Apps Are Using Background App Refresh to Send Data to Tracking Companies

[Khedron]

From the Android developer site:

You were saying something about ignorance of Android?

What you quote is individual requests IN ADDITION to informing you about permissions BEFORE installing, and replacing the old way of having all granted at the moment of install.

Example:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.music&hl=en

Spotify - Music and Podcasts
Spotify Ltd.

This app has access to:

Phone

• read phone status and identity

Photos/Media/Files

• read the contents of your USB storage
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Storage

• read the contents of your USB storage
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Device ID & call information

• read phone status and identity

Identity

• find accounts on the device
• add or remove accounts

Contacts

• find accounts on the device

Camera

• take pictures and videos

Microphone

• record audio

Wi-Fi connection information

• view Wi-Fi connections

Identity

• find accounts on the device

Other

• receive data from Internet
• view network connections
• full network access
• prevent device from sleeping
• view network connections
• pair with Bluetooth devices
• access Bluetooth settings
• send sticky broadcast
• allow Wi-Fi Multicast reception
• full network access
• change your audio settings
• control Near Field Communication
• run at startup
• use accounts on the device
• control vibration
• prevent device from sleeping
• install shortcuts
• view network connections
• view network connections
• send sticky broadcast
• full network access
• change your audio settings
• control Near Field Communication
• prevent device from sleeping

 

[69Mustang]

You're ignoring the obvious difference between Apple and other companies. Just because Company A and Company B both track users doesn’t mean they’re equal.

All companies use the same boilerplate terms & conditions regarding their data collection practices. However, there’s a massive difference between Apple and someone like Google or Facebook. How much data they collect, where they collect it from, what they do with it and how they monetize it. You can’t simplify it down to “Apple also tracks you” to imply they are no different than other companies.

That's always your response. Google does it more, therefore Apple is different. Nope. Trying to rely on comparing what they do to Google is a cop out. You can't make a compelling argument without trying to scapegoat another company. Judged entirely on it's own, Apple tracks you and it has nothing to do with Google. It's plain and simple. If you have an Apple device, Apple is tracking you. They tell you they track you. Your claim of boilerplate is nothing more than an attempt at obfuscation. Apple does everything they say they do in that privacy policy.

No one said anything about them being equal... 'cept you. I said they track you. That's fact.

 

[I7guy]

No it seems you're still missing what I am saying... intentionally Apple tracks you through your devices. The track you on their website as well, but so that I'm patently clear, I'm specifically addressing their tracking through your devices. And yes, they do track you through apps.
Apple and our partners also use cookies and other technologies to remember personal information when you use our website, online services, and applications. Some of that tracking enables key functionality like Continuity. Some of it enables targeted advertising. Some of it relates to other things.

Again, Apple tracking you shouldn't be a surprise. They tell you they do it... and not just on the website.

No, your post was not clear and we’re having an honest conversation. No need for the snark.

I could care less about tracking and Apple using my own personal info to (try to sell or further my ecosystem experience ) sell me an iPhone. I don’t even care about differential privacy. That it should be no ones surprise that certain functions like continuity require Apple to store info about the state of your device. And that they spell it out (somewhere) makes it seem evil as tracking is bad, especially when sent to third parties.

What I wouldn’t like is if apple started to act like Facebook with my information.

 

[iGeneo]

Anyone who thinks using DoorDash is a bargain for food delivery is an idiot. The app is yet another reason to stop using this ripoff of a company.

It’s purely subjective as a bargain for the consumers, delivery fees are relatively low, provided the restaurant has not marked up at the menu price too high. Is a complete rip off for the restaurant

 

[SidricTheViking]

Wouldn't the purpose be for apps that you don't launch often, but it needs to alert u to something? Like incoming messages. I only launch Whatsapp when someone sends me a message. I wouldn't want to have to launch it often just to check.

Background App Refresh is not the same as Notifications. The apps can still send you those messages, reminders, etc. without needing Background App Refresh turned on. It’s just a once-useful feature which serves little or no purpose now. Better for battery life if you leave it off, too!

By the way, on a totally unrelated topic, I’ve just finished watching Les Misérables (the recent film) on our home cinema (fro the third or fourth time). Watching Gavroche’s bravery was very moving....

 

[realtuner]

What you quote is individual requests IN ADDITION to informing you about permissions BEFORE installing, and replacing the old way of having all granted at the moment of install.

Example:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotify.music&hl=en

Spotify - Music and Podcasts
Spotify Ltd.

This app has access to:

Phone

• read phone status and identity

Photos/Media/Files

• read the contents of your USB storage
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Storage

• read the contents of your USB storage
• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Device ID & call information

• read phone status and identity

Identity

• find accounts on the device
• add or remove accounts

Contacts

• find accounts on the device

Camera

• take pictures and videos

Microphone

• record audio

Wi-Fi connection information

• view Wi-Fi connections

Identity

• find accounts on the device

Other

• receive data from Internet
• view network connections
• full network access
• prevent device from sleeping
• view network connections
• pair with Bluetooth devices
• access Bluetooth settings
• send sticky broadcast
• allow Wi-Fi Multicast reception
• full network access
• change your audio settings
• control Near Field Communication
• run at startup
• use accounts on the device
• control vibration
• prevent device from sleeping
• install shortcuts
• view network connections
• view network connections
• send sticky broadcast
• full network access
• change your audio settings
• control Near Field Communication
• prevent device from sleeping

OK, so I understood your post as being at install time. Regardless, as long as you are advised of what permissions are being requested, then what does it matter if they're listed before install? What difference does it make to the user?

Anyway, thanks for the list above (which I was going to do anyway) that shows Android is far less concerned about privacy than iOS. Many of the items in that list don't even have an equivalent API or permission in iOS. You can't, for example, find out the phone number, IMEI number or device ID number of an iPhone. Or gain access to the phone call log or SMS/MMS. Or gain access to account information like your email or Apple ID.

 

[Defthand]

It's a shame that the author doesn't do more to help his audience understand more about the data being transmitted and collected. While it definitely helps to fuel his narrative of fear and outrage, the boring details would keep his readers from deleting apps that they enjoy for the sake of their "privacy".

The reality is this: the privacy referenced by Apple in it's marketing and PR is with regard to PII and the collection and sale of yours by Apple. The trackers referenced in this article are mostly being used in aggregate for analytics. Apple still does not collect or sell your personal information. Apple doesn't allow 3PP apps to access anything that you don't explicitly allow.

If you wish to prevent tracking as described in the article, you're almost certainly too late. This kind of thing has been going on since the Netscape days and the only way to avoid it entirely is to stop going online using any device. Trackers, cookies, etc. have been a fact of online life for decades.

My question is this: What exactly are you finding offensive and outrageous in this? How exactly are you being violated, and I mean that as an honest question. How have most of you spent the past 20 years online and only now take issue with this kind of thing? What exactly are you giving up in terms of your privacy as described in the article that you've not been giving up as an online consumer for many years now? Personally, I fail to be moved by the prospect of Company A knowing that I - an iPhone (insert model) user from generic geographic area using a network of a generic type has version X of an app installed. Or that the same generic device profile is only using features A, B and D of a given app. Or that my app last polled the server for fresh content 7 hours ago using a X network. See how boring that is? That's the lion's share of the chatter your phone is having while you snore at night.

One last thing. Gmail arrived in 2004 with the promise of 2GB of FREE storage, which was absurd at the time. Every single one of us knew at the time that we'd be served ads within the Gmail experience. Every article written about the service made it perfectly clear. Furthermore, it was made clear that those ads would be targeted using the content of our emails. For 16 years a gobsmacking number of people have been using Gmail with this universal understanding - our private email is wide open to Google's targeting algorithm in exchange for a free service. How is it that so many of us are suddenly running around with our hair on fire about perceived "privacy" violations that get nowhere even remotely close to our actual intimate details as Gmail has been operating for almost 2 decades? Think about it people and put this whole thing into perspective.

Well observed.

Every time that I asked someone, who echoes the alarm about online privacy, how he or someone else was harmed by Google's knowledge of them, I get ZERO examples. Not even a "I know a guy who knows a guy..." example.

Certainly there are sacred or embarrassing facts we want to keep private from people who actually know us. And we want to protect our castles from con men. Yet stories of these being violated stem from broken trusts between aquiantances, reckless sharing on social media, gullibility, and hackers.

If there are dangers to online surveillance, we need to define them rather than let Apple make vague references to the issue and profit from fear tactics.

 

[realtuner]

That's always your response. Google does it more, therefore Apple is different. Nope. Trying to rely on comparing what they do to Google is a cop out. You can't make a compelling argument without trying to scapegoat another company. Judged entirely on it's own, Apple tracks you and it has nothing to do with Google. It's plain and simple. If you have an Apple device, Apple is tracking you. They tell you they track you. Your claim of boilerplate is nothing more than an attempt at obfuscation. Apple does everything they say they do in that privacy policy.

No one said anything about them being equal... 'cept you. I said they track you. That's fact.

Well, when you always try to imply Apple is no different than other companies you shouldn't be surprised at getting the same response to correct information for other people reading who might be fooled into thinking they are the same (as your original post clearly implied).

 

[DeepIn2U]

That's IT! I'm switching to Android where I'll be safe from tracking!

LOL and no animation required this time yet still sassy!

Request: Next big animation you have try to incorporate Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy that would rock if it fits the article.

I've just disabled ALL non first party apps.

 

[JCandle]

Can someone give me a real world example of why I would need background refresh on? I just turned it off and I am not seeing a difference.

Secondly, for the tracking part, are they still tracking me and sending the data when I open the app rather than anytime they want?

 

[DeepIn2U]

Presumably they do the same tracking / reporting when active? Sure this will be less frequent but would still share more information than perhaps people had appreciated.

"Deh vwill Schnot get all my COOKKIEEEES!"

 

[Shirasaki]

I have background data off; mainly to help reserve battery. Does this actually prevent / limit the tracking or does it just queue up a bunch of data until I actually turn the app on later? I wonder?

Or worse, that switch is merely a placebo? The app will find other ways to send data anyway, for example one undisclosed backdoor? I also wonder.

 

[69Mustang]

Well, when you always try to imply Apple is no different than other companies you shouldn't be surprised at getting the same response to correct information for other people reading who might be fooled into thinking they are the same (as your original post clearly implied).

Bud, I can't help you. Apple tracks you. I tell you they do. Apple tells you they do. If you don't believe them, hey...
My post does not imply Apple is the same. That's simply your incorrect interpretation. Apple does some of the same things. That's what my post implies. If you don't know the difference, again, I can't help.

 

[Shirasaki]

Ha, I had a similar instance on Facebook a few months ago. I was talking to my housemate about toothpaste as I'd completely ran out (the tube was practically two-dimensional) and needed to borrow his before I went to bed. This is not anything I've ever Google searched and I didn't add it to an online order. Plus I'm British, which tells you just how low it is on my list of priorities.

Next day, Facebook advert for toothpaste. The only Facebook enabled thing was Facebook Messenger which had microphone permission & background app refresh.

I have no doubt it's a monstrous coincidence, especially when I try to imagine the crazy amount of tech conspiracy that would be required to pull off a catered advert based on a fleeting conversation from a phone in my pocket, but I disabled that background stuff anyway.

Are you chatting with your friends on Facebook messenger at that time? If so, this might sound a bit more sensible.
But yeah, the main point is, no matter what users do, they are still being tracked, one way or another. Pretty much the only way to avoid being tracked online is to live a Stone Age life or at least give up all electronics.
[doublepost=1559080490][/doublepost]

would be great if there was a way to do it selectively. I'd like apps like WhatsApp and slack to be able to receive notifications, but pretty much everything else can be off

You can do it per app. But that’s about what user gets for “granular control”.

 

[inkswamp]

Never liked the notion of background refresh on a mobile device anyway. It eats away at power and spares me from the horror of having to wait half a second for an app to refresh when switching to it. Never understood the point and have always kept it turned off, but to each his own.

 

[hank moody]

Weather Channel: DELETED
Yelp: DELETED
Mint: DELETED
Spotify: NEVER USED, DELETED

Time to just make bookmarks to the mobile website. This is a major flaw with app security and privacy right now. I don't love web apps, but this is a vote in their favor.

we are leaving the apps-age to enter the webapps-age.
it is a much cleaner experience to have just bookmarks and almost nothing installed. always updated, no backups, seamless experience.
atm, i only have installed in my iPhone the essential apps: banks, etc.

and a really well developed webapp, works very good in every OS.

 

[rageguy]

So I just turned Background App Refresh off completely. Will this break anything?

 

[hollersoft]

App developer here. There is so much FUD in this thread. Background App Refresh is a complete red herring. Turning it off won’t solve anything. If the app doesn’t get woken up to send its data in the background, then it’ll just send it next time you open the app yourself.

There’s nothing special about Background App Refresh that somehow allows apps to collect more data. It’s just a callback from the OS that says “hey, wake up, here’s your chance to run some code.” The problem is app developers collecting and sending too much personal and tracking data, background or foreground. Luckily with sandboxed apps they can’t access really sensitive things like your phone number or email address without specific permissions or you entering it directly in the app.

 

[FFR]

Bud, I can't help you. Apple tracks you. I tell you they do. Apple tells you they do. If you don't believe them, hey...
My post does not imply Apple is the same. That's simply your incorrect interpretation. Apple does some of the same things. That's what my post implies. If you don't know the difference, again, I can't help.

Of course Apple isn’t the same as google, apple didn’t make 30 billion last quarter from ads and search, that was google.
Apple made 31 billion from just selling iPhones, you know hardware.

That’s difference.

Btw which iphone are you currently using?

 

[realtuner]

Bud, I can't help you. Apple tracks you. I tell you they do. Apple tells you they do. If you don't believe them, hey...
My post does not imply Apple is the same. That's simply your incorrect interpretation. Apple does some of the same things. That's what my post implies. If you don't know the difference, again, I can't help.

Glad you clarified that what Apple does (in terms of tracking or gathering data) is orders of magnitude below what Google, Facebook and others do.

 

[WordsmithMR]

That's IT! I'm switching to Android where I'll be safe from tracking!

When a fanboy can't think a legitimate response to an article they attack the competition.
[doublepost=1559082827][/doublepost]

So I just turned Background App Refresh off completely. Will this break anything?

That doesn't solve any issue. The apps just won't send the data immediately/on their own, they'll just send it when you open up the app. They are still logging and tracking all other data. You're just delaying when they receive it.

 

[makr]

Can anybody tell me where Background App Refresh would be useful?

I always keep it off, I don't even allow any app to have "Always" on tracking my location.

 

[TTTedP]

Privacy is an illusion — doesn’t anyone understand this, truly understand it? .

I think most people get that concept (IMO, it should really be about anonymity vs privacy). There are degrees to how anonymous or private you are able to remain. People should be free to choose what level they are comfortable with. OS and app choices either increase or decrease your risk level and IMO, Apple provides a pretty good head start to the average user (but no, they do not guarantee 100% lockdown).

Trying to convince everyone that it's a lost cause and the same level of risk no matter what they do isn't exactly true or beneficial either.

 

[TrenttonY]

Cue the now classic press release that companies give out, "It was just a bug."

 

[FFR]

Glad you clarified that what Apple does (in terms of tracking or gathering data) is orders of magnitude below what Google, Facebook and others do.

He claims apple does the same thing.
Sure they do.

OF COURSE GOOGLE TRACKS YOUR PURCHASE HISTORY USING GMAIL — IT TRACKS EVERYTHING

https://understandblogz.com/2019/05...ase-history-using-gmail-it-tracks-everything/

Pretty sure that poster doesn’t think google did anything wrong there either.