After a recent firmware update which Samsung has been rolling out to various cell phone models, Android phones are no longer able to access the Galaxy Store without agreeing to their new 'privacy' policy (which essentially says we have none...) and granting Samsung access to *everything* on the phone. That includes Contacts, Camera, Location, Phone, and Storage. Whaaaat?? (For you iPhone users, the Galaxy Store includes all the apps that come with the phone and essentially allow it to do what it's advertised to do.)
The upshot of that change for me is that now at least one Samsung app that operates a built-in feature of the phone I can no longer access without agreeing to the co-opting of all my data, AND without giving them access to *everything* on my phone. (I don't use - and don't want to - any features that would require access to any of these things.)
Am I the only one who is a bit incensed about this? California passed a law a while back that supposedly gives us some kind of privacy protection, but after taking a quick look at it, it appears that just about all it does is require a company to disclose that their so-called privacy policy means no privacy at all. (I guess they're pretty confident no one actually reads those things...) Under this law, it appears they can access anything and everything they can get their hands on about us - as long as they don't sell that info without our permission. And it's a pain to opt out of allowing that to happen.
Imagine what they can be doing with users' personal data in the states without even that minimal protection?! A users' personal data can be sold to whomever for whatever purposes they might have. And with the increase in data hacking, ransomware, identity theft, etc. I don't believe this data grab is innocuous or without risk. The intrusiveness of data collection by a variety of parties has been gradual to where most hardly notice it anymore, but this is finally a step too far. I might be shooting off some comments to my state representatives today... 
OK... rant over.  |
