Monday 28 May 2012

the fine print

I have on other posts here made it clear that one of the reasons I don't use one of the more modern smartphones is I hate the insidious invasive software which is springing up more and more on these devices. Its getting to the stage where I am pulling back from technology and modern communications because its increasingly invasive.

Terms and conditions on Android (and iPhone) software often reminds me of the sort of thing I'd only want to install on a device where I could quarantine it in a virtual machine.

Recently there is talk of a Facebook phone ... makes me shudder. Like tonight I was about to click on a link a friend had posted and it took me to this:


Reading what I have to accept was a bit of a surprise:
This app may post on your behalf, including posts you voted on, answers you voted on and more.
Bloody what? As if its not bad enough that I give it permission to post as if it was me (hello!) what the hell is and more?

I reckon when the Facebook phones come out it won't even trouble you with these sorts of things, it'll just do it for you.

And people want to have a phone from these guys? As a herd, people are just amazingly stupid.

Wonder how long it'll be before things like Pizza start turning up at your door because your phone and Dominos is in kahoots and reckons (based on your GPS data) you haven't eaten yet and they have some specials to flog you.
Science Fiction has written about this sort of thing since I can recall, and of course dramatises it to make the entire thing have more audience appeal.

The reality is that its what you can't see that is getting into our systems and like they say... resistance is futile.

gotta tell ya, they're not taking me that easy, and certainly not with my permission.

pah, more reasons to keep my older Nokia.

1 comment:

Jao van de Lagemaat said...

Wow! That is insidious. Posting on your behalf!