Google’s ‘Secret’ Update Scans All Your Photos
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
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System shared this topic on
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
Not on mine, it doesn't. I don't use the Play Store. I don't have Google Play Services. And I don't have Google Apps installed. And I'm running Lineage OS. So, fuck you Google.
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Not on mine, it doesn't. I don't use the Play Store. I don't have Google Play Services. And I don't have Google Apps installed. And I'm running Lineage OS. So, fuck you Google.
There's one in every thread.
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
I've just given it the boot from my phone.
It doesn't appear to have been doing anything yet, but whatever.
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
This is the stupidest shit, moral panic levels of miscomprehension. I mean, I was miffed and promptly removed safetycore because I don't mind seeing sex organs and don't want shit using battery for no reason, but wow Forbes.
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I've just given it the boot from my phone.
It doesn't appear to have been doing anything yet, but whatever.
Yeah no issues here just uninstalling. It hasn't come back.
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
Google says that SafetyCore “provides on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Users control SafetyCore, and SafetyCore only classifies specific content when an app requests it through an optionally enabled feature.”
GrapheneOS — an Android security developer — provides some comfort, that SafetyCore “doesn’t provide client-side scanning used to report things to Google or anyone else. It provides on-device machine learning models usable by applications to classify content as being spam, scams, malware, etc. This allows apps to check content locally without sharing it with a service and mark it with warnings for users.”
But GrapheneOS also points out that “it’s unfortunate that it’s not open source and released as part of the Android Open Source Project and the models also aren’t open let alone open source… We’d have no problem with having local neural network features for users, but they’d have to be open source.” Which gets to transparency again.
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There's one in every thread.
"i just needed to pop in here and mention that the terrible/wrong/evil thing in the post doesn't affect me at all, like it does for you suckers ROFLMFAO...but also: LOL"
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
Huh. My device seems to have been skipped? I don't do anything special, I'm using Play Store and Play Services, and I'm up to date, but it's not showing up in my settings app list
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
How is this not bigger news??
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
SafetyCore Placeholder so if it ever tries to reinstall itself it will fail due to signature mismatch.
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"i just needed to pop in here and mention that the terrible/wrong/evil thing in the post doesn't affect me at all, like it does for you suckers ROFLMFAO...but also: LOL"
And they never say it in a helpful way, either. It's always done in a smug way.
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Huh. My device seems to have been skipped? I don't do anything special, I'm using Play Store and Play Services, and I'm up to date, but it's not showing up in my settings app list
Sometimes it uses a different name I have noticed, try to see if something with a similar is listed
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SafetyCore Placeholder so if it ever tries to reinstall itself it will fail due to signature mismatch.
I struggle with GitHub sometimes. It says to download the apk but I don't see it in the file list. Anyone care to point me in the right direction?
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I struggle with GitHub sometimes. It says to download the apk but I don't see it in the file list. Anyone care to point me in the right direction?
At the bottom of the page, it says releases - click on the release that's there, and that's where you'll find the all.
I haven't been able to install it though due to signature mismatch, I'm not sure why...
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I struggle with GitHub sometimes. It says to download the apk but I don't see it in the file list. Anyone care to point me in the right direction?
Scroll down to releases.
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I struggle with GitHub sometimes. It says to download the apk but I don't see it in the file list. Anyone care to point me in the right direction?
Under the end of the readme, the section labelled releases.
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Sometimes it uses a different name I have noticed, try to see if something with a similar is listed
i havent had it yet either. only suspicious thing that i notice is some android system intelligence, but that has been there for a while now. i havent dared to uninstall it since i dont know if anything critical is dependent on it. havent even noticed any suspicious network activity either on rethink, beyond the usual bullshit like some uninstalled application still trying to connect to google as "unknown".
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Per one tech forum this week: “Google has quietly installed an app on all Android devices called ‘Android System SafetyCore’. It claims to be a ‘security’ application, but whilst running in the background, it collects call logs, contacts, location, your microphone, and much more making this application ‘spyware’ and a HUGE privacy concern. It is strongly advised to uninstall this program if you can. To do this, navigate to 'Settings’ > 'Apps’, then delete the application.”
My question is, does it install as a stand alone app? Or is it part of a Google Play update chunk that you only find out after Play has updated?
My system does not auto update (by design) so I'd like to know where it sources from. -
i havent had it yet either. only suspicious thing that i notice is some android system intelligence, but that has been there for a while now. i havent dared to uninstall it since i dont know if anything critical is dependent on it. havent even noticed any suspicious network activity either on rethink, beyond the usual bullshit like some uninstalled application still trying to connect to google as "unknown".
Maybe they experimenting installing it on some phones, I had it but an different name. I couldn't find it in my apps lists but when someone posted a direct link to play store app page it showed installed.
