.org](https://info.internet.org/en/)
* Aims to provide free internet to less fortunate areas of the world
While the idea behind this initiative appear altruistic, I can't help but wonder whether Facebook will (or already do) use this to pivot to selling services to the regions where Free Basic operates - maybe I'm just a cynic.
**Android Apps**
* Facebook mobile app (which includes the in-app browser), as well as the following apps (listed in alphabetical order) [^(4)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Facebook&hl=en_US)
* Creator Studio
* Discover
* Facebook Ads Manager
* Facebook Analytics
* Facebook Gaming
* Facebook Lite
* Facebook Local
* Facebook Pages Manager
* Facebook Viewpoints
* Free Basics \*
* Messenger
* Messenger Kids \*
* Messenger Lite
* Origami Live
* Portal
* Spark AR Player
* Study
* Workplace \*
* Workplace Chat
* Instagram, which also include (in alphabetical order) [^(9)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Instagram&hl=en_US):
* Boomerang
* Direct
* IGTV
* Layout
* Threads
**iPad and iPhone Apps**
* Creator Studio
* Facebook Ads Manager
* Facebook Analytics
* Facebook Gaming
* Facebook Local
* Facebook Pages Manager
* Facebook Partner Summit
* Messenger
* Messenger Kids \*
* Origami Live
* Portal
* Spark AR Player
* Viewpoints
* Workplace \*
* Workplace Chat
**Windows Apps**
* Facebook Watch
* Messenger
Entries marked with an \* have their own privacy policy and terms of service [^(5)](https://www.facebook.com/legal/internet.org_fbsterms) [^(6)](https://www.facebook.com/legal/messengerkids/privacypolicy) [^(7)](https://www.workplace.com/legal/Workplace_Standard_Privacy) [^(8)](https://www.workplace.com/legal/Workplace_Basic_Terms)
If you use Facebook and/or Instagram, or any of the above listed apps (owned by Facebook), here's 4 easy tips on how you can increase your privacy:
1. **Turn off facial recognition in** [**Facebook settings**](https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=facerec)
More information about this setting, according to Facebook:
When the setting is on,
\- Facebook create a template of your face ("face recognition template")
\- Used to discover photos and videos you are not tagged in yet
\- Tag suggestions for other people in the photos and videos
\- Friend suggestions for photos and videos with you in them
\- Notify you if your photo appears as someone else's profile picture
\- Accessibility feature for people with visual impairments
2. **Don't use the camera in the Facebook app (iOS and Android)**
* Instead use your phone's native camera app (see tip 3 to increase your privacy further)
* This refers to the camera option within the Facebook app (both iOS and Android)
1. **Remove metadata before sharing photos (and videos)**
*
Facebook
What are the Meta Products? | Facebook Help Centre
Meta offers a wide variety of products, including communications and advertising platforms.
Forwarded from /r/privacy
You can remove the metadata by using an app such as [Photo Metadata Remover](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=apps.syrupy.metadatacleaner&hl=en) for Android (I personally use this one - it's free with ads), or [Photo & Video Metadata Remover](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photo-video-metadata-remover/id1079710135) for iPhone and iPad ($1.99 to remove ads). There is also [ExifTool by Phil Harvey](https://exiftool.org/) if you're brave enough to use Linux.
* Metadata can reveal a lot of information about photos, including but not limited to:
* When the photo was taken
* Where the photo was taken (GPS Latitude and Longitude)
* The make and model of your phone (or camera)
* and many others!
1. **Use the** [**Facebook Container**](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/?src=search) **browser add-on when using Facebook on your computer**
* This add-on creates a "sandbox" browser tab that prevents Facebook from accessing information from other browser tabs you have open
* [Mozilla Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/) has a great containerisation feature that allows you to open certain websites in different categories (e.g. Personal, Work, etc.)
**Further reading on Facebook's facial recognition**
According to Facebook's own terms it is claimed that,
* The "face recognition template" is only available while the face recognition setting is on. Facebook assert the template is deleted if this setting is turned off.
* Your template is not shared with anyone
* Strangers do not have access to your face recognition features
* The wording of this (in my opinion) does leave some ambiguity. For example, how are "strangers" defined by Facebook? Are strangers simply people who are not in your friends list? Are the "people you may know" considered strangers? Speculation: Facebook may have a nuanced method of determining whether someone is a stranger - i.e. Facebook could have a threshold of x number of mutual connections that bump you out of "stranger" status.
* Untagged photos with you in them won't be used in conjunction with the face recognition template.
* Facebook have removed the ability for users to change the tag suggestion setting - see [here](https://www.facebook.com/help/218540514842030)
* Facial recognition "is only available to people who are over 18" - the setting is apparently unavailable for those under 18.
* This is potentially a minefield for Facebook because it relies on people self-reporting their age.
* How exactly does Facebook determine peoples' age that don't have Facebook accounts? People post pictures of their children all the time, how does Facebook guarantee these photos aren't being included in their facial recognition? If Facebook are processing photos and videos to determine age, they should be more transparent about it.
To sum up, Facebook collect a lot of information, and I mean a **lot**. Even without being logged into Facebook they collect a substantial amount of information - these data are used to create "shadow profiles".
It's not feasible for most people in this day and age to disconnect completely from social media companies and retain their privacy. For this reason we should hold these companies accountable and make sure they are transparent about what information they collect about us, how they use this information, who has access to it, as well as give people more control over their own data.
I am not financially or otherwise affiliated with any apps or services listed in this post, though I personally use the following:
* [Photo Metadata Remover](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=apps.syrupy.metadatacleaner&hl=en)
* [ExifTool by Phil Harvey](https://exiftool.org/)
* [Facebook Container Firefox Add-on](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/?src=search)
Thanks for reading and I hope you get some value out of it!
https://redd.it/i9119d
@r_privacy
* Metadata can reveal a lot of information about photos, including but not limited to:
* When the photo was taken
* Where the photo was taken (GPS Latitude and Longitude)
* The make and model of your phone (or camera)
* and many others!
1. **Use the** [**Facebook Container**](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/?src=search) **browser add-on when using Facebook on your computer**
* This add-on creates a "sandbox" browser tab that prevents Facebook from accessing information from other browser tabs you have open
* [Mozilla Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/) has a great containerisation feature that allows you to open certain websites in different categories (e.g. Personal, Work, etc.)
**Further reading on Facebook's facial recognition**
According to Facebook's own terms it is claimed that,
* The "face recognition template" is only available while the face recognition setting is on. Facebook assert the template is deleted if this setting is turned off.
* Your template is not shared with anyone
* Strangers do not have access to your face recognition features
* The wording of this (in my opinion) does leave some ambiguity. For example, how are "strangers" defined by Facebook? Are strangers simply people who are not in your friends list? Are the "people you may know" considered strangers? Speculation: Facebook may have a nuanced method of determining whether someone is a stranger - i.e. Facebook could have a threshold of x number of mutual connections that bump you out of "stranger" status.
* Untagged photos with you in them won't be used in conjunction with the face recognition template.
* Facebook have removed the ability for users to change the tag suggestion setting - see [here](https://www.facebook.com/help/218540514842030)
* Facial recognition "is only available to people who are over 18" - the setting is apparently unavailable for those under 18.
* This is potentially a minefield for Facebook because it relies on people self-reporting their age.
* How exactly does Facebook determine peoples' age that don't have Facebook accounts? People post pictures of their children all the time, how does Facebook guarantee these photos aren't being included in their facial recognition? If Facebook are processing photos and videos to determine age, they should be more transparent about it.
To sum up, Facebook collect a lot of information, and I mean a **lot**. Even without being logged into Facebook they collect a substantial amount of information - these data are used to create "shadow profiles".
It's not feasible for most people in this day and age to disconnect completely from social media companies and retain their privacy. For this reason we should hold these companies accountable and make sure they are transparent about what information they collect about us, how they use this information, who has access to it, as well as give people more control over their own data.
I am not financially or otherwise affiliated with any apps or services listed in this post, though I personally use the following:
* [Photo Metadata Remover](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=apps.syrupy.metadatacleaner&hl=en)
* [ExifTool by Phil Harvey](https://exiftool.org/)
* [Facebook Container Firefox Add-on](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/?src=search)
Thanks for reading and I hope you get some value out of it!
https://redd.it/i9119d
@r_privacy
Google Play
Photo Metadata Remover - Apps on Google Play
Clear metadata in photos (device model, location, etc.) & protect your privacy.