[Oni]

There's no escaping Google's botnet. They've recently pushed installation of a COVID app to Android phones. While being able to push updates isn't new, the amount of forethought that should go into it is debatable.

Google is force-installing a Massachusetts COVID-19 tracking app on residents' Android devices without an easy way to uninstall it.

For the past few days, users have reported that Google silently installed the Massachusetts 'MassNotify' app on their devices without the ability to open it or find it in the Google Play Store.

"This installed silently on my daughter's phone without consent or notification. She cannot have installed it herself since we use Family Link and we have to approve all app installs. I have no idea how they pulled this off, but it had to involve either Google, or Samsung, or both," a user wrote in a review on the Google Play Store.

"Normal apps can't just install themselves. I'm not sure what's going on here, but this doesn't count as "voluntary". We need information, and we need it now, folks."

Read More: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/se...covid-app/

[mothered]

There's no escaping Google's botnet.

Don't use their service.

They have no right to make decisions on behalf of end users, by forcing Installs against their wishes.

[Oni]

There's no escaping Google's botnet.

Don't use their service.

They have no right to make decisions on behalf of end users, by forcing Installs against their wishes.

For the average Android user, I'd argue it's inevitable you'll be dealing with Google in some fashion. It's simple enough to disable updates and remove Google Apps/Services on most devices. However, the drawbacks would be lack of security updates and you'd have to sideload apps. iOS is worse, as there's no simple option of removal/sideloading.

[Feat]

That's a major breach of users rights imo. This is something that would make me stop using a carrier altogether.

[mothered]

There's no escaping Google's botnet.

Don't use their service.

They have no right to make decisions on behalf of end users, by forcing Installs against their wishes.

For the average Android user, I'd argue it's inevitable you'll be dealing with Google in some fashion. It's simple enough to disable updates and remove Google Apps/Services on most devices. However, the drawbacks would be lack of security updates and you'd have to sideload apps. iOS is worse, as there's no simple option of removal/sideloading.

In terms of the typical Joe Blow, I certainly agree.

From my very own standpoint, I don't utilize a single app nor perform any updates whatsoever- both of which, are completely useless to me. I've also taken many other preventative measures, and haven't encountered any Issues to date.

[ciccillover]

Feels like a major abuse. I'm no longer an Android user, but I'd be upset if I still were one.

[Oni]

Feels like a major abuse. I'm no longer an Android user, but I'd be upset if I still were one.

What do you use now? Apple does much of the same, if not worse. It seems unavoidable unless you've opted for a flip-phone.

[ConcernedCitizen]

What do you use now? Apple does much of the same, if not worse. It seems unavoidable unless you've opted for a flip-phone.

All phones are surveillance devices. No brand doesn't have extensive tracking (at least by default, or stock) even if they offer the ability to change this or "opt-out". There are a select few ways to harden your security with Android and iPhones but you can't simply not receive tracking, telemetry, etc. Each update has the potential to push malware or change your settings. This is why it's sometimes preferred to secure through obfuscation than it is to completely remove every intrusive aspect of Google, for example. But you have to weigh your risks using anything, these days, with all the fingerprinting, especially the ones of which the end-user can't even be sure is present. It's the technological P=NP.

risk = probability x impact

Risk is the danger involved. Taking into account the availability & usages of specific threats against you and the potential impact (say, a scale of 1 to 10). I.e., you are re-calculating your threat surface every time you change your device usage or frequency of those devices. Security through obfuscation can make it so that you're either supplying bogus information to the threat or you're providing misleading information (altering headers in your browser which could be used to identify your OS...and more). It's a different end value for everyone, that's why it's useful - for even the slightest privacy conscious individual or group - to maintain some semblance of obscurity and therefore security.

Find the weight of your actions and ask yourself what each one accomplishes or takes away from your goal and prune activities and devices you don't need or alter your use of them in order to confuse the threat. It's something straight from Sun Tzu.

Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.

[404errorist]

Pretty sure somewhere in the user agreement that we all mindlessly agree to, gives them the permission needed to do just this.

I'm not shocked. If you want privacy, don't own a smart phone or any smart device. If you do want privacy you'll have to put the work in to "sanitize" whatever device you are using by using privacy focused OS's whether mobile or on PC.

[abbietmp]

Sadly my only advice is install a custom ROM and then don't install google play services. You can use F-Droid and the Aurora store (which you can get from F-Droid) for apps. Then they can't just change things on your phone whenever they like.