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Many More Android Apps Leaking User Data
eldavojohn writes "After developing and using TaintDroid, several universities found that of 30 popular free Android apps, half were sharing GPS data and phone numbers with advertisers and remote servers. A few months ago, one app was sending phone numbers to a remote server in China but today the situation looks a lot more pervasive. In their paper (PDF), the researchers blasted Google saying 'Android's coarse grained access control provides insufficient protection against third-party applications seeking to collect sensitive data.' Google's response: 'Android has taken steps to inform users of this trust relationship and to limit the amount of trust a user must grant to any given application developer. We also provide developers with best practices about how to handle user data. We consistently advise users to only install apps they trust.'"
Then I guess the problem is solved.
You are confused between Android OS and Android Apps. But don't let that interfere with your bashing of "open" and love for apple's walled garden. Please continue.
The Earth, too, is a walled garden. The US is a free country, but only from sea to sea. But, please, let's not generalize. How did Apple personally fuck you over with their walled garden? Because it seems like they just don't need any more great developers... nearly every cool feature exploited has at least a few decent apps to cover it. What were you gonna do that the "walled garden" stopped you from doing? (What almost comes to mind is.... damn... escapes me... what was it Morrison used to say about doors?) Or what is it that you THINK you MUST HAVE that Apple has forbidden? And how often is it on another smart phone that you are perfectly capable of doing this cherished activity, and what is it's true frequency of use?
All Apple has done is narrowed the field a bit, to figure out what the most common things are that most people want... and then they focused on perfecting that. Rather than being all things to all people, they try to enable the best things for most people. And now the curve is very steep.
The Admin and the Engineer
You're a bit too much of an idiot to know what the truth is. There are multiple Android app stores. Android fanbois present it as an advantage that no one can stop distribution of an app. You can't have it both ways.