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Spanish Soccer League App In Google Play Wants To Use Phone Mics To Enforce Copyrights (arstechnica.com)
The official app for the Spanish soccer league La Liga, which has more than 10 million downloads from Google Play, was recently updated to seek access to users' microphone and GPS settings. "When granted, the app processes audio snippets in an attempt to identify public venues that broadcast soccer games without a license," reports Ars Technica. From the report: According to a statement issued by La Liga officials, the functionality was added last Friday and is enabled only after users click "eyes" to an Android dialog asking if the app can access the mic and geolocation of the device. The statement says the audio is used solely to identify establishments that broadcast games without a license and that the app takes special precautions to prevent it from spying on end users. [La Liga's full statement with the "appropriate technical measures to protect the user's privacy" is embedded in Ars' report.]
[E]ven if the app uses a cryptographic hash or some other means to ensure that stored or transmitted audio fragments can't be abused by company insiders or hackers (a major hypothetical), there are reasons users should reject this permission. For one, allowing an app to collect the IP address, unique app ID, binary representation of audio, and the time that the audio was converted could provide a fair amount of information over time about a user. For another, end users frequenting local bars and restaurants shouldn't be put in the position of policing the copyrights of sports leagues, particularly with an app that uses processed audio from their omnipresent phone.
[E]ven if the app uses a cryptographic hash or some other means to ensure that stored or transmitted audio fragments can't be abused by company insiders or hackers (a major hypothetical), there are reasons users should reject this permission. For one, allowing an app to collect the IP address, unique app ID, binary representation of audio, and the time that the audio was converted could provide a fair amount of information over time about a user. For another, end users frequenting local bars and restaurants shouldn't be put in the position of policing the copyrights of sports leagues, particularly with an app that uses processed audio from their omnipresent phone.
https://yro.slashdot.org/story...
Presumably, they'd be recording also other people at the same venue who have not agreed to being recorded. Someone's voice is sensitive information. Given the new laws about privacy in the EU, I'm surprised this is even legal, or that they are taking the risk at all.
Imagine if a handful of apps on your phone were this bad. Would your battery even last through the day?
. . . the Spanish Soccer Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....
" Our chief weapon is mics... mics and GPS... GPS and mics.... Our two weapons are mics and GPS...and IP Addresses ...."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
âoe I'll keep my smartphone and when I want privacy I will put the phone in a bag which is effectively a Faraday cage as well as a sound insulator.
But thanks for the advice, you sad little paranoiac. âoe
Pot, meet kettle.
What if you charge a $10 (or 10 euro) "cover charge" on nights when games are being shown? What if the league has a payment tier for home users and a higher tier for bars that want to show their games?
How about if the bar is streaming the game from a "pirate" site and isn't even paying what a normal cable subscriber would pay for access to the live game?
Granted, I think it's absolutely ridiculous to expect people to spy for you, especially if you're burning their battery power to do it, but sports leagues can put whatever stupid restrictions they want on their broadcasts. Maybe they'll make it illegal to watch the games at all and rioting will be reduced.
The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
OLE
FC Microsoft fans! Disgusting!
Ezekiel 23:20