[ale] OT: HTC Advice

[Charles Shapiro]

HTC are at least semi-good guys.  They've committed to opening the
bootloader on all of their phones going forward (
http://www.pcworld.com/article/228823/htc_ends_locked_bootloader_policy.html
).  That gives you the option of putting an Open build of Android on
your phone, which at least will remove any applications or Android
mods which AT&T has installed to spy on you.  Even if that technically
breaks the contract you signed, the chances of AT&T catching you on it
are slim to none, assuming you don't call Support and tell them that's
what you did.  I'm partial to CyanogenMod (
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ ) but there are lots of Android builds out
there.  Looks like the current version of CyanogenMod supports the
Inspire, if that's the phone you're using.

If you don't want Google to know all your secrets, you don't have to
install the Google application suite.  I would be Astonished if Google
had magic hooks into Android itself.  Since the source is open, anyone
who found such a thing could (a) Blab it all over the blogosphere to
great personal glory and (b) Remove it from his or her build.  I see
motive, means, and opportunity here.

Of course, even a phone running an Open Android OS still has loads of
opaque, proprietary software on it.  In particular, the radio modem
software is a closed binary blob from HTC.  It's possible they're
using that to spy on you.  The logic here is that you shouldn't be
allowed to modify how you connect to the public phone network, lest
you mess up the network itself (e.g. by doing something in your
sofware which changes how they bill you, or even changes service for
other cell phones in your vicinity).  The only fig leaf I can offer
here is that your data at that point is part of a truly gigantic
stream, and I've not heard of HTC sharing anything specifically on
their modem technology with the carriers.

Smartphones are inherently risky of course.  They carry much of their
data on SD cards, which anyone with physical posession of the phone
can remove, mount, and read on a random computer. I've done this and
it reveals an astonishing amount of private data. I've seen some work
on encrypted file systems for cell phones, but the stuff I've heard
about makes the cell phone require a login to call 911 -- which can
lead to security troubles of its own.  I want to let the guy who
scrapes me off the street phone the ambulance or the cops on my phone,
even if I am unconscious.  You'll have to decide your own position on
this.

Privacy is still a right.  You just have to fight for it.

-- CHS


On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 3:12 PM, Cameron Kilgore <ghostfreeman at gmail.com> wrote:
> Pirates?! I thought we were still calling AT&T the "Death Star"
>
> I don't know how HTC Sense handles the privacy of its user data, I don't use
> bundled carrier crap because its bundled carrier crap. Read over the terms
> of use. I do know that Prey, another security suite, uses end-to-end
> encryption.
>
> I'd be more worried about Google, since, yanno, its their OS.
>
> --
> Cameron Kilgore
> Sent with Sparrow
>
> On Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 2:06 PM, skotchman at gmail.com wrote:
>
> I was afraid someone would remind me of that. Wife state employee =
> discounted service with the pirates.
>
> Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T
>
> ----- Reply message -----
> From: "Jim Kinney" <jim.kinney at gmail.com>
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
> Subject: [ale] OT: HTC Advice
> Date: Sun, Apr 22, 2012 1:31 pm
>
>
> You're using AT&T. You already gave up all privacy rights.
> With the current combination of business practices and technology,  privacy
> is not a "right", it's more of an afterthought or a talking point.
>
> On Apr 22, 2012 12:32 PM, "skotchman at gmail.com" <skotchman at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My wife & I just got our smartphones so we've been busy playing with them.
> In the process of exploring I saw something that concerned me. HTCSense
> service Terms of Service document in regards to how they handle your
> personal info and would make available to partners or other third party
> providers that are in country's that don't honor privacy rights.
>
> My concerns are that my private info would become unprotected public info.
> Am I right thinking that? Has anyone setup an account on HTCSense.com? If &
> when (more likely when) I root this thing is there something available that
> is similar to HTCSense? I'm mostly interested in the remote device security
> features.
>
> If anyone has any advice or suggestions for us, we would greatly appreciate
> it.
>
> Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T
>
>
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