Google Photos Uploading Your Pics, Even If You Don't Want It To

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Google Photos Uploading Your Pics, Even If You Don't Want It To

Posted by timothy on Saturday July 11, 2015 @12:27AM from the that's-not-what-I-asked-for dept.

New submitter Adekyn writes that, according to David A. Arnott of The Business Journals, the Google Photos app will sync your photos — even after you have deleted the application from your device. From the article: All I had to do to turn my phone into a stealth Google Photos uploader was to turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app. Whereas one might reasonably believe uninstalling the app from the phone would stop photos from uploading automatically to Google Photos, the device still does it even in the app’s absence. Since making this discovery, I have re-created the issue multiple times in multiple settings on my Galaxy S5. I reached out to Google, and after reaching someone on the phone and describing the issue, was told to wait for a comment. Several hours later, I received a terse email that said, “The backup was as intended.” If I want to stop it from happening, I was told I'd have to change settings in Google Play Services. A video of the process accompanies the article.

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Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2015-07-11 00:34 · Score: 2, Insightful

I discovered something astounding. I used a remote control to turn the TV on. Then I accidentally stepped on the remote and destroyed it completely. But the TV was still on. I did not understand why the TV was on even after I destroyed the remote. Called their tech support, they said if I wanted the TV to go off, I have to walk all the way to the TV and press on a designated location with some cryptic icon which they called a "switch". Not swipe, not single or double tap, press with a finger and let go, according to their tech support script. They claim this is the intended behavior.

--
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
1. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 00:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Except that in your little analogy, uninstalling the app should correspond to taking the TV away. As a customer, that was my intent when I removed the app. Anything else is sneaky and borderline (?) malicious.
2. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by ArylAkamov · 2015-07-11 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  You have made a drunk man laugh until his sides hurt. I hope you are happy.
3. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-11 00:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Your analogy just shows that you don't understand the problem. A TV switched on is very obvious. And it's not a privacy issue.
  The problem described by the OP is not obvious, and is a privacy problem.
4. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by jellomizer · 2015-07-11 00:54 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  By that logic if I had an app for my credit card company. If I deleted the app, my balance should be gone, and my account closed.
  I think the biggest sin here is having a third party app that enables and OS Feature. But on the other hand, having delete an app witch will also delete my account, could be a disaster. As I may be getting rid of one device, or not using it for that app, and switching to an other.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
5. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by AvitarX · 2015-07-11 01:00 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's non obvious that the app is not doing the back-up.
  I understand what's going on, having read the summary, but I would not have guessed that deleting the app that asked me about back-up, and where I make my settings for the back-up, does not delete the back-up functionality
  I don't think it's malicious, but I am surprised that Google is sticking to it being the right way for it work.
  
  --
  Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
6. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by ArcadeMan · 2015-07-11 01:03 · Score: 1
  
  I think it's more similar to having a bank account, destroying a credit card and having the credit card company still have access to your bank account.
  No wait, that's not right at all either.
  Can someone make an analogy, but with cars?
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
7. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Barny · 2015-07-11 01:06 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Sure!
  So you have a car. You noticed the oil-warning light is on all the time. You go under the hood and remove the oil-sensor, now you wonder why your engine is screwed.
  
  --
  ...
  /me sighs
8. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by squiggleslash · 2015-07-11 01:12 · Score: 1
  
  I think it's like removing the engine and steering wheel from a car, and then finding it still drives you to work every morning and back.
  It's not what you expect, and the part you missed was your manufacturer, in an attempt to "help" you, had automated most of the functionality and put in multiple engines. The one you removed was just the thing that helped with the power steering.
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
9. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by chill · 2015-07-11 01:13 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The app isn't doing the backup. The app is gone. The app had a convenient way to access the basic Google Sync settings, but itself is not Google Sync.
  Deleting the app that you used to change a system-level setting used by other apps should NOT change the setting.
  
  --
  Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
10. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by beakerMeep · 2015-07-11 01:25 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah it would seem like a relatively easy fix for the background uploader service to check
  Something sorta like:
  if (photosApp.isInstalled()) { performBackupSync(); } else { promptUser(); //ask user if they still want to backup... }
  
  --
  meep
11. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by JMJimmy · 2015-07-11 01:29 · Score: 2
  
  Your analogy just shows that you don't understand the problem. A TV switched on is very obvious. And it's not a privacy issue.
  The problem described by the OP is not obvious, and is a privacy problem.
  You turn on backup sync and are surprised when it backs up your files? Seems rather obvious to me
12. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by fustakrakich · 2015-07-11 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  Can someone make an analogy, but with cars?
  You put the car in reverse and break off the shift lever. Now you're stuck in reverse.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
13. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Bing+Tsher+E · 2015-07-11 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  The important question is whether the 'system level' toggle that is set by the app is available to any other app running on the system. If it's a hidden function that Google intends to work only with their Google Photos app, then it should be toggled off on an uninstall. If it's 'open' then perhaps it's okay that it isn't toggled off on uninstall, because it might be a function some other app has toggled on.
  So, is it a system level toggle that Google provides control over on an open API function?
14. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Tokolosh · 2015-07-11 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  It is like breaking the remote and finding out that Comcast is still billing you for cable service.
  
  --
  Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
15. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-11 03:19 · Score: 2
  
  It's not at all obvious that a process that you turn on in an app continues to happen when the app is uninstalled. The most obvious mental model is that the app is the thing that performs the process.
  Now it may be that you have some technical knowledge of how it actually works in Android. The implementation details. But this is a phone. Such knowledge of implementation decisions shouldn't be expected or required.
16. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by arth1 · 2015-07-11 03:27 · Score: 2
  
  Enough with the stupid analogies and defending Google. When you uninstall an app, all app-specific components should be deleted, including any background running programs, not just the user facing GUI program.
  The photo uploader was not deleted
  But that's the thing - the photo uploader is not app specific. It performs a different service.
  This is like uninstalling the music player and then complain that the DLNA server is still running.
17. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-11 03:33 · Score: 1
  
  Except that in your little analogy, uninstalling the app should correspond to taking the TV away. [...]
  Huh? Where did 140Mandak262Jamuna say "I stepped on the TV""?
  No wonder you see bogeymen when you uninstall and app that initiated a backup. Obviously Google needs to update the documentation so that it's clearer to "users" that they need to disable the automatic backup before uninstalling the app that initiates the process and allows you to select what gets backed up. Calling it "stealth" is either ignorant, or click-bait (oh nose it was the internet pixies).
  After prompting you the first time, every time you connect that phone, camera, or storage card to your computer, the photos and videos on it will back up automatically (if you set it to do so).
  There needs to be a series of big popups, maybe with an acceptance code send to your email that has to be entered before you can install the app, and start the auto backup process - or the same process before uses can remove the app. And another one warning them that just because they deleted local copies of files they'd backed up - having removed the backup controlling app they still had the backup copies (what a stupid backup system!).
  Just in case they found the documentation hard to read, or, um, don't know how backups work (but shouldn't the backup copy vanish if my local copies do?).
  Just because I'd never use it doesn't mean I don't care. I care a lot. [about the flowers and the trees, I care a lot]
18. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by cbiltcliffe · 2015-07-11 03:36 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It's not multiple engines. That's the stupidest analogy I've ever heard.
  It's more like this:
  You have a car. Your speedometer says you're doing 60 in a 50 zone, so in order to prevent yourself from getting a speeding ticket, you remove the speedometer from the car. Then, you're both surprised it still moves, and surprised that you get a speeding ticket for doing 60 in a 50 zone, when your speedometer obviously didn't say you were doing that, so you couldn't possibly have been speeding.
  Your speedometer isn't making the car move, and Google Photos isn't doing the backup. Google Photos is an app that runs only when you run it. If you set Google Sync to backup your photos, don't be surprised when it backs up your photos.
  
  --
  "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
19. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by JMJimmy · 2015-07-11 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  They may have turned it on in the app but it's just toggling a global setting that can be accessed from multiple locations/apps. The app itself isn't performing any backup, it's just an ease of access setting within the app for the backup function. At best it might need a better description within the app.
20. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-11 03:39 · Score: 1
  
  By that logic if I had an app for my credit card company. If I deleted the app, my balance should be gone, and my account closed.[...]
  Stop there. That's not logic. A broken analogy. But not logic.
  Try this - read the referenced article. Then consider the logic of complaining because the remote backup of your local data - still exists, even though you removed the app that created the backup.
  Go ahead. Read the referenced article. Here I'll save you doing the clicking thing:-
  There they were, hundreds of photos I’d taken of my wife, my daughter, and me, grouped together by Google’s facial-recognition technology in the company’s Photos app, all snapped over the course of a little more than a month. The problem was, I’d deleted all of those pictures [on the local device] , and most distressing, I didn’t even have the Google Photos app on my phone."
21. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by cbiltcliffe · 2015-07-11 03:39 · Score: 1
  
  But the program isn't doing something. You said that yourself. Some other program, which hasn't been uninstalled, is doing something. Of course it's going to continue to do that thing after you uninstall some other program on the device.
  
  --
  "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
22. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-11 03:40 · Score: 1
  
  I understand what's going on, having read the summary[...]
  The summary is an inaccurate representation of the referenced articles misunderstanding of how backups work. (at least you read the summary)
23. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by cbiltcliffe · 2015-07-11 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  A voice controlled smart TV switched on with no picture because the satellite/cable box is off is both non-obvious, and a privacy issue.
  Is this the fault of the manufacturer of the TV, because they didn't put up a huge "NO SIGNAL, BUT YOUR TV IS STILL ON, IDIOT!!!1!!!1" banner on the display when there's no signal detected?
  Or is it the idiot user's fault because they didn't turn off the fscking TV?
  
  --
  "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
24. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by cbiltcliffe · 2015-07-11 03:48 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, I'm a software developer and I see where the usability problem is. The problem is that the program didn't make it clear that the backup was a system option and not a local option.
  How do you know this? This sound like an "I'm an idiot and do things I don't understand! Why didn't you protect me from myself?!" kind of question. If the user had been even moderately intelligent about this stuff, then they should have known why it did what it did, and added that into the summary. They didn't, and made it quite clear that they think this is Google trying to steal their photos, rather than themselves making a mistake with their settings.
  It could have been a 40 point font warning that required the entire thing to be read before dismissing, and a lot of users would still not remember seeing it. I hardly think that because the user didn't realize what was going on, that it makes this a usability problem.
  
  --
  "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
25. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by MightyYar · 2015-07-11 03:51 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It's there, unless I'm being dense:
  Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> (click on your account name) -> Google+ Photos.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
26. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by MightyYar · 2015-07-11 03:55 · Score: 1
  
  I understand the confusion - the user was given a shortcut to a system function (sort of... it's actually an "accounts" function). The user did not know this was a system function. This is because apps are are allowed to mess with the accounts settings directly - a no-no for most other system functions. Android should probably find a way to make this explicit - the most straightforward (though less user-friendly way) might be to do what they do with the other system functions: the app can send you there, but can't actually change the setting. Another option would be to keep track of which apps have access to an account, and when one of those apps is deleted prompt the user to warn that the account is not being deleted, only the app.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
27. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by NostalgiaForInfinity · 2015-07-11 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think it's malicious, but I am surprised that Google is sticking to it being the right way for it work.
  You don't think that having sync and privacy settings all in one place makes sense?
28. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by NostalgiaForInfinity · 2015-07-11 04:06 · Score: 1
  
  I think it's like removing the engine and steering wheel from a car, and then finding it still drives you to work every morning and back.
  It's more like removing the back seat and wondering why the car still drives.
29. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by InfiniteBlaze · 2015-07-11 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  Except that your understanding of how "the app" works is flawed. The functionality for backups is built into the OS. The Google Photos App is used for VIEWING the photos. Look at your settings when you add a Google account; THAT's when you're asked about syncing, not when you open the app.
30. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Solandri · 2015-07-11 05:54 · Score: 1
  
  Your analogy just shows that you don't understand the problem. A TV switched on is very obvious. And it's not a privacy issue. The problem described by the OP is not obvious, and is a privacy problem.
  Actually his analogy is almost spot on. A cable box switched on is not at all obvious if the TV is off. And your cable company is monitoring which channels you're watching.
31. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by teewillis1981 · 2015-07-11 06:20 · Score: 1
  
  Best....response....ever. I sincerely hope you dropped a mic after submitting that comment.
32. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by squiggleslash · 2015-07-11 07:28 · Score: 2
  
  Nah, that doesn't work, because you have a reasonable expectation that the engine is the thing making the car move. Likewise you have a reasonable expectation that Google Photos the App is responsible for putting your photos on Google Photos the Website not some operating system service that has nothing whatsoever to do with Google Photos. The idea that Android itself, behind the scenes, has said "Oh, I'm going to arbitrarily sync with Google Photos the Website" is unexpected behavior.
  You'd be pretty damned confused if Google Sync, an OS service, decided to upload your photos to Instagram or imgur too. The fact Google runs both Google Photos and Android wouldn't make a person automatically assume that whenever they take a photo, it'll be automatically uploaded to a service they may well have never heard of.
  So yes, I stand by "taking the engine out and the car still runs" as the analogy. Sure, your car's manufacturer might have put in a hidden engine responsible for the vehicle's motion, but most people would be a little surprised that the car would still drive (and steer!) if they took out the main engine and the steering wheel it was attached to.
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
33. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by chihowa · 2015-07-11 08:00 · Score: 1
  
  This is like uninstalling the music player and then complain that the DLNA server is still running.
  If the music player turned on the DLNA server, that would be a valid complaint. Any changes that an app makes to the system should be unmade when that app is uninstalled, especially if those changes are very specific to that app. (There may be multiple apps that require a service and so there may need to be a system in place to insure that apps don't interfere with each other, but just leaving services running after apps are uninstalled is sloppy.)
  If you installed a music player that enabled a DNLA server then uninstalled it, why would you expect it to leave the DLNA server running?
  
  --
  If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
34. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by chihowa · 2015-07-11 08:21 · Score: 2
  
  Totally...
  Myopic developer knows the ins and outs of their system and assumes that everybody else must also magically know as much as they do. It's like when you walk into a store that you've never been into, ask the borderline retarded clerk where to find an item, and watch the cretinous condescending look they give you as they think about how they know where that item is and that you must be an idiot for not knowing.
  It's very very much like that situation. The inability to comprehend a perspective outside of your own is a shortcoming and character flaw at best (and a common symptom of serious mental deficiency at worst).
  
  --
  If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
35. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by Darinbob · 2015-07-11 10:06 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  The solution is to turn off the uploading in the preferences. The app is just a front end to display pictures from Google Play. Android is what is uploading the pictures.
36. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 11:27 · Score: 1
  
  If you installed a music player that enabled a DNLA server then uninstalled it, why would you expect it to leave the DLNA server running?
  I would expect a turned on server to remain running if I turned on another tool to enable it. Yes. I would expect that application to not revert settings in other applications because it was removed. Then again, I use Linux.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
37. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 11:31 · Score: 1
  
  Remind me to ensure my AAA is active if I ride with you. Don't you carry a toolkit even if our car is new? Sheesh...We can find something to move the lever. I probably have a Swiss Army knife so we can fashion a tool if we must.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
38. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  It is like installing a GUI to control a service and then being shocked that the service remains on and kept the settings given it by the GUI that you installed. I would say it is a default and not something I would expect or want to change. It is not the dev's fault that the user is stupid.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
39. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 11:42 · Score: 1
  
  If the security company came and offered to let you record video of cameras you have yet to spot and does not need to install cameras at your house (no new cameras) then wouldn't you notice and look around for the hidden cameras?
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
40. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  Except, in your case, you own the store you are in and should know where the products are or at least have put your faith in some employee doing it on your behalf. In this case you chose to manage it yourself by installing an application that changes settings at the system level. You uninstall that application and those changes remain. You are a Windows user. If you install a Registry Tweaking application and then uninstall it after making changes do you expect it to revert the changes you made to the registry or do you expect them to remain the same? The developer can not anticipate all stupidity nor account for it.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
41. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by fustakrakich · 2015-07-11 13:22 · Score: 1
  
  I always have my screwdriver, hammer, and vice grips. I've never needed anything more. The guy just wanted a thing, okay?
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
42. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-11 13:35 · Score: 1
  
  "We know better than you do"
  That would be the case if they made it work a certain way and didn't give you the option to change it. This, on the other hand, is a default setting you can change. Until you tell Google what you want your device to do, it will carry on the default action. Seems sane to me.
  
  Do you commonly install software and then fail to configure it to behave the way you want? that sure seems like your failing, much moreso than the developers of said software.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
43. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-11 13:37 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed, the app only redirects you to that setting, the setting itself is not part of the app and is still available to be turned on or off regardless of the app. Just another case of people spouting off about things they do not understand.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
44. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-11 13:39 · Score: 2
  
  If the music player turned on the DLNA server, that would be a valid complaint.
  What if the music player opened the settings for the DLNA server to make it easier for the user to turn it on, but the user was the one who actually turned it on? That's a bit closer to what happened here; the setting this guy is complaining about is a system setting and Photos opens the system settings pane containing that setting to allow the user to toggle it. The pane (along with the setting) existed before Photos was installed, exists while Photos is installed, and will continue to exist if Photos in uninstalled. It can be toggled completely independently of the existence of the Photos app.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
45. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-11 13:41 · Score: 1
  
  Put in plain English, if I uninstall an app that has controls that govern syncing my photos, I expect my photos to stop syncing.
  Indeed! However, the app, in this case, does not have controls that govern syncing photos; instead, it opens the system configuration pane that already existed before the app was installed (and still exists when the app is removed) to assist the user in locating the settings.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
46. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by MightyYar · 2015-07-11 15:03 · Score: 1
  
  It's not quite that straightforward... the app sets the setting, it does not redirect you to the Accounts setup. I can see where the confusion arises, but at the same time if you have a Google account setup on the phone then I'm not sure why you'd be so infuriated at the phone sending information to Google.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
47. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-11 16:26 · Score: 2
  
  It was exactly that straightforward for me on Lollipop.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
48. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-11 21:29 · Score: 2
  
  Deleting the app that you used to change a system-level setting used by other apps should NOT change the setting.
  The problem then is allowing an app to change a system setting. You have no separation of concerns here. and in such a situation the user can't reasonably be expected to intuitively learn how the system works.
  I said earlier, don't attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. And here the incompetence is in the system design.
49. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-11 22:32 · Score: 1
  
  It is not the dev's fault that the user is stupid.
  Not knowing what a "service" or a "daemon" or a "TSR" is on a computer doesn't mean people are stupid, let alone on a phone.
  People shouldn't have to know how a computer works to operate it, any more than they should need to know how an internal combustion engine works to drive a car.
  If a phone requires a user to know what a "service" is, and that service is something other than what they pay from from the phone network, then it's an incompetent design.
50. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-11 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  I disagree entirely. I think you *should* know how a car operates, not how to fix it unless that floats your boat, before operating it. I think that should include a working knowledge of the mechanics so that you are able to give a safety baseline before operation. I think you should know how to use a computer before you start installing third party applications. Even the very first phones required learning how to use them properly. Nobody is asking them to understand phone switching - we are just insisting that good practice is going to be continued regardless of stupid users.
  If you use Windows and install an application that makes registry changes do you expect those changes to revert when you uninstall the application? Of course not. If I install phpMyAdmin to make some changes to a MySQL database and then remove it in favor of installing a different application I sure as hell do not want it making changes to the database when I remove the files.
  The user failing to understand the device is not the problem of the developer. There are ways that this could be changed but there is no blame here other than that which goes on the user for not controlling their own computer. If you do not know how to use a tool then do not use it until you are competent to do so. This is *not* a difficult rule to follow. Expecting this to change is absurd.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
51. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by thegarbz · 2015-07-11 23:12 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Urgh. Google, knock it off with the "We know better than you do" bullshit. At least make me aware of what Android is actually doing with my stuff.
  
  Factory reset your phone, then actually READ through the screens you clicked next to.
  Backup and syncing photos and contacts with your google account is about the 4th screen in which you were PROMPTED about when you setup your phone. Don't act all surprised when a feature of the OS it informed you of actually works.
  
  Seriously, this is the kind of thing that is making me want my next smartphone to run something else. I just don't know what yet.
  Why? You'll only complain about something else when you blindly click accept to every window during the setup process on that device too.
52. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by MightyYar · 2015-07-12 01:37 · Score: 1
  
  I'm on lollipop and I just tried it. When you first run the app it lets you toggle the setting from the app - it does not shortcut you to the same menu that you encounter when you take the Settings path that I described earlier.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
53. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BronsCon · 2015-07-12 03:37 · Score: 1
  
  Huh... I must have seen it during initial setup when I first got my phone, then. My point, really, was to reinforce the point you were making, which is that it is a system setting which can be accessed and modified regardless of the app. Which brings me to another point: why do people complain when their technology doesn't do what they want when they haven't taken the time to tell it what they want it to do? That's rhetorical, of course.
  
  --
  APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
54. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by thunderclap · 2015-07-12 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  Enough with the stupid analogies and defending Google. When you uninstall an app, all app-specific components should be deleted, including any background running programs, not just the user facing GUI program.
  The photo uploader was not deleted and the question remains whether this was intentional and malicious to allow Google access to photos it was no longer authorized or entitled to.
  You are misunderstanding something very basic. You believe that what you put on your phone is yours and yours alone. You are wrong.
  As along as you HAVE a Google account, GOOGLE IS AUTHORIZED to access to photos and other content on the android phone. Go read your account info.
55. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by thunderclap · 2015-07-12 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, I'm a software developer and I see where the usability problem is. The problem is that the program didn't make it clear that the backup was a system option and not a local option.
  How do you know this? This sound like an "I'm an idiot and do things I don't understand! Why didn't you protect me from myself?!" kind of question. If the user had been even moderately intelligent about this stuff, then they should have known why it did what it did, and added that into the summary. They didn't, and made it quite clear that they think this is Google trying to steal their photos, rather than themselves making a mistake with their settings.
  It could have been a 40 point font warning that required the entire thing to be read before dismissing, and a lot of users would still not remember seeing it. I hardly think that because the user didn't realize what was going on, that it makes this a usability problem.
  If I could only give you mod points. Your statement is incredibly true. and My solution to PEBKAC has always been to remove the chair.
56. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-12 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  Does your mom understand how the car and the phone works? Does everyone's mom? Why should those moms that don't understand not be allowed to use a car and a phone?
  Your argument makes no sense. It's just the arrogance of a computer geek that has no empathy for people who's knowledge is of different topics.
  And it's an excuse for sub-standard software (such as Windows and PHP, since you mention them).
57. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by KGIII · 2015-07-12 08:41 · Score: 1
  
  My mother is gone but she did not drive - she did not know how a car worked though I suspect she knew the theory. She new how a computer operated and used one. She had me for a son after all.
  I do not expect users to be omnipotent. I do not expect them to know the work that goes on beneath their GUI. I do not expect them to know how to code.
  I do expect them to read, to learn, and to understand default behaviors. I expect them to double check if they are unsure AND to be honest enough with themselves to determine when they are unsure. I do not expect them to be entirely perfect, I too am a user.
  At the same time I do *not* do any user-interface work if I can help it. Why? I am not good at it. I can work within any interface, personally, but am not good at designing one for other people. I do expect settings made to another application to be retained when that application is removed.
  If this were my project I would change it so that they could make a selection on removal that alters the backup daemon's settings by removing the folder(s) applicable. I would do so if enough complaints were lodged. My first attempt to resolve the situation would be giving them instructions on why this is the default, what they can do to change it, and helping them learn how they can prevent this from occurring in the future. My first change would not be to change the application though.
  I expect you to know how to use the applications that you download, install, and configure. I expect you to read the help files. I expect the end-user to be willing to put out the effort to understand that the changes are being made and where they are being made. Obviously this application could have been more informative but there are space and usability issues. I suspect the user was informed of the changes during the apps first run or installation and failed to pay attention to them but that is not really pertinent. They are still obligated to know what they are doing in regards to making system changes.
  The barrier for entry with a telephone was pretty low. They had to learn to pick up the receiver, dial the number(s), and then speak into the microphone when their party answered. Telephone users took the time to know how to do this. I expect the same thing, I dare say it is your duty, with automobiles. If you are going to control a one ton steel cage at high speeds then it behooves you to ensure it is safe to operate. To do so you must have a modicum of knowledge about how it works mechanically. I submit that you are obligated to know so that you can lower your risks to other people using that shared space.
  I have a beautiful woodworking shop. It is full of tools. One of which is a computer but that is not important. Would you go into the shop, use a plunge router, get hurt, and then say that the router was to blame because you did not know how to operate one? Of course not... You use the tool after you learn about it.
  The worst part is that you likely know this and are just being obtuse because your ego will not let you admit the error of your thinking. Your biases enabled you to jump the gun without looking at it logically. At least that is what I expect... Then again - it could be me. You have given me no compelling reasons to think so. I am quite willing to consider your view, I mentioned my inability to make a decent user experience, and would defer to you if you gave me compelling information. It is not like I am unknown around here and I often accept help from other people - I even ask for it.
  Anyhow, to make a short story long, this is what I would expect an application to do. Even if the application did something I did not expect the onus would be mine as it is my obligation to know how to use the tools I am using. Failure to uphold my end of the contract, by being ignorant, is my fault and not the fault of the developer. If this were something outlandish, say it changed the settings and you could never change them back no matter what you did, then I would be unhappy. This does not do anything even remotely freaky, strange even, or unexpected.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
58. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by David+8+A. · 2015-07-12 11:27 · Score: 1
  
  I think it's like removing the engine and steering wheel from a car, and then finding it still drives you to work every morning and back.
  It's not what you expect, and the part you missed was your manufacturer, in an attempt to "help" you, had automated most of the functionality and put in multiple engines. The one you removed was just the thing that helped with the power steering.
  Hi. I'm David, the guy who wrote the original story. Not a regular slashdot reader, let alone commenter, but figured I'd chime in to possibly add to your conversation. This analogy is precisely how I felt things went down with my experience on the phone. For what it's worth, I am/was aware that Google could sync my photos to G+, but had turned that off (as well as everything else with G+ that I could) when I got the device. I recall turning off the photo sync WITHIN G+ (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that was how I did it), which kind of matters for what followed. When I downloaded Google Photos, I -- very reasonably, I believe -- figured that photo sync would be controlled by options within Google Photos. As you can see in the video, I set the backup sync entirely within the app, and then uninstalled. It's perfectly reasonable to believe the backup sync is controlled by Google Photos The App and is not an Android function. Think about it this way, too: If I uninstall Google Photos, then decide I want to sync my pictures with Google's backup, where should I be expected to see them on the web if I don't have Google Photos on my phone? From the user's perspective there's "nowhere" for Google to put them in that case, and "no app" that governs the photo-syncing process. If that happens, perhaps I should be prompted to download the Google Photos app in order to make it clear that's where my photos are going.
59. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by fuzzy2k · 2015-07-13 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, if you try to use a credit card analogy, you would cut up the card and still be getting new charges on it in businesses you go to. The photos are the charges, the photo subjects are the new stores. Be honest - is that how you think credit cards work? The previously published photos, or charges from when you were actually using the card, remain until paid off. That is reasonable. The new ones seem an issue.
  
  --
  --- Say something clever. Pretend it was me. Thanks.
60. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by JMJimmy · 2015-07-13 13:40 · Score: 1
  
  What's the saying? "Can't fix stupid", "Stupid is as stupid does", "Everything happens for a reason, sometimes that reason is you're stupid and you make bad decisions"... or simply http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-con...
61. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by JMJimmy · 2015-07-13 13:45 · Score: 1
  
  The phone isn't requiring you to know what a service/daemon/TSR etc is. It simply requires that you know that the backup program backs up what you tell it to and the photo program does other things with photos. Just because the user changed the backup settings in the photo app does not mean that the backup app will suddenly revert those changes when you uninstall the photo app.
62. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by BasilBrush · 2015-07-14 00:48 · Score: 1
  
  I understand that, but how is the phone user informed of that?
63. Re:Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by JMJimmy · 2015-07-14 02:07 · Score: 1
  
  I have no knowledge of what the app says/doesn't say. As I stated in a previous post, "At best it might need a better description within the app.".
64. Re: Stop the press. The TV is on even after ... by cbiltcliffe · 2015-07-19 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  That's a fucking idiotic analogy.
  A real car analogy is you buy a car that has a tracking device in it, but later decide you don't want the tracking. You have the car maker disable the radio, only to find that they are still tracking you. For some reason, probably because you are an idiot, you are pissed off about this.
  FTFY.
  
  --
  "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
Google's desire to sell all things by nefus · 2015-07-11 00:41 · Score: 1, Insightful

Well thats just a bunch of horse hockey. If you uninstall an app, it's service related functions should stop. This is just some crazy thing google is doing to keep getting access to your data for analysis. They make money by analyzing everything you do online and with android products. In this instance, it is something they should be shamed for continuing to do after you removed the software.
1. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by BasilBrush · 2015-07-11 00:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Don't attribute to malice that which can be sufficiently explained by incompetence.
2. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by thegarbz · 2015-07-11 00:47 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Or maybe backup sync is a different program. No that can't be it at all. ZOMG THE CORPORATIONS ARE OUT TO GET OUR DATAZ!!!!
3. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by ArcadeMan · 2015-07-11 00:55 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  In this day and age, don't attribute to incompetence that which can be sufficiently explained by malice.
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
4. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by drinkypoo · 2015-07-11 01:13 · Score: 2
  
  Well thats just a bunch of horse hockey. If you uninstall an app, it's service related functions should stop.
  Backing up your photos isn't a service related function of the photos app, so no problem.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
5. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 01:26 · Score: 1
  
  ZOMG THE CORPORATIONS ARE OUT TO GET OUR DATAZ!!!!
  Even after being told that all publicly traded corporations have profit as their number one priority, above ALL else, without morals, without mercy, people like you still believe that they will never do anything to harm you. They just told you money means more to them and you still don't see how this could ever end badly for you? They ALWAYS need growth and sooner or later it's going to affect you in a negative way. Now stop saying such foolish things.
6. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 02:07 · Score: 1
  
  Well thats just a bunch of horse hockey. If you uninstall an app, it's service related functions should stop. This is just some crazy thing google is doing to keep getting access to your data for analysis. They make money by analyzing everything you do online and with android products. In this instance, it is something they should be shamed for continuing to do after you removed the software.
  Well, except for the fact that likely every single other EULA you agreed to allows them to do exactly that.
  Sure, it's deceiving for the customer, but let's face it. NO customer actually reads the many, many, MANY EULAs they have to accept before even starting to use a Google product, much less a device running an entire Google OS.
  In other words, let's drop the whole no evil bullshit. This is Google we're talking about. I would expect nothing less.
7. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by DerekLyons · 2015-07-11 02:23 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  We're talking Google here - they certainly are incompetent at a range of things, but when it comes to "accidentally" gathering information, they're very competent indeed.
8. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Tokolosh · 2015-07-11 02:50 · Score: 1
  
  Is there an analogous Windows situation? You uninstall some program but a related service remains active?
  
  --
  Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
9. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by TheGratefulNet · 2015-07-11 03:19 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  sorry, but google, OF ALL COMPANIES, is not allowed to use the incompetance-card. they go around telling everyone that they have the smartest and brightest engineers. in the world. they constantly tell us this, directly and indirectly.
  and so, that much hubris denies you the 'we didn't know!' card.
  you knew. you FUCKING KNEW. don't give me that shit, google.
  or, come clean and admit you are just another sweatshop employing drones in human skin who are just doing what they are told and have no ability to think on their own. you ready to admit that you hire yes-men and no one there would dare go against your oh-so-mighty data collection requirements?
  I don't believe they hire super bright people, to be honest. they hire young kids who simly will do what they are told and will look the other way if you give them free lunch, free clothes and an employer name that still has a wow-factor to many.
  the group-think is too strong to fight against the data collection monster. I dont' think any google employee would last if he/she stood up and spoke against a privacy violation on a user's data. as long as google gets to keep all your data, there is no such thing as privacy for users and its drilled into the employees, indirectly, but still drilled into them.
  
  --
  
  --
  "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
10. Re: Google's desire to sell all things by BradleyUffner · 2015-07-11 03:31 · Score: 1
  
  There is an app that states its purpose is to upload your photos. That makes the uploading of pics it's provided service. So when that app is removed the uploading of pics should stop irrespective of *how* it uploads the pics.
  You feel so strongly about that point that you had to post as an Anonymous Coward so that no one could effectively engage you?
11. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by BoRegardless · 2015-07-11 03:40 · Score: 2
  
  It is not malice or incompetence but a desire make as much money as possible by keeping their actions hidden.
12. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by arth1 · 2015-07-11 03:45 · Score: 2
  
  Is there an analogous Windows situation? You uninstall some program but a related service remains active?
  Absolutely. Pretty much anything that uses IIS, for example. Uninstall the app, and ISS continues running.
  Or you could (at least in the old versions - I don't know what it's like these days) install Outlook without the standard Office apps, and it would give you an option to install Excel/Word/Powerpoint viewers. Uninstall Outlook, and the documents will still open in the viewer.
  To me, it seems rather clear that functionality only turned on with the user's consent should not be turned off again without again getting the user's consent.
13. Re: Google's desire to sell all things by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  There is an app that states its purpose is to upload your photos. That makes the uploading of pics it's provided service.
  
  Agreed, "Backup Sync" states that is its purpose, and it does it quite well.
  
  So when that app is removed the uploading of pics should stop irrespective of *how* it uploads the pics.
  Well yes, but try to stay on topic here. No one in question removed Backup Sync, so it really doesn't matter that some not-removed app has continued to work.
  The app in question that was Google Photos, which is for viewing your photos.
  And in fact once the poster removed Google Photos, the provided service of viewing your photos WAS removed.
  Should removing Candy Crush also disable your text message app?
  Or removing Youtube should disable the phones ability to display your GPS location on a map?
  Makes about as much sense as expecting a backup app to be disabled after removing a picture viewer.
14. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Known+Nutter · 2015-07-11 13:12 · Score: 1
  
  Or maybe backup sync is a different program. No that can't be it at all. ZOMG THE CORPORATIONS ARE OUT TO GET OUR DATAZ!!!!
  A quip easily spoken by someone with no real compelling or valuable data...
  
  --
  Beware of the Leopard.
15. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Kardos · 2015-07-11 22:29 · Score: 1
  
  > malice
  > noun
  > the desire to harm someone; ill will.
  No, not malice. The word you were looking for is "greed".
16. Re: Google's desire to sell all things by jazzis · 2015-07-12 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Mod up as Funny and Insightful! +8
17. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by gzuckier · 2015-07-12 14:40 · Score: 1
  
  Don't attribute to malice that which can be sufficiently explained by incompetence.
  As one of the first people (I believe) to ever have my Google account cancelled by them (I'm talking about the days when it meant I lost my newsgroups posts), my repeated questions as to why answered by variously ignoring them, boilerplate emails that I was in violation of my agreement, and an email pointing to somebody else's post replying with a bunch of obscenity and threats to one of mine where I expressed the opinion that there were, in fact, gas chambers at Auschwitz; I must agree, one can most easily explain various features of Google's user interactions as incompetence-based.
  
  --
  Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
18. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by gzuckier · 2015-07-12 14:41 · Score: 1
  
  In this day and age, don't attribute to incompetence that which can be sufficiently explained by malice.
  It can be both. Kind of like, malice in blunderland.
  
  --
  Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
19. Re:Google's desire to sell all things by Jack+Griffin · 2015-07-12 18:49 · Score: 1
  
  So malice then....
This just in... by tomhath · 2015-07-11 00:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

Google Photos is a different application than backup sync. More at 11.
1. Re:This just in... by jellomizer · 2015-07-11 00:57 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Such! Quiet!, We want to be outraged on all things. We can be unreasonably outraged from all things, with bringing in logic and reason to the argument. What are you some sore of Unamerican, elitist academic or something.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
2. Re:This just in... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 02:03 · Score: 1
  
  I'm surprised to see this article wasn't written by Bennet himself. I mean, you don't understand how the backup process works, you contact Google and they not just explain it but give you instructions on how to configure it correctly, but yet somehow you feel entitled enough to think that everything should work the way only you perceive it, so you complain in detail about the process which ends up providing more proof that you were incorrect in the first place and yet you still can't see it.
3. Re:This just in... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  Welcome to the 11 o'clock news. In the google photo app, it wasn't made clear to users that enabling the backup option wasn't actually causing the application itself to do the backup, but instead was changing a system level option which would not be reverted upon uninstallation of said application. This meant that backups continued even after removal. Now, though it's not unexpected that these backups would continue because it was using the separate backup application, it is sort of messed up that google didn't make it clear that this is what was happening under the hood.
  If you don't understand why this is a problem, please do the world a favor and never develop software.
4. Re:This just in... by tomhath · 2015-07-11 03:42 · Score: 1
  
  There's a thing called a manual. When you install software you might consider reading it.
5. Re:This just in... by Blaskowicz · 2015-07-11 06:03 · Score: 1
  
  A manual? you rarely even get off-line help files in desktop software.
  Can you even get a readme.txt included with a smartphone app, find it and read it? How do you press the F1 key?
  These smartphone things are sold as simplified computers where you just press a virtual button and don't need to learn or maintain them, too.
  There's not even the basic usability you had with a Windows 3.1 PC with keyb and moues (or trackball)
6. Re:This just in... by Jiro · 2015-07-11 08:05 · Score: 1
  
  Google Photos is a different application than backup sync. More at 11.
  Nonsense. This is a user interface problem. The whole thing is designed such that someone who runs Google Photos would reasonably believe that Google Photos is doing the uploading and that if you get rid of Google Photos, it will not upload.
  User interface problems inherently lead to users not knowing how to do things. Replying "it doesn't work that way, and the user should have known that" is just trying to deny the concept of user interface problems--at some point, the fact that the user doesn't know something is the fault of the interface designer, not the user.
7. Re:This just in... by Jiro · 2015-07-11 08:07 · Score: 1
  
  The answer to a user interface problem is not "the misleading user interface's behavior is described in the manual".
  By your reasoning, there's no such thing as a user interface problem at all, as long as the behavior is described in a manual somewhere.
8. Re:This just in... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-11 15:45 · Score: 1
  
  Google Photos is a different application than backup sync. More at 11.
  Yep, and the "summary" is not accurate (big surprise). Most of the dumb analogies people have posted are information free because they didn't read the referenced article. The original "author" installed the Backup tool. It backed up his photos. He removed the backup tool and deleted the local photos. Then was horrified to discover that the backed up photos still existed. His conclusion - use Flickr.
  tl;dr? The original story was written by an idiot, then sexed up as a summary by a bigger idiot. Which created a /. competition to see who could be an even bigger idiot.
9. Re:This just in... by David+8+A. · 2015-07-12 11:42 · Score: 1
  
  Hi. I'm the idiot you're talking about. See above conversation and note that you're making a slight, yet important, misrepresentation here. I had backup disabled through G+. Later, I installed Photos, and must have not disabled backup through the Photos app before I uninstalled it a day or two after install. A month later, a bunch of my photos taken after uninstall were on the Google Photos web site. I understand NOW that Photos is tied to is an Android function, but that's emphatically NOT clear from actually using the Photos app.
10. Re:This just in... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-12 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  Hi. I'm the idiot you're talking about. See above conversation and note that you're making a slight, yet important, misrepresentation here.
  No misrepresentation.
  "hundreds of photos I’d taken of my wife, my daughter, and me, grouped together by Google’s facial-recognition technology in the company’s Photos app, all snapped over the course of a little more than a month. The problem was, I’d deleted all of those pictures". That is what backups do. Conflating "I thought I turned off backups" with "I'm shocked that local copies I deleted still exist in the backups" is idiotic. Especially coming from someone whose profession is supposed to be fact checking.
  
  I had backup disabled through G+. Later, I installed Photos, and must have not disabled backup through the Photos app before I uninstalled it a day or two after install. A month later, a bunch of my photos taken after uninstall were on the Google Photos web site. I understand NOW that Photos is tied to is an Android function, but that's emphatically NOT clear from actually using the Photos app.
  The analogy given earlier in this story is correct - you stepped on the remote control for your TV and are surprised (and shocked) it's still turned on. It happens. But most people don't go to such lengths to claim it wasn't clearly explained when you turned on the TV - or "conclude" it's "stealth".
  You failed to bother reading the documentation for a backup app. I read the documentation before posting. I agree it could have been made clearer (read my first post on the subject) - I also still hold that it'd do little good.
  To then claim it was not "emphatically NOT clear from actually using the Photos app" seems a little duplicitous don't you think? Given you didn't just install it, you configured it, and enabled backups (oh nose it was stealth, and, um, the internet pixies!) - there's a critical difference. I don't whether you make that omission because you're embarrassed by your mistake, or whether it's to defend your job - writing click-bait "stories", doesn't matter.
  We all make mistakes - but only bloody journalists make money from it.
  I sorry you don't like being called an idiot. I'm sorry you feel the need to defend histrionic "stealth" claims. I'm sorry you didn't bother to either read the full Gizmodo article you claim motivated you to "try" the app - or just failed to process the "creepy" comments.
  What part of "turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app" left you "feeling" that you'd emphatically turned off backup?
  "It should be simpler" and "It should be clearer" aren't compatible with a desire to "just click" and think later. But don't let it stop you wanting the unachievable - and I won't criticise how making those claims, and catering to those sentiments, is part of your job.
  I wouldn't trust your "news editor" critical thinking skills to run a bath. Stick to your usual level of insightful "reporting" - like your discovery of "tatter tots rolled in Dorito dust" (really a wonder of our modern age - Pulitzer material). I await your new campaign to ban bad weather and sharp corners on furniture (just think of the headlines) - don't forget to lobby for larger toilet seats, it's outrageous that their isn't a warning that people who aren't, um, anorexic, can get stuck in there! [sigh - just don't fucking video that]
11. Re:This just in... by David+8+A. · 2015-07-13 00:27 · Score: 1
  
  "What part of 'turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app' left you 'feeling' that you'd emphatically turned off backup?" Maybe the part where I turned on backup sync SEEMINGLY entirely within Google Photos, and then uninstalled the app, which, from a reasonable person's perspective, would make it seem the backup wouldn't apply because Google Photos SEEMINGLY controls that function. It's pretty clear in the video why that's a problem, but if you don't think it is, then that's fine, too. Good for you.
12. Re:This just in... by Demonoid-Penguin · 2015-07-13 01:18 · Score: 1
  
  "What part of 'turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app' left you 'feeling' that you'd emphatically turned off backup?" Maybe the part where I turned on backup sync SEEMINGLY entirely within Google Photos, and then uninstalled the app, which, from a reasonable person's perspective, would make it seem the backup wouldn't apply because Google Photos SEEMINGLY controls that function. It's pretty clear in the video why that's a problem, but if you don't think it is, then that's fine, too. Good for you.
  Video yourself fitting a tap handle. Turn the tap on. Put the plug in the sink. Remove the tap handle - then video yourself mopping the floor.
  Call it the SEEMINGLY EMPHATIC stealth tap. The CAPS might get more viewers.
Ignorant phones..... by catsRus · 2015-07-11 00:54 · Score: 1

Ignorance is bliss, in a cell phone!
Re:intended by whom? by ArcadeMan · 2015-07-11 00:56 · Score: 1

Intended by the Marketing and Data Analysis Department, of course.

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Re:App app apps apps! by ArcadeMan · 2015-07-11 01:00 · Score: 2

Don't you ever sleep?
Oh right, you got an app for that. Carry on, then.

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Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by qubezz · 2015-07-11 01:04 · Score: 4, Informative

I have a Galaxy S5, and have encountered the same types of problems with the baked-into-the-OS Google services. I have rooted the phone, installed app-ops (useless Google window dressing), and then xposed framework and xprivacy. The level of intrusion and data capture is simply stunning.
The first thing that usually blows people mind is when they visit Google GPS location history page at https://maps.google.com/locati... - even though they weren't aware of it, every move they've made for months has been tracked down to the minute by Google. You can "turn location history off" on that web page, but the GPS is so baked into the OS that this cute web page checkbox is almost guaranteed not stop the continuous GPS gathering. In fact, after blocking location access by GPS, you get a stern warning "enable location services for gps", and the "do not ask again" is greyed out if you do not allow it, you will get nagged regularly.
Your phone is essentially rooted. If it can ring remotely, be located via GPS and be disabled by "find a phone" features, it is not you that has root on the OS. It is the company that can employ that at any time.
The Google intrusion is multifaceted once you start digging in, dozens of different components of the OS that make contact with external servers without documentation. Spending massive time disabling their access to your personal data one by one will usually result in a borked phone. One of those back doors is going to get your data even if you think you turned everything off.
Then we have the Samsung apps that are in full intrusion mode. The health app? Wants your contacts and location. The keyboard software? Wants your contacts and location.
It is of course impossible to use these devices without your entire contact list, phone and text engagement, password list, etc, being scarfed up and sent to the cloud. Any single OS library that has network access can act as a gateway to other components that look like they are otherwise behaving when they access your clipboard, screen, etc.
The biggest problem is not that every aspect of your life is tied together by a corporation, who has recordings of your voice, keystrokes of everything you've typed, pictures of you that are run through facial recognition, etc. It's that this is all going over the wire to a corporation that is too big for one government to reign in. A corporation that has had their internal communications tapped by the NSA. A corporation that "plays ball" with law enforcement by giving them their own handy web portal to data. And of course is all behind one password that can be hacked and cracked on by the entire world of hackers from lawless nation states. Soon coming to a Windows 10 computer near you.
1. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-11 02:03 · Score: 2
  
  Soon coming to a Windows 10 computer near you.
  That would require a Windows 10 computer to be anywhere near me. On the evidence so far, that seems unlikely.
  But seriously, every time another one of these stories comes out, it does remind me why I like feature phones, and why Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia has me nervous.
  
  --
  If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
2. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by NostalgiaForInfinity · 2015-07-11 03:26 · Score: 1
  
  a corporation that is too big for one government to reign in [...] A corporation that has had their internal communications tapped by the NSA. A corporation that "plays ball" with law enforcement by giving them their own handy web portal to data.
  It seems like with you, the witch is guilty whether she floats or drowns. At this point, you can't plead ignorance anymore: you know exactly what Google is doing. If you don't like it, don't buy their phones. And governments are perfectly capable of reigning in Google, as you can see from the fact that they can tap their private networks and force them to set up web portals (Google seems to be offering as much resistance as possible, through using encryption and notifications whenever they can).
  However, short of not using a cell phone, you can't avoid this. Every cell phone, even a dumb phone, can be precisely tracked and can be used as a listening device. It's been that way for a while, and there is nothing Google or anybody can do about it, because it's the law.
3. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by mythosaz · 2015-07-11 04:24 · Score: 1
  
  Autocomplete knowing the names in my phone book sounds like a lot less correcting typos every time I include a name -- thanks Samsung!
4. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by adolf · 2015-07-11 07:39 · Score: 1
  
  You agreed to the tracking before your phone even let you use it as a phone. You had the option to disagree. You chose differently than you might have preferred, but you still chose what you chose.
  Didn't read the contract you agreed to? Cry me a fucking river. (I see that you've already begun doing that.)
  Further, you don't even know what "root" means: It is nothing more than an abstraction of UID 0, and of course there are things running as UID 0. It's fucking Unix. PID 1 (aka init) is executed by the kernel with root (UID 0) privileges, and thereafter can do whatever it is programmed to do.
  Get over yourself.
  
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5. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by adolf · 2015-07-11 07:57 · Score: 1
  
  And governments are perfectly capable of reigning in Google, as you can see from the fact that they can tap their private networks and force them to set up web portals (Google seems to be offering as much resistance as possible, through using encryption and notifications whenever they can).
  It is a fact that if the NSA wants to put a magic box in your datacenter, you must accept their magic box into your datacenter and tell noone of its existence, under threat of treason (because terrorism).
  Google's good use of HTTPS protects me from the casual middlemen, but it does not protect me from the government in a time of war (we've always been at war with Eastasia).
  
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6. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by Jiro · 2015-07-11 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  If you've rooted your phone you can just remove all the google framework crap.
  How? Is there a guide somewhere to what things actually have to be removed?
7. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by chihowa · 2015-07-11 08:38 · Score: 1
  
  The Google Apps bundles for Cyanogenmod can be used as a means to find most of the components of the apps. It's not perfect, but it's a start. There are still components of stock CM that contact Google, so it goes much deeper.
  
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8. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  Concern for privacy isn't a binary function. Using a mobile phone has very real benefits that may balance out the inherent privacy invasions. Why is being spied on by creepy third-party companies a necessary component of having a more capable phone?
9. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by WaffleMonster · 2015-07-11 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  I have a Galaxy S5, and have encountered the same types of problems with the baked-into-the-OS Google services. I have rooted the phone, installed app-ops (useless Google window dressing), and then xposed framework and xprivacy. The level of intrusion and data capture is simply stunning.
  Google play services is spyware on a grand scale.
10. Re:Google on your phone, unstoppable data flow out by thegarbz · 2015-07-11 23:29 · Score: 1
  
  The first thing that usually blows people mind is when they visit Google GPS location history page at https://maps.google.com/locati... - even though they weren't aware of it, every move they've made for months has been tracked down to the minute by Google.
  Except that on the 4th page of the setup when you first turn on it explains location services to you and offers you the ability to turn it off. So the only people who get their mind blown are those who don't actually read any of the screen when they first turn their phone off.
  
  You can "turn location history off" on that web page, but the GPS is so baked into the OS that this cute web page checkbox is almost guaranteed not stop the continuous GPS gathering.
  So turn it off on the device. The checkbox is not available only on the first start of the device. It's an option in the settings.
  
  In fact, after blocking location access by GPS, you get a stern warning "enable location services for gps", and the "do not ask again" is greyed out if you do not allow it, you will get nagged regularly.
  Funny that. Phone with features that require location services to work prompts users when the features aren't enabled. In other news my phone asks me to switch flightmode off when I turn wifi on. Unacceptable I say, how dare it!
  
  Your phone is essentially rooted. If it can ring remotely, be located via GPS and be disabled by "find a phone" features, it is not you that has root on the OS. It is the company that can employ that at any time.
  So you linked your phone via a fundamental feature of the OS to an account held by a third party for the purpose of integrating with the phone, and then you're surprised when some of the features work?
  
  The Google intrusion is multifaceted once you start digging in, dozens of different components of the OS that make contact with external servers without documentation. Spending massive time disabling their access to your personal data one by one will usually result in a borked phone. One of those back doors is going to get your data even if you think you turned everything off.
  Remind me again why you even bothered syncing your phone with a Google account if you want to turn all the benefits off?
  
  Then we have the Samsung apps that are in full intrusion mode. The health app? Wants your contacts and location. The keyboard software? Wants your contacts and location.
  It is of course impossible to use these devices without your entire contact list, phone and text engagement, password list, etc, being scarfed up and sent to the cloud. Any single OS library that has network access can act as a gateway to other components that look like they are otherwise behaving when they access your clipboard, screen, etc.
  Funny enough not all of us want to manually setup locales and then add the spelling of every single of our friend's names into the autocorrect dictionary. I'm glad this shit disappeared with location awareness. By the way it's a Samsung device. If they wanted to covertly suck the data away they could do it in far less obvious ways than permissions in apps.
  
  The biggest problem is not that every aspect of your life is tied together by a corporation, who has recordings of your voice, keystrokes of everything you've typed,
  Stop man, you're going full retard.
  
  pictures of you that are run through facial recognition, etc. It's that this is all going over the wire to a corporation that is too big for one government to reign in. A corporation that has had their internal communications tapped by the NSA. A corporation that "plays ball" with law enforcement by giving them their own handy web portal to data. And of course is all behind one password that can be hacked and cracked on by the entire world of hackers f
Re:Trust by ArcadeMan · 2015-07-11 01:04 · Score: 4, Interesting

Facebook?

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Re:Trust by Rick+Zeman · 2015-07-11 01:27 · Score: 1

Darn, and my remaining mod points are gone.
But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-11 01:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

Deleting the app that you used to change a system-level setting used by other apps should NOT change the setting.
That's a reasonable policy, as long as it is absolutely clear in the app that:
1. it was a system-level setting you were changing,
2. the system would continue to honour that setting independent of the app, and
3. you could subsequently turn the system setting off again by doing X independent of the app.
However, if that wasn't clear, and this setting involves uploading data to Google silently and automatically, then the current behaviour is shady as hell. A device that is recording and/or uploading anything without its user's knowledge, or worse when its user explicitly thinks they have turned that behaviour off, is always a usability and privacy issue, and it is always the software developers' responsibility to fix it.

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1. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Bengie · 2015-07-11 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  >
  However, if that wasn't clear, and this setting involves uploading data to Google silently and automatically, then the current behaviour is shady as hell. A device that is recording and/or uploading anything without its user's knowledge, or worse when its user explicitly thinks they have turned that behaviour off, is always a usability and privacy issue, and it is always the software developers' responsibility to fix it.
  I don't know about Google Photo, but when I just recently got my first smart phone, it prompted me during the setup if I want to backup my phone's data using Google Sync. At least during this configuration of the sync functionality, it was made clear that pretty much all of my data would be getting sent to Google.
2. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  You're talking about something different though. This is going into google photo, choosing the backup option, and then google photo not telling you that it wasn't actually doing the backup, but instead was changing a system setting to enable it, and as such, the backups would continue, even if you removed the program.
  It's understandable as to why it's happening, but the fact that this wasn't made 100% clear that the program itself wasn't doing the backup and instead was using an OS capability is a bit effed up. If a program claims to do cloud backups, unless stated otherwise, I'm going to assume it's doing those and only for data within the program, and not anything on the phone. Turning on the general photo backup option on the system might upload photos I don't want uploaded unbeknownst to me.
3. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Solandri · 2015-07-11 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  That's a reasonable policy, as long as it is absolutely clear in the app that:
  
  1. it was a system-level setting you were changing,
  This one is on Google's UI team. When you select backup settings in the Photos app, it dumps you into the system-level backup and sync setting. In previous version of Android, this had the familiar dark grey to black UI theme as with all Android system settings. The settings in an app generally mirrored the app's theme, and were white or light-grey, and distinct from the system settings.
  
  Then with Material design, they made the Android system settings theme white. And as a consequence you cannot tell anymore if you are modifying an app setting or a system setting.
4. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by thegarbz · 2015-07-11 23:07 · Score: 1
  
  However, if that wasn't clear
  And if it was clear than the user's eyes would glaze over while using the app. Most users don't have the attention span turn on their phone the first time without simply blindly hitting next 5 times without reading the screen let alone understand the concept of an app talking about system-level settings.
  If all this information were presented then we'd be in no different place.
5. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-11 23:42 · Score: 1
  
  If your claims are correct then there is no good way to implement this feature with informed consent for the privacy implications, and maybe in that case it shouldn't have been implemented at all.
  You don't get to write software that does dubious things and then just pass the buck to the user because your system was so complicated they couldn't understand it and you buried the details behind sufficient small print that they wouldn't be aware of them.
  
  --
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6. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by thunderclap · 2015-07-12 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  Calling Google shady now is BS. This is and has been established behavior for Google since Gingerbread. Goggle WILL upload everything by default unless you block google play and google play services. However if you do that, you get no maps no app updates and no other of the services provide, You basically have phone with a computer in it. This isn't going to change. You think apple or Microsoft are any better? No they are worse. Apple has been doing it secretly for alot longer. So has Microsoft. If you own a smart phone today, the truth is you can be pinpoint tracked, and see everything you have taken, downloaded or use. Because everytime you disable an app like that you reduce the functionality of the phone which sadly they way they set up the phone, reduces its lifespan. Is it right? No. But it will continue to happen because we all sold our privacy for the sake of convenience. Google photos and the fapperning are the beginning of the harvest. Just wait until you have to pay using Google wallet, or apple pay etc.
7. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-12 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  Calling Google shady now is BS. This is and has been established behavior for Google since Gingerbread.
  I don't personally use Google devices (or much else that Google does) so I can't comment on that. I certainly wasn't commenting on it before. I was commenting on one specific behaviour, and I don't see why the amount of time it's been going on for is material to whether or not it is shady right now.
  
  You think apple or Microsoft are any better? No they are worse. Apple has been doing it secretly for alot longer. So has Microsoft.
  An iOS or Windows Phone automatically uploads all photographs taken with it when the user specifically believes they have disabled that function?
  
  But it will continue to happen because we all sold our privacy for the sake of convenience.
  Speak for yourself. No-one is forcing you to carry a smartphone everywhere you go, or to have a Facebook account, or to upload your pictures or location or views on sensitive subjects to web sites operated by giant data-munging corporations. Not everyone sold their privacy, and corporations that pretend everyone did or that it's OK to do stuff like this should be called out for doing so to protect those who want to make a different choice.
  
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8. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by thunderclap · 2015-07-12 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  Calling Google shady now is BS. This is and has been established behavior for Google since Gingerbread.
  I don't personally use Google devices (snip)
  Thanks for making the rest of your argument totally invalid.
  Established and known issues aren't shady. Shady means hidden and deceptive. Google has never been a friend of privacy. This is also well known.
  As for your question about apple and M$. Yes, One-drive and IOS do upload without knowledge. The fact IOS did this as default was discovered during the fappening. M$ has been doing this since 2000.
  The rest was ignorance that reconfirmed the invalidity of your argument.
9. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-12 11:59 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for making the rest of your argument totally invalid. Established and known issues aren't shady.
  The fact that I chose not to use Google devices, because I don't trust them not to pull exactly this kind of stunt, doesn't invalid anything. The facts are what they are.
  And the discussion here is all about how some people who do use those devices were surprised by behaviour they believed they had disabled by uninstalling the app. So to those people the behaviour obviously was hidden and deceptive instead of established and known.
  
  As for your question about apple and M$. Yes, One-drive and IOS do upload without knowledge. The fact IOS did this as default was discovered during the fappening. M$ has been doing this since 2000.
  So you can describe a verifiable series of user actions, on each of those platforms, that will result in photos being secretly uploaded when they explicitly think they have turned such behaviour off? I don't think you can.
  
  --
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10. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by thegarbz · 2015-07-12 13:08 · Score: 1
  
  If your claims are correct then there is no good way to implement this feature with informed consent for the privacy implications, and maybe in that case it shouldn't have been implemented at all.
  Well that is fundamentally the problem faced by all computers, all platforms, and all programs. We're getting to the point now where the features users are requesting involve syncing data to remote repositories. I hardly call that a "dubious" feature at all. But it puts you in the following scenario:
  a) Don't provide the feature, and each individual app maker will implement it in their own way, users complain of fragmentation.
  b) Provide the feature with no warning or options, a minority of users complain of corporate overreach.
  c) Provide the feature with way too many options and explanations and most users will simply ignore the screen and click next then complain they weren't prompted about a feature.
  For clear evidence of c) which is what was proposed just scroll down to the guy who was absolutely shocked to find that Google tracked the GPS location of his phone, despite the fact the 5th thing the phone asks you for when you set it up, after language, phone name, wifi password, and (optional) google account, is if you want to participate with location services and makes it expressly clear what locations services will do.
  Warnings are useless.
  Taking away useful (optionally backing up data is not dubious in the slightest) features is equally useless.
11. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by stoborrobots · 2015-07-12 21:15 · Score: 1
  Warnings are useless.
  
  Very important point.
  For a good explanation of why this is, Joel Spolsky's article back in 2000: "Designing for People Who Have Better Things To Do With Their Lives" summarised it down to "users don't read anything", and broke it down into three simple points:
  * Advanced users skip over the instructions. They assume they know how to use things and don't have time to read complicated instructions
  * Most novice users skip over the instructions. They don't like reading too much and hope that the defaults will be OK
  * The remaining novice users who do, earnestly, try to read the instructions (some of whom are only reading them because it's a usability test and they feel obliged) are often confused by the sheer number of words and concepts. So even if they were pretty confident that they would be able to use the dialog when it first came up, the instructions actually confused them even more.
  --
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12. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2015-07-12 23:57 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, it's a real problem. But I think you're being generous in your characterisations here.
  For one thing, some users are interested in features that sync data to remote repositories, but not everyone is. Moreover, when positively informed about privacy and security issues and then asked similar questions, a lot fewer people support some of these behaviours than the cloud services would like to admit. For example, I doubt you'd find many people who thought it was OK to upload all of their photos automatically when they thought they'd turned that behaviour off, even if they had previously turned it on. Don't mistake users going along with some behaviour because they think they have no choice for users actually wanting, agreeing with, or supporting that behaviour.
  For a second thing, while there is certainly some truth in your comments about the difficulty of whether to implement these features in software used by a diverse range of users, your characterisation of the available options is very biased. For example, dealing with this specific issue isn't "way too many options", it's one option. Apparently it was fine to have that one option to turn it on, and the usability problem here is that the user could not turn it off again without going to another option somewhere completely different that they didn't know would be relevant. Maybe that first suggestion of yours to have each app do this sort of thing its own way isn't such a bad idea after all for mobile devices where separate apps is the normal model?
  I build user interfaces for a living. Sometimes that means figuring out how to present very complicated technical details in a much simpler way so that users can actually take advantage of them. That can be very challenging at times, in part for the kinds of reasons you mentioned. Sometimes you have to redesign whole sections of your UI to work in a new way because of a new feature or interaction between features. However, that doesn't mean you can just give up, and in the context of privacy and security issues specifically, it certainly doesn't mean you can do something shady by default and then blame the user for the consequences. The default with privacy and security issues should always be to err on the side of safety if you can't figure out how to do better.
  
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13. Re:But reasonable disclosure is important by thegarbz · 2015-07-13 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  The typical user (slashdot excluded) couldn't give two shits about their privacy. People flock endlessly to services that provide them with some convenience, heck a couple of celebrities recently had their nudes leaked after being exposed on their iCloud accounts yet people still use the service, just like people still share openly their calendars (stupid IMO). People on the whole do not even remotely grasp how much their privacy is worth. We do, and that is not a false characterisation. Now excuse me while I go migrate everyone's data to {insert cloud service of the day}.
  I agree it could be made clearer that removing the app won't disable syncing it's more of a side effect of the common service model where multiple apps are linked to multiple accounts doing multiple things on the same service. I.e. deleting Google Drive I don't expect to kill my photo backup even though they run from a common service.
As Intended by Chris+Johnson · 2015-07-11 02:27 · Score: 1

Depends on whether you consider cloud backups a thing, or indeed public-facing cloud backups as Google Photos appears to be.
Or, public-facing cloud backups tagged by slowly improving AI on the cusp of deciding whether you are man or ape? http://www.bbc.com/news/techno...
I can see it is embarrassing to Google that its AI is deciding black people are gorillas. Tells you something about who's coding the low levels of this AI as it gathers itself together. It's growing from the bones of things like Google Photos, fed by the wittingly or unwittingly given visual data of the world, and you do have to have imagination to conclude something like Google Photos is a way to steal all your data, whether or not you delete 'the app' that set it transferring all your images to an apparently public-facing server. Hope your selfies aren't too naughty! Who do you think is going to steal them, other humans?
I'm pretty sure they aren't proposing to sell the fruits of this to humans.
Because to Google, "Le Singularity, c'est moi". The intelligence that directs all the self-driving cars, that takes over from all human foibles, is to be THEIRS and so the important thing is simply to get the data and to build the neural networks—so, they are "also working on longer-term fixes around both linguistics - words to be careful about in photos of people - and image recognition itself - eg better recognition of dark-skinned faces" quite literally. That's the purpose of Google Photos and why they'll spend money on cloud servers for the world, asking nothing. Le Singularity, c'est moi.
Whilst it is nice that Skynet will not begin herding black people to special zoos thanks to the timely intervention of the BBC, it is unsettling to get this glimpse of the Singularity forming through actions like these. Black people are gorillas, large dogs are horses, and the personality is being trained through collective input but initially formed by people who will set up an AI to consider some Homo Sapiens as people and others as presentient animals, and think nothing of it until caught at it.
Meet the new boss, I guess.
Re:Trust by Bing+Tsher+E · 2015-07-11 02:43 · Score: 2

It doesn't mattter what Google began as or what Google was a decade ago.
Any corporate entity with the amount of power that Google has will draw on-board people of a certain mindset. Companies that touch base with the admen become creepy. Read Pohl & Kornbluth's "The Space Merchants" which was written in 1952.
Nexus 5 auto-enables sync and backup by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 02:59 · Score: 1

Multiple times on the Nexus 5 on Lollipop I have disabled the photos sync and backup toggle in Settings, only to later find it had re-enabled itself. All the more concerning, it does this on my employer-issued Google account. Do organizations that manage Google Apps accounts/domains have control over whether photos sync from their users' personal mobile devices? As of currently, the only certain fix seems to be removing the account from the device entirely, but I use it heavily for work e-mail. In this day and age it's not reasonable to have both a work and a personal phone.
Re:Trust by CanadianMacFan · 2015-07-11 04:19 · Score: 1

Off the top of my head:
Microsoft
Home Depot (cause you know they'll be hacked)
Sony
RIAA
MPAA
Dell
HP
Yahoo
Mozilla (I think they'd sell my data to anyone now)
Facebook (as someone already mentioned)
Permissions by Dutch+Owl · 2015-07-11 04:19 · Score: 1

If you read the Google Play Services agreement you will find out; Permissions "This app can access the following data on your device." Look at the list. It's EVERYTHING.
Funny, I have the opposite problem... by Vegan+Cyclist · 2015-07-11 05:36 · Score: 1

Sorry for the OP's issues. For some reason the damn thing WON'T back-up my photos, and I keep getting an annoying pop-up every few days reminding me that it can't back-up the photos. Tradsies?
Free beer by dhaen · 2015-07-11 05:50 · Score: 1

So you expected the service for free?
Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 05:54 · Score: 1

This is the same company that the NSA has boasted about having easy access to. The same company that was busted mass collecting MAC hardware addresses(probably in tandem with embedded MAC IDs contained in MS Office documents).
Just for fun, I'll point out by aussersterne · 2015-07-11 06:32 · Score: 1

that this level of data collection enables Google Now to serve me very well with updates that I appreciate (traffic and delays along routes that I regularly travel at about this time, events near places I'm likely to be, and so on).
I understand that some prefer that their data not be shared with Google or others. But let's not swing too far the other direction and assume that nobody finds cloud services to be valuable. I, for one, like them very much and am happy to provide Google with as much data about me as possible, in exchange for which it makes my life much, much easier and makes my labor much, much more valuable to me.
It would be one thing if there was no choice about these features, but in fact there is—you are free to disable them and not use them.

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1. Re:Just for fun, I'll point out by adolf · 2015-07-11 07:50 · Score: 1
  
  Me, too. I am consistently amazed at the quality and accuracy of Google Maps' traffic layer, which relies entirely upon location reporting. This data also feeds into both of Google's navigation systems (Waze and Maps).
  I also use and appreciate Google's Location History, which I do use to track myself and generate accurate and accountable bills for my clients. This apparently works fine, because nobody has ever questioned any of my bills.
  Now, that said: If I were up to no good, I'm also smart enough to leave the cell phone at home.
  
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2. Re:Just for fun, I'll point out by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 08:52 · Score: 1
  
  Creep finds spying on others useful and fun. Chides victims that they can close their blinds if don't want to be ogled.
New Google Motto by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2015-07-11 06:41 · Score: 1

"Don't Get Caught*"

* and when you do, just go, "Oh yeah, um, it's supposed to do that."

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Re:App app apps apps! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-07-11 08:53 · Score: 1

Google is far more evil than Microsoft.
Author didn't read or understand ToS's by Trax3001BBS · 2015-07-11 15:37 · Score: 1

Which for Google is a stretch as there are sub ToS's, But with Samsung it's very clear they record and own everything you do. If the author wishes to take this up with Samsung, the Provence in South Korea is clearly given for such undertakings.
I have a Galaxy S5 and am aware of this and still use it, yet I've never used the smart features of my Samsung monitor (but not a problem as it's just a monitor).
Samsung SmartTV Customers Warned Personal Conversations May Be Recorded
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
"Samsung's privacy policy includes details that its Smart TV voice recognition feature may pick up on personal conversations and transmit private communications to third parties. "
Google can't sync our lives with reality. by Bob_Who · 2015-07-11 22:18 · Score: 1

...and neither can we, unless we rewrite the EULA.
Top Packers and Movers by ManpowerFacility · 2015-07-12 05:05 · Score: 1

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Re:Uhm... by Imazalil · 2015-07-13 04:23 · Score: 1

So do tell where exactly in sync settings does one set whether their photos are getting backed up to google drive in full resolution and quality or to google photos as 'slightly' compressed? Do they get synced only on wifi, only when plugged in, etc?
On a Nexus 5, the sync section only toggles on and off. To control any options related to the syncing, one has to go into the Photos app.
Did you as a smart member of the slashdot audience just turn on photo backup without even knowing how and where your photos go?
But that is the way that it has always been— by aussersterne · 2015-07-13 10:01 · Score: 1

close your blinds/curtains for privacy. This is not new, and it is not rocket science.
You would apparently prefer that all windows be banned?

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STOP . AMERICA . NOW