Download With Caution: Romney, Obama Campaign Apps Have Privacy Flaws

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Download With Caution: Romney, Obama Campaign Apps Have Privacy Flaws

Posted by timothy on Saturday September 1, 2012 @04:20AM from the why-would-you-not-want-supreme-leader-watching? dept.

puddingebola writes "Apps released by both the Obama and Romney campaigns have been found to have 'privacy issues.' From the article: 'Experts at GFI Software looked at the Android versions of both apps, discovering both to be surprisingly invasive. Obama for America and Mitt's VP request permissions, access to services and data and capabilities beyond their core mandate.'"

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Flaw? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-09-01 04:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

Assume this to be a feature - not a bug.
You are the crop they are harvesting.

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
1. Re:Flaw? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-09-01 04:28 · Score: 3
  
  Ever read Sinclair Lewis? http://blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/imagecache/feature400/illusion_of_choice.jpg
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
2. Re:Flaw? by betterunixthanunix · 2012-09-01 08:18 · Score: 2
  
  There, you got your advertising eyeball. Until then, my visit is no reward.
  I would not even go that far. That image is being served by people who are tracking your browsing habits regardless of Javascript being enabled. At this point, NoScript, ABP, and HTTPSEverywhere are basically must-have extensions (or their equivalents in other browsers).
  
  Unfortunately, an increasing number of website won't even use plain HTML links anymore -- forget form submission, now basic hrefs are becoming a thing of the past. Soon we will not be able to browse at all without disabling whatever meager security precautions we are taking with our browsers. I have no idea what the disabled will have to do.
  
  --
  Palm trees and 8
3. Re:Flaw? by contrapunctus · 2012-09-01 23:55 · Score: 2
  
  most likely your email address is in the contacts (address book) of someone who has your email they download an app on their phone that scraped your email address?
this is what is called a "meta-joke" by circletimessquare · 2012-09-01 04:28 · Score: 2

request permissions, access to services and data and capabilities beyond their core mandate
submitter is a republican if the subject of the joke is financial policy, because democrats want the government in your wallet
submitter is a democrat if the subject of the joke is social policy, because republicans want the government in your bedroom

--
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
1. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by houstonbofh · 2012-09-01 04:45 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  request permissions, access to services and data and capabilities beyond their core mandate
  submitter is a republican if the subject of the joke is financial policy, because democrats want the government in your wallet
  submitter is a democrat if the subject of the joke is social policy, because republicans want the government in your bedroom
  And you are a fool if you think there is any difference between them. Both sides want power, and job security. Neither side cares about health care or social security, since they have a better plan for themselves. Vote Kodos...
2. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by ThunderBird89 · 2012-09-01 05:47 · Score: 2
  
  Both sides want power, and job security.
  At the very least, that part is true. The basic aim of any politician is, and should be, to get into power, amass as much power as they can, and keep it. Which is all well in an ideal (emphasis) democracy, since power comes from the people, and the better off the general populace is, the better off politicians are, and the more likely they are to be kept in power.
  
  --
  Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
3. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by ohnocitizen · 2012-09-01 06:12 · Score: 2
  
  Adorable. The Republicans and the Democrats both want the government in your wallet. They just differ on how they take the money out, and what they want to spend it on (though mostly they agree on what to spent it on - the only big difference is Republicans now want to eradicate the social safety net. Dems and Reps both love military spending).
4. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by anagama · 2012-09-01 06:58 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Yep, the Democrats want us to go back to the days of racism, no rights for women, husbands beating their wives and getting away with it, no clean running water, healthcare and education for only the rich and whites, hatred towards gays and lesbians, and total deregulation for the banking system.
  What has Obama done about the racist drug war?
  http://www.newjimcrow.com/
  Where is the Democratic outcry over Obama's due process free assassination program? Even when it targets Americans?
  Where is the Democratic outcry over Obama's signature on the due process free detention law?
  What has Obama done about toruturers and murderers?
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/31/obama-justice-department-immunity-bush-cia-torturer
  And why was it such a personal struggle for Obama to finally come to the Dick Cheney level of morality with respect to gay rights?
  http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/05/gay-gop-group-obama-took-the-cheney-position-122968.html
  You claim the GOP is evil and Democrats are not. You are fucking liar.
  
  --
  What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
5. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by kat_skan · 2012-09-01 08:06 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Lest anyone think he is kidding, let's have a look at the permissions for each app.
  
  Obama for America
  
  RECEIVE DATA FROM INTERNET
  Allows apps to accept cloud to device messages sent by the app's service. Using this service will incur data usage. Malicious apps could cause excess data usage.
  
  That's money out of your pocket my friends. Typical Democrat.
  
  Romney-Ryan
  
  CONTROL VIBRATOR
  Allows the app to control the vibrator.
  
  So it should be obvious that the Register has good reason to be up in arms.
6. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by AK+Marc · 2012-09-01 08:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The differences are inconsequential. The Democrats want tax and spend. The Republicans want tax and spend, they just want to borrow first, and tax their kids when they are dead. One fights for freedom of religion (as long as it's *their* religion) and the other fights for freedom from religion.
  
  For an average wage earner, there is no functional difference between the two. Only the edge cases see a difference (self-employed, people whose primary income is not earned, and some others).
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
7. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by amRadioHed · 2012-09-01 09:21 · Score: 2
  
  One fights for freedom of religion (as long as it's *their* religion) and the other fights for freedom from religion.
  That sounds like a pretty major difference to me.
  
  --
  We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
8. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by zer0sig · 2012-09-01 11:33 · Score: 2
  
  That you think that libertarians are part and parcel of the GOP shows that you really don't understand US politics.
9. Re:this is what is called a "meta-joke" by houstonbofh · 2012-09-01 14:39 · Score: 2
  
  there is a difference. you are a mindless cynic
  OK, Democrats can sleep around and not get fired, and republicans can't.
Snore. by Frosty+Piss · 2012-09-01 04:28 · Score: 3, Insightful

Is this much of a surprise? This sort of "app" is specifically designed for the designated politico to "leverage" the mindless sycophants that install such apps. As to leading people to "bad" parts of town, that's subjective and poor people can vote, too.

--
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
1. Re:Snore. by Qwavel · 2012-09-01 05:43 · Score: 2
  
  Has anyone here actually gone and looked at the permissions required by these apps?
  They are really pretty mild and ordinary. Wow, they want to detect your location and they want Internet access - OMG!
  TheRegister is a rag, and the headline of the linked article "Don't download that app: US presidential candidates will STALK you with it" is sensationalist exaggeration. Why are we falling for it?
  There are tons of apps out there that require permission to read all your contacts and your SMS, and that have no business doing so. Check out Uber, the taxi service, or Hookt messanger (which starts contacting your contacts as soon as it harvests them from your phone). Neither of the presidential campaign apps require those critical permissions.
  The Washington Post did a study a year or two ago (sorry, can't find the link) in which they analzyed lots of high profile apps on Android & iOS. iOS was a bit worse but on both platforms they found that most apps violated their own privacy policies and tracked users without warning - mostly for purposes of advertising.
  My point, again, is that the apps that have offended the Register are pretty mild, and when we freak out about the mild ones, we lose our perspective and take our eyes off the important issues (and permissions).
Surprisingly Invasive by Crasoose · 2012-09-01 04:29 · Score: 4, Funny

I think the most surprising part of the summary for me is that someone found it surprising.
The bigger question is... by blackt0wer · 2012-09-01 04:51 · Score: 3, Insightful

Who downloads a campaign app? What do you gain from that, that you cannot find on the news, twitter, or Youtube?
1. Re:The bigger question is... by Skapare · 2012-09-01 05:18 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Idiots do. This is an app for the brainless.
  
  --
  now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Re:Why am I not surprised? by swillden · 2012-09-01 05:17 · Score: 4, Interesting

Google has been hesitant to enforce a strict set of standards akin to Apple, and the results are beginning to show.
Do Apple's policies limit "the amount of pings [apps] make to various web servers"?

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Re:You got that right! by fustakrakich · 2012-09-01 05:59 · Score: 2

You should take a minute to read up on Pavlov's work, and others. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of write ups on why people act against their own interests. Some them were there in Europe during the rise of Nazism. Couldn't ask for a better laboratory to work in. Your support of the ruling party (republican/democrat) isn't baffling at all. It's something everybody carries with them. And then, there are some who have the strength of character to overcome it, and act according to their conscious, as opposed to just following the herd.

--
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Re:You got that right! by CodeBuster · 2012-09-01 06:45 · Score: 2

You should be careful telling other people what their interests are. How are you in a position to know that better than them? Have you even considered the possibility that different world views, experiences and philosophies might lead to different interests? For example, it's very difficult to make a purely economic argument for owning a hybrid car as the cheapest and most efficient form of private motorized transportation. Any number of alternatives offer a lower cost of ownership. Shall we regard anyone buying or leasing a hybrid vehicle as an idiot, acting against their own interest (economic in this case)? Few things annoy me more than people who make the argument that others are incapable of understanding the positions that they take and why they take them and that any person who takes a position that's "against their own interest" is an idiot or under the influence of brainwashing. Refusal to understand the viewpoints of others and treating them as inferior is very likely to lead to violence, not conversion to your point of view. In spite of this, it remains one of the most quintessential, and frankly disgusting, qualities of the elitist intellectual left here in America who seem to have forgotten the virtue of humility in their quest for knowledge and truth.