Uber Removing Apple-Granted API That Could Have Let it Record a User’s iPhone Screen [Updated]

[antiprotest]

But...but...

I mean they could have just SAID it like some fake loser, but they put it on a SLIDE, so it must be true.

 

[Tech198]

Don't worry. Uber is 100% safe. And Google doesn't spy on it's users.

of course not *bites his tounge*

But...but...

I mean they could have just SAID it like some fake loser, but they put it on a SLIDE, so it must be true.

It's all about presentation.

 

[Rocketman]

Bleeding edge applications are supported by Apple to establish a "killer app". It worked.

 

[coolfactor]

Apple is the one that gave them this capability. I am more upset with Apple than Uber. Was anyone told Uber was recording all actions on the device thanks to Apple?

Yet folks are upset with Uber??? Seems like Apple is in the wrong here...

Were there conditions attached to this entitlement that required Uber to restrict use of the feature to a very specific scope? That hans't been mentioned, has it?

 

[JPack]

Well I think the pitchforks need to stay raised -- just pointed at Apple. One of the features Apple uses to sell it's devices is privacy. So how the h* did it not catch this before it gave it out to Uber -- apparently some time ago. Uber has made it's share of sketchy moves but this one is on Apple. It really needs to explain how this won't happen again.

This particular story sounds plausible the way it is explained, but I have permanent distrust for Uber, given how many shady/slimy things they have done in the past. I don't trust them to be able to reform, ever, given their long record of going out of their way to treat people horribly. Best for Apple to withdraw the entitlement and continue keeping a wary eye on Uber.

NO. We should pick up ten times the pitchforks and direct them at both Apple and Uber for something like this.

Were there conditions attached to this entitlement that required Uber to restrict use of the feature to a very specific scope? That hans't been mentioned, has it?

There's far too much we don't know yet. We've only heard a small part of the story. Look at the knee-jerk reaction from posters.

It's entirely possible Apple monitors this special entitlement for violations. Or Apple has reviewed the source code for the Uber app to ensure violations aren't technically possible.

Put down the pitchforks until we know more.

 

[Naraxus]

Don't worry. Uber is 100% safe. And Google doesn't spy on it's users.

Google doesn't. No moreso than Apple does but keep the fountain of misinformation flowing

 

[BigJohno]

I stopped using Uber a long time ago. Lyft is my ride share of choice now. Uber is Toxic .

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Yet another reason I stopped using Uber a long time ago. Given that Apple themselves granted the backdoor for their app, like the article said, if they wanted to maliciously use it for their purposes no one would have known about it, who knows if they did anything with it. This is the complete opposite as to what Apple has been saying all along, NO BACKDOORS to their OS ever, then turns around and grant one of the shadiest, if not THE shadiest company ever, to have potential access to a user's phone.

There's maybe nothing to this but it makes you wonder...

 

[Williesleg]

Wait, what????? Certain developers get access to secret API's and regular developers don't get that?

That's anti-competitive Apple, shame on you.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

This company is constantly involved in scandal. I don't know why Apple deals with it. They are dishonest, they have no integrity.

Its note the "company" that is dishonest. Its the individual executives of the company that have created the environment that rewarded bad behavior.
Companies do nothing. Its the people that do it.

 

[kyjaotkb]

I stick with Lyft the 2 or 3 times a year I need such a service because their drivers are nicer in general, but then add in all of these issues and you really do want to stick with Lyft or other competitors to Uber.

Agree - Über is bad. But the reality is, Über has no competitors. I used it recently in London, Birmingham, Paris, Paris’ suburbs, New York, Aix-en-Provence’s suburbs, Madrid, Stockholm, Lisbon... Which other ride-hailing service could I have fired up? I’m not reelistically going to register to a different service in every city I go to, am I? And Lyft... well Lyft is a joke, it only exists in a handful of cities. All in the US. Even where I live, in London, who offers rides at the same price, with the same ridiculously short wait time? Not Addison Lee. Not Hailo... Über is much too big and too convenient to fail. It’s becoming the Google of transportation.

 

[miknos]

At least the new CEO ain't scum.

I wonder if they'll stop updating the app every week to clear bad reviews.
I also hope they remove all the tracking capabilities that's making the app massive (double the size of Lyft). Same for Facebook and Google apps.

 

[nt5672]

This company is constantly involved in scandal. I don't know why Apple deals with it. They are dishonest, they have no integrity. Ban them.

But there was a time when it was politically correct to support Uber as they overturned the stodgy cab business. Just goes to show that not all new things are fundamentally good.

 

[puckhead193]

the more stuff i heard about Uber shadyness makes want to use lyft

 

[magicschoolbus]

wtf.. Uber.. no more.
[doublepost=1507251474][/doublepost]Figures they get rid of it after they got caught...

 

[Pastormac1usa]

And why did Bozoma St Jean leave Apple to go to Uber? That's a headscratcher.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

There's far too much we don't know yet. We've only heard a small part of the story. Look at the knee-jerk reaction from posters.

It's entirely possible Apple monitors this special entitlement for violations. Or Apple has reviewed the source code for the Uber app to ensure violations aren't technically possible.

Put down the pitchforks until we know more.

Right. That is like saying the police department hosts a Happy Hour at 5pm but keeps a sharp eye out for drunk drivers at 7. Sure, we don't know the whole story here but we do know Apple was complicit, obviously unintentionally, but it still passed out keys it shouldn't have. It makes zero sense, and no difference, if they monitor or not. That Apple would let any developer have that potential level of control, all unknown to the user. It's either irresponsible or negligent. When we get more facts we'll know which. What if it fell into the wrong hands -- not that Uber's are all that clean.

But if you don't think this is serious let's review from the article (bold added for emphasis):

Strafach says there is no evidence that Uber ever misused the entitlement, but it could have been utilized to monitor activity on an iPhone, recording passwords and other personal information. "Essentially it gives you full control over the framebuffer, which contains the colors of each pixel of your screen. So they can potentially draw or record the screen," another security researcher, Luca Todesco, told Gizmodo.

 

[andiwm2003]

Apple is the one that gave them this capability. I am more upset with Apple than Uber. Was anyone told Uber was recording all actions on the device thanks to Apple?

Yet folks are upset with Uber??? Seems like Apple is in the wrong here...

+1.
WTF Apple? You promise us maximum security as one of the key features of iOS and OS X and then you hand the keys to the castle to a third party? To support an apple watch that most of us don't even own? How many other companies did you trust with our security? Amazon? Ebay? Twitter?

 

[ke-iron]

Corruption is everywhere you look these days, damn shame.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Wow, astroturfers full force today on macrumors. Sounds like an all out PR attack.

I guess jumping to conclusions is the cool thing these days!

 

[garylapointe]

Apple is the one that gave them this capability. I am more upset with Apple than Uber. Was anyone told Uber was recording all actions on the device thanks to Apple?

No one has ever been told that as far as I can tell...

 

[kdarling]

Apple is the one that gave them this capability. I am more upset with Apple than Uber. Was anyone told Uber was recording all actions on the device thanks to Apple?

No one said they were doing so. No one. Repeat: there's no evidence they did so. Someone simply said it made it possible.

Wow, astroturfers full force today on macrumors. Sounds like an all out PR attack. I guess jumping to conclusions is the cool thing these days!

No need to go all tin foil hat and blame "astroturfers".

All it takes the usual internet user tendency to skim and misread an article

 

[Applefan4]

This company is constantly involved in scandal. I don't know why Apple deals with it. They are dishonest, they have no integrity. Ban them.

No thanks. Nobody is forcing you to use it. I like Uber. They are cheap and efficient

 

[Howl's Castle]

$$$$

Apple "commitment" to the user privacy only goes as far as not impacting its business.

Uber's surreptitious and deceptive actions in going so far as to actively conceal its violation of Apple's guidelines (not to mention Project Greyball) was as much as any principled leader would have needed to flick the app from the store.

That would have happened with any lesser developer. But, Uber's market position, and potential user backlash was too much for Cook to do anything but let them off with a scolding. Money > principle.

Don't fall for the hype. Ultimately, nobody has your own interests as heart except you. Certainly not these multi-$B corporations.

Off topic, I just wanted to say I love your avatar, Tyrell.

 

[pat500000]

Entitlement....don't they need Apple's approval? OH SNAP!!!!

Apple...tsk tsk tsk.