Google’s ‘Secret’ Update Scans All Your Photos
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There's this, and another weather app.
Uninstall both asapCan you share a summary or a screenshot to make it more accessible please?
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if there was something that could run android apps virtualized, I'd switch in a heartbeat
Waydroid?
To be clear, I haven't used it at all and have no idea how well it works.
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There's this, and another weather app.
Uninstall both asap....this link is about Safety core. Which weather app?
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I've been considering putting graphene on my pixel for a month or so now, I'm just in tech and have a shit load of MFA entries in multiple apps that don't sync anywhere, and I don't have the energy to redo all that shit at work when I barely have enough time to do my normal shit....
I used to live rooting and throwing custom rooms on my phone, but I've been out of that for a decade and don't have a usable spare device to test/use as a backup.
You can't export your MFA? Aegis for example allows this.
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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 went to it on the Okay Store and uninstalled it. It didn't commission and so far all phone functionality is working funny. It seems like an addon that's not tightly bound to core OS components.
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I've been considering putting graphene on my pixel for a month or so now, I'm just in tech and have a shit load of MFA entries in multiple apps that don't sync anywhere, and I don't have the energy to redo all that shit at work when I barely have enough time to do my normal shit....
I used to live rooting and throwing custom rooms on my phone, but I've been out of that for a decade and don't have a usable spare device to test/use as a backup.
I understand, I was in exactly the same position. Then my battery swelled and wouldn't hold a charge at all, so I couldn't restore anything anyway, and my last backup was inaccessible (I know I know, test your backups, but like I started this post with I'm in the same boat of all work and no time for me).
Losing everything was remarkably freeing. Just switch all your 2FA to Aegis as has been suggested, and save anything you want to back up over the wire, then take the plunge. You won't regret the switch
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Pixel 7a here, it was installed and I have no idea when
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SafetyCore Placeholder so if it ever tries to reinstall itself it will fail due to signature mismatch.
Thank you for sharing!
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Don't use Google Play. Prefer Obtanium, F-Droid or Aurora Store.
Incidentally, Aurora Store is unable to find this particular app.
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Waydroid?
To be clear, I haven't used it at all and have no idea how well it works.
I gave it a run on Ubuntu touch with a fair phone like 8 months ago... It was still pretty rough then.
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SafetyCore Placeholder so if it ever tries to reinstall itself it will fail due to signature mismatch.
And what exactly does the github App do?
Is suppose it's not the same as the Google App?
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The app can be found here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.safetycore
The app reviews are a good read.
Thanks for the link, this is impressive because this really has all the trait of spyware; apparently it installs without asking for permission ?
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For people who have not read the article:
Forbes states that there is no indication that this app can or will "phone home".
It's stated use is for other apps to scan an image they have access to find out what kind of thing it is (known as "classification"). For example, to find out if the picture you've been sent is a dick-pick so the app can blur it.
My understanding is that, if this is implemented correctly (a big 'if') this can be completely safe.
Apps requesting classification could be limited to only classifying files that they already have access to. Remember that android has a concept of "scoped storage" nowadays that let you restrict folder access. If this is the case, we'll it's no less safe than not having SafetyCore at all. It just saves you space as companies like Signal, WhatsApp etc. no longer need to train and ship their own machine learning models inside their apps, as it becomes a common library / API any app can use.
It could, of course, if implemented incorrectly, allow apps to snoop without asking for file access. I don't know enough to say.
Besides, you think that Google isn't already scanning for things like CSAM? It's been confirmed to be done on platforms like Google Photos well before SafetyCore was introduced, though I've not seen anything about it being done on devices yet (correct me if I'm wrong).
This is EXACTLY what Apple tried to do with their on-device CSAM detection, it had a ridiculous amount of safeties to protect people’s privacy and still it got shouted down
I’m interested in seeing what happens when Holy Google, for which most nerds have a blind spot, does the exact same thing
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Don't use Google Play. Prefer Obtanium, F-Droid or Aurora Store.
Though just not using it makes no difference. You need to remove Play Store and Play services to orevent them from tracking you and managing your apps.
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This is EXACTLY what Apple tried to do with their on-device CSAM detection, it had a ridiculous amount of safeties to protect people’s privacy and still it got shouted down
I’m interested in seeing what happens when Holy Google, for which most nerds have a blind spot, does the exact same thing
Overall, I think this needs to be done by a neutral 3rd party. I just have no idea how such a 3rd party could stay neutral. Some with social media content moderation.
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And what exactly does the github App do?
Is suppose it's not the same as the Google App?
It doesn't do anything. The only reason to consider installing it is that this is cryptographically signed by another developer, so if Google tries to install safety core again, it will fail because googled signature is different. It also has a super high version number, so that Google hopefully will not think to try to install the software.
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What about the "Android System Intelligence" app that someone else mentioned here? I just realized I have that one. It sounds like it has the capabilities to spy and maybe even more.
Well yeah, any part of the os has the capability to spy.
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Thanks for the link, this is impressive because this really has all the trait of spyware; apparently it installs without asking for permission ?
Yup, heard about it a week or two ago. Found it installed on my Samsung phone, it never asked for permissions or gave any info that it was added to my phone.
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Well yeah, any part of the os has the capability to spy.
What do you mean by that? What I meant is that the capabilities and permissions it has could enable it to do so.
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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.”
Kind of weird that they are installing this dependency whether you will enable those planned scanning features or not. Here is an article mentioning that future feature Sensitive Content Warnings. It does sound kind of cool, less chance to accidentally send your dick pic to someone I guess.
Sensitive Content Warnings is an optional feature that blurs images that may contain nudity before viewing, and then prompts with a “speed bump” that contains help-finding resources and options, including to view the content. When the feature is enabled, and an image that may contain nudity is about to be sent or forwarded, it also provides a speed bump to remind users of the risks of sending nude imagery and preventing accidental shares.
All of this happens on-device to protect your privacy and keep end-to-end encrypted message content private to only sender and recipient. Sensitive Content Warnings doesn’t allow Google access to the contents of your images, nor does Google know that nudity may have been detected. This feature is opt-in for adults, managed via Android Settings, and is opt-out for users under 18 years of age.
