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iOS 8 Keyboards, 'Full Access', and User Privacy

Piggie said:
Only because Apple seem, as a company, unable to design any alternate keyboards do we even need to be going down this path in the 1st place.

Shame:(
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There is no "shame" in a company making legitimate business decisions. They are allowing other better qualified software companies to provide these apps. If there's any shame here, its your blatant poor understanding of how businesses operate.
 
AppleInLVX said:
While I agree in principle, it still seems to me to be cheap insurance to have as few fingers in the pie as possible. Giving yet another developer access is just yet another place you *could* lose data. Especially when it's entirely superfluous, it seems common sense to protect your data as much as you can rather than add yet another avenue for data mining.
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If one is really serious about protecting their data, they need to lose the smartphone and stay off public Internet. Otherwise, all this worrying about privacy is ridiculous.
 
NMBob said:
Yes, but what is the NSA going to do with that information, verses what some company might do with that information, verses what some clown that breaks into some company's server going to do with that information? Big range of possibilities there (and more with passwords and such rather than with love letters).
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So the best advice to avoid these issues is not to use the internet. Or a credit card. Now you don't have to worry.
 
NotAdvisable said:
Yet it's quite clearly obvious that none of the major keyboard developers actually dive into your information and steal your data. Honestly, you're not that special mate.
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How do you think the developer of a free app makes money?
 
NotAdvisable said:
Yet it's quite clearly obvious that none of the major keyboard developers actually dive into your information and steal your data. Honestly, you're not that special mate.

If Swipe or SwiftKey used our data maliciously on Android (for example) they'd be bankrupted and long gone before developing on iOS.
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That data is a honeypot for every hacker worth their salt on the planet.
 
gnasher729 said:
…..Since users may not understand or appreciate the consequences of giving full access, it should be possible to undo that decision. Or just turn it off temporarily when you type in things that are critical…..
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Critical for staying out of jail, lol….. :p

In all seriousness, it's good that we have been made aware of the possible consequences of using the third party kbs.
 
Primejimbo said:
So they are the only one who lets you shut off full access? My daughter wants a keyboard like this, I'll have to look into this since you can disable full access.

THANKS!!!
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no problem. I was worried about the security issue. Just am paranoid.
 
So.

What we are saying is:

Apple cannot detect if a keyboard app is transmitting what you type as opposed to simply placing characters on the screen of the device?

Really?
 
spectrumfox said:
If one is really serious about protecting their data, they need to lose the smartphone and stay off public Internet. Otherwise, all this worrying about privacy is ridiculous.
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Again, I agree in principle, but the world isn't set up that way. While it's always an *option* to stay off the grid, the way things are set up don't make it easy. With credit cards, internet banking, email correspondence, cell phone service and all that other good modern stuff, staying off the grid also means staying out of modern society, which is not a fair choice.

Really the only thing you can do is do the best you can. Therefore, minimizing the data leech points is probably a wise choice.
 
Limit the risk

spectrumfox said:
If one is really serious about protecting their data, they need to lose the smartphone and stay off public Internet. Otherwise, all this worrying about privacy is ridiculous.
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I think what he was trying to say is just limit the risk. We can do a lot of things with are info, but the less places we put our private info limits the risk.

It's like doing dangerous things as in sky diving, bungee jumping etc. Multiple high risk situations multiple times increases our risk of bodily injury or death.
Limit those and I'm sure you limit the risk.

I'm not sure if 3rd party keyboards are big risk, but maybe it is to some, and limiting who you let have that info might give some a better piece of mind.

Privacy is becoming a bigger issue with a lot of people these days, i hope that leads to some changes to help keep our **** safe!:cool:
 
PBF said:
The fact that devs can record everything you type is why I refuse to use any custom keyboards.
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Apple does the same, and either way- NSA is getting that info if they want it, no matter how many times ANY company denies it can happen.

For how many years did people swear the 'crazy conspiracy theorists' were crazy? Turns out those people were right all along.

You'd be naive to think any information was safe from prying eyes who wanted it. Hell, web bots are crawling this page right now, storing information for who knows what.

Skynet bro... it's going to happen. ;)
 
NotAdvisable said:
Yet it's quite clearly obvious that none of the major keyboard developers actually dive into your information and steal your data. Honestly, you're not that special mate.

If Swipe or SwiftKey used our data maliciously on Android (for example) they'd be bankrupted and long gone before developing on iOS.

My two cents.
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Take a look a their privacy policy. If the government or a legal court asks for your stored keyboard results on their servers, they will provide it to them.

----------
Allenbf said:
Interesting! I was just thinking about this yesterday. I have been using Swype a bit and tbh, I really do appreciate the speed. But I'm also actively scaling back my "online" self and looking for more privacy, so I may have to kick the 3rd party keyboard(s) to the curb.

I'm really rather tired of being a product...
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Swype is the one that does not require the permission to use, so they are not collecting your data.
 
Might be a dumb question, but if we install and grant permission, then later delete the app. Does it still track everything in its cloud service?
 
I never did quite understand people who use Facebook and twitter. I guess I am just not that kind of person.

However, imagine this:

Announcing ShareKey! The best alternate keyboard for your iPhone! No need to use facebook! No need to use twitter! We capture EVERYTHING you type and post it for you on our central servers! Provide your most intimate thoughts in REAL TIME! (Full Access Required.)
Get ShareKey! now!

P.S. I really should go make this now. I KNOW people will buy it. Why? I have no clue. But they will. Someone will do it. I give it 2 weeks.
 
Last edited:
This thread is paranoia personified - I can only assume from these posts that most of you are Americans. The same people only 20% of which own a passport who spend all their lives either blowing the **** outta anyone they don't like the look of, or barricading themselves in from the enemy - i.e. anyone who isn't either an American, or the American government...

The same people you pay (out of your taxes) to protect you, take away all of your liberties, democratic rights and freedom - all in the name of freedom itself. I suspect you're all brainwashed by the scaremongering US media, and I pity every single one of you who is...

:D

I suggest you go back and actually READ the original post, and - here's a radical idea - how about you use the 3rd party keyboard the way Apple designed it to be used - i.e. for sending texts to your S.O. along the lines of "What time is dinner ready?" and "Please pick up some milk on the way home..." and toggle to the Apple keyboard when you're all typing in your - no doubt - ultra top secret, confidential, in critical demand, government-sensitive data....

:rolleyes:
 
virtuosity said:
This thread is paranoia personified - I can only assume from these posts that most of you are Americans. The same people only 20% of which own a passport who spend all their lives either blowing the **** outta anyone they don't like the look of, or barricading themselves in from the enemy - i.e. anyone who isn't either an American, or the American government...

:rolleyes:
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Way to lump us all into a single stereotype, chief.
 
Never too late to wake up

I was thinking why nobody made an article about this big issue so far.

You can very well allow them access to everything you type so they can "know you" better and sell your info in a legal way and in return they'll give you a fully coloured keyboard with all the whistles.

Beware of those free ones they do well in sales and then a BIG MARKETING company buys them for the data of course all legally. So they do not sell your data but they can be absorbed by a marketing giant.

Swype on the other hand works great with themes and predictive texts and all that without asking for full access at all so technologically all keyboard can work amazingly without full access anything else is suspicious in my view.

I do not allow full access to any keyboard and this option shouldn't exist at all in my view. This is foggy and Apple should correct this issue.
 
NotAdvisable said:
Yet it's quite clearly obvious that none of the major keyboard developers actually dive into your information and steal your data. Honestly, you're not that special mate.

If Swipe or SwiftKey used our data maliciously on Android (for example) they'd be bankrupted and long gone before developing on iOS.

My two cents.
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That is a bit naïve about the threat posed by having your keystrokes logged to an external server. Of course no keyboard maker wants to use your data maliciously. The same cannot be said for malicious individuals working at the company, hackers, and federal agents wielding secret FISA warrants. A company can minimize the first two of those threats. Google, for example, has extremely tight controls in place that do just that. There is little threat that your Google data will be hacked or misused by a rogue employee. The last of those threats, however, government warrants, will always be there. If you fall under suspicion of the government, anything you type "can and will" be used against you.
 
Why would you allow a key logger?

Ok, you have X benefit but the privacy risk is too high to even consider.
 
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