Google does what it does
All these convos are archieved from FSHM Puducherry Signal instant messanging Chats which i felt of archieving it.
https://peabee.substack.com/p/everyone-knows-what-apps-you-use
This is why I recommend against installing apps that you don’t absolutely need
A question raised on this like: What they’ll do with all these info 🥲, also, how Google play store is allows the app to look for any other apps without user consent?
Re: Why Google does what it does, I’ll say two things.
- You have already consented to Google doing whatever they want when you setup your phone the first time. The terms and conditions you hit “Accept” basically gives them free reign over your data on the phone.
- It is by design. They stand to gain from allowing apps to look at other apps because it helps them be the go-to app store. It’s capitalism in action.
Re: what they will do with your data - you must understand the functions of privacy technologies. Primarily privacy is essential because it’s a guard against manipulation. Keeping secrets and confidentiality are all secondary functions and not the most important.
Imagine what Ola can do when they know you have Uber installed. They can lower the price (artificially) and force you to use their service. This is manipulation. Imagine what Swiggy can do when they know you have a loan application installed - they can assume your financial hygiene and basically inflate the prices and offer you EMI for paying for your food. Your bank application can reject your loan application based on whether or not you have a qoran app installed on your phone. Facebook app can make reasonable assumptions about your location (based on whether you have a Tamil Calendar) and tell the ruling party that you are a good target for their advertisement campaigns.
ALL of this is to make you do things you would otherwise not do (or atleast not likely to do). That is manipulation.
The entire reason the advertising industry exists is to get people to do what they might not do without coercion, shaming, threats, etc. - all of which are forms of manipulation. This is why I am against advertisements in general. When companies like Mozilla say crap about “privacy-preserving” advertisements, they want you to think privacy is about confidentiality, that is, keeping things a secret.
This is a clear case of manipulation to make you forget the other, most important aspect of privacy - IT PROTECTS YOU FROM MANIPULATION. That is why we should be against advertisements in general.
credits: Yogesh @FSFTN