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Sprint Faces Backlash For Adding MDM Software To Devices (csoonline.com)
itwbennett writes: On Wednesday, Sprint customer Johnny Kim discovered an in-store technician adding MDM software to his personal iPhone 6 without prior notice or permission. Kim took to Twitter with his complaint, sparking a heated conversation about privacy and protection. One expert who commented on the issue told CSO's Steve Ragan that 'it's possible Sprint sees the installation of MDM software as an additional security offering, or perhaps as a means to enable phone location services to the consumer.' But, as Ragan points out, 'even if that were true, it's against [Sprint's] written policy and such offerings are offered at the cost of privacy and control over the user's own devices.' (MDM here means "Mobile Device Management.")
Credit where it's due: adding the definition of "MDM" at the end was a nice touch for those not already in the know.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Man is Sprint retarded. SoftBank should have bought T-Mobil instead...
It's not their devices and they should not be installing software without the express permission of their owners.
Fight for your bitcoins!
When Sprint has policies in place that actually forbid that action without a customer request. Isn't it more likely you have an unethical tech who is looking for future access to phones?
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Isn't it more likely you have an unethical tech who is looking for future access to phones?
Reading the article (yea, I know) it seems Sprint gave him several different reasons why it was installed. None of which included rogue technician.
Every time I want to upgrade to a smart phone I think back to the 1990s when I didn't have a cell phone. Then about issues like this.
Having a tiny portable phone in my pocket: $20.
Not having to treat it like a crotchety piece of IT equipment: priceless.
"Did you not want to installed it? Let us know!"
Also - clearly he didn't fucking want it installed... Is it a new rule now that Customer Service just not read messages at all?
On your iPhone, go into Settings / General, select Profile, then look at the profiles that have been added. A stock iPhone has none. If you have an ISP who adds a cert that allows you to connect to their hotspots, you may see that here. If you have installed your company's MDM, perhaps a product like AirWatch, that will show up here. If you see something you don't recognize, that's when you need to do some research.
Inside the profile you can view the certs it installed. A WiFi cert will list what it can do: be wary if it includes a proxy.
John
The technician misheard the customer, the customer said " i do NOT want to be ass fucked". the tech didn't hear the NOT.
The only calls I've gotten on my personal iPhone that weren't from people I gave my number to were wrong numbers.
Bunch of lies troll!
At what point was the technician handling his phone, and what was he doing with it?
Because if I go in for you to add me to your network, and you start installing shit on my phone ... I'm going become unreasonable quite fast.
I just can't quite figure out from the article how the technician came to be installing this in the first place; it was obviously in the middle of something else.
Surely he didn't walk into a Sprint store and hand the technician his phone, did he?
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Well I've had the same number since 2001, and used an android for the past 6 years. Never once use to get wrong numbers or telemarketers until I switched to an iphone this fall. Now I get every few weeks and they're those "you have won a free trip" automated recordings. It also reset my choice to limit ad tracking under settings/advertising the past two ios updates which wasn't cool of them either.
without prior notice or permission
I'm pretty sure it says they can do that in your contract. You remember your contract right? The one you signed to get service? What do you mean nobody reads those? You didn't read the contract you signed???
While I agree that pulling shenanigans like this is not something I want from the people who I hired to give me phone service, I'm willing to bet they are not acting outside the law.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
So, how can I check my Sprint iPhone 6s for such software?
Correlation is not causation.
At least when I worked there, Apple does not sell customer information to third parties and they were extremely strict about what they disclosed to partners (eg companies delivering on site service for AppleCare)
I doubt very much that they have suddenly started doing it
Sounds like a pretty straightforward case of Tresspass to chattels.
Time to hire a lawyer.
Sprint recently changed to a "iPhone forever" lease plan where you lease the phone for $5 per month, plus additional undisclosed add-ons that make it actually $10 per month. But, you're leasing the phone. You don't ever own it.
They still offer you the option of buying the phone outright for ~$700 and no subsidy, if you want to "avoid paying them" the monthly lease rate.
Apple add's NSA reporter at the baseband level anyways
I'm amazed every day I wake up and Sprint is still in business. It is a testament to the apathy of the average consumer.
I just got a new iPhone (in September) with a new number. No telemarketing calls at all. Of course, I bought the phone at the Apple store and use it on T-Mo. If you're getting calls, I'll bet it's not Apple that gave out the number.
The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
I'm going to go ahead and throw up a red flag. I don't think this is a Sprint owned domain. I think it's meant to LOOK like one, but I don't think it IS one.
$ dig +short sprint.net ns
ns1-auth.sprintlink.net.
ns2-auth.sprintlink.net.
ns3-auth.sprintlink.net.
$ dig +short sprint.com ns
reston-ns1.telemail.net.
ns2-auth.sprintlink.net.
reston-ns3.telemail.net.
reston-ns2.telemail.net.
ns1-auth.sprintlink.net.
ns3-auth.sprintlink.net.
The places Sprint hosts their "well-known" domains looks remarkably like it's a legitimate place. "wabaw.net", however?
$ dig +short wabaw.net ns
ns6.domainmonger.com.
ns5.domainmonger.com.
ns7.domainmonger.com.
ns8.domainmonger.com.
I'm going to propose a theory that the WHOIS data shows Sprint so that - if someone gets caught and folks go looking for someone to vilify, Sprint is the unwitting victim. But - in reality - it's sitting in some domain-registration that nobody official at Sprint has ever heard of, and someone's been building a network of phones that they control via MDM.
Isn't it proper journalism practice to define acronyms on their first use, then continue on using the acronym through the remainder of the story?
Slashdot isn't journalism. Slashdot is a debate forum that is kinda sorta vaguely topical. Nobody comes to slashdot for breaking news. They come to debate things and occasionally be informed with a viewpoint they might not have considered previously.
You have a good point:
$ host leon.webaw.net
leon.webaw.net has address 62.99.250.53
$ whois 62.99.250.53 ... snip...
netname: Schneid-GmbH
descr:
descr: Schneid GmbH
descr: Herbert Schneid
descr: PIRKA
descr: IPs statically assigned
country: AT
maxmind corroborates the information.
So... Sprint are putting control of your phone into the hands of someone in Austria. Nice going, guys!
I bought mine sealed new in box and took it to a local corporate verizon store to get activated. Same number I've had since 2001. The employee never installed anything, and the phone didn't leave my hands for more than a minute. There's no trolling or malice involved here despite apple fanboys having modded it down. I'm just recalling my own recent issues with phone quirks and the negative experience has led me to not want another apple phone after 14 years of peaceful bliss.
Sounds like buying your mobile device directly from the manufacturer, such as Apple, might be preferable to buying it from the service provider (albeit having to front the full cost of the device). I'll have to consider that if/when I upgrade from my 4S.
linquendum tondere
I was finally talked into getting an iphone when it was time to upgrade. So far I don't have any problems with the phone itself... but one BIG noticeable difference is every few weeks after using my new phone I get random calls from phone scammers/telemarketers.
Did you install the LinkedIn app on that phone?
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
It doesn't matter whether it goes against Sprint's published policies - there is precisely nothing that you can viably do about this kind of situation these days thanks to arbitration clauses.
You can't sue. You certainly can't start a class action suit based on all the customers this was done to. You can elect to go to arbitration over it, however if the arbitrator rules against you you're likely going to have to pay for all of Sprint's costs related to the arbitration - including whatever price tag they put on their lawyers' (yes, plural) time for responding to the case. And of course, if you win, you can probably get them to uninstall the software or perhaps let you out of your contract with no termination fee.
fencepost
just a little off
You're absolutely certain it was a Verizon store and not a "premium reseller" (which often use the Verizon branding)? And you're sure Verizon themselves don't sell your information?
Practically any company you've given your number to in the past 14 years might have decided to sell it to some scummy company, but it's extremely unlikely that it was Apple.
The various Apple license agreements are at http://www.apple.com/legal/ , I'd be interested to see what clause you think Apple has that would allow them to sell your phone number.
The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
Wow. To make up such nonsense. No wonder you had to post a AC.
Ppl who are Windows users, run as admin, and have their automatic updates "turned on" just wave their hands at this. Meh.
Considering the phone cannot escape the manufacturing company, what's the big deal?
There's a big MDM wrapped around the device to begin with. They can uninstall all the software they want, know what versions of software you have, forced so there's only one real browser engine, one store to get apps, one payment method only... etc. They've also proven they can add content (music) to your devices too without prior consent.
If you buy a device and you're okay with all of those previously used "MDM" permissions, who cares if there's another layer from a "big" and "trusted" company?