yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
I've just received a reply from ASUS (Polish support, so I'm not citing) saying that data from ASUS Device Tracker is stored on Google servers and you have to go to Google with a request to delete the data.

This is a very peculiar situation, as they have access to our data, they say in their rules and policies they're going to store some of it (while doing a lot more in practice, as we know now), but somehow they can't manage it.

In Google Dashboard I can only see my device and some scarce info (see attachment), no word about the Device Tracker, which I've logged into certainly after Aug 10 (the date stated in this summary). So where's my(?) data?
[Asus Transformer TF700] jordanmw:
I agree that there should be disclosure but they are not using device manager to actually determine if you have unlocked your firmware. They have a system outside of device manager itself, that registers your SN# to a database when your device contacts their server to request the decryption key for your device. You don't need to register with them or anything, they have your SN# and that is enough to keep track of who unlocked. The rep is probably able to access your device tracker with any information about the SN# that you have attached to it.

Disclosure is key though, they need to let people know that they have this software enabled by default.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
The issue here wasn't unlocking though. We all know the unlocking app sends and receives data to/from their servers. The thing is they were able to see you rooted your device, which is a violation of the privacy policy.
[Asus Transformer TF700] x51:
I would imagine we could block the device from communicating with Asus with a hosts file change. (like Adaway does to block ads)
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
Can you give us a link to this beta?

I cannot find it in this thread.

We could certainly, but the thing is these are the same servers that check for OTA updates and I believe a middle way for most users between security and functionality would still be keeping OTA functionality with spying app disabled (even if it still gets the requests to do so). But for somebody who doesn't need it, removing DMClient and using DroidWall or manual hosts changes seems reasonable.
[Asus Transformer TF700] fortunz:
I'm always wary of the first line of support. They range from flat out copy/pasting the first entry in a db search based on any key term in your request to just assuming you mean something other than you actually mean. Remember the reply in the IO thread where support replied to someone about... wait for it... Internet Explorer (IE) :rolleyes:

Did this reply sound like the person really understood what was being discussed? Is it possible they were just talking about the standard backup because they have no clue what asus device tracker is?
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
I think maybe there was a deficit of trained monkeys for Polish support section, because he sounded very reasonable, although wrote this short sentence with a few grammatical errors and typos most of you happily won't notice ;> (I wrote to the

tech

support actually):

(Polish) "Szanowny kliencie. Dane Asus Device Tracker znajdują się na serwerach Google i to właśnie to tego podmiotu należało by wystosować prośbę o wykasowanie danych osobowych."

(translation) "Dear customer, Asus Device Tracker data is to be found on Google servers, and this is the entity that one would need to send a request for removal of personal data."
[Asus Transformer TF700] urrlyx:
Who said every device? They already have a record of the unlocked ones. Let it be known that if you have an unlocked device it will be scrutinized before warranty work is done. But of course a company which is in it for the money is going to take the easy way out and just blanket deny all unlocked devices. Typical.

edit: and with that I drop it. sorry for getting off topic, d14b0ll0s. ;)
[Asus Transformer TF700] urrlyx:
thanks. should have known someone would be getting up to that usual xda brand of usefulness. :)

edit: and of course to be truly paranoid, don't forget to have lbe monitor its own access to the 'net. :P

or is it just letting you *think* you can monitor it? oh boy... /tinfoil
[Asus Transformer TF700] Buster99:
thts where droidwall comes into play ;) :highfive:
[Asus Transformer TF700] henbone11:
this is all very interesting, and not to pile on with tin foil hat theories, but I was just curious what would stop them from being able to remotely (and silently) enabling the mic or front/rear cameras? if they can enable gps remotely then theoretically they can enable any piece of hardware in the device...for whatever purpose. now this is something I do not really care about per se, I think it could be potentially dangerous. example, if law enforcement decided, for whatever reason, that you were some kind of threat and went to Asus/Google and wanted to monitor you through your device, what would prevent them from doing so? and before someone replies with, "but um in the US we have rights and laws...", I would say to read the recent news stories where certain courts have stated that its fine for police to monitor your cell phones and mobile devices without a warrant. I realize this is somewhat extreme, but is it possible through this technology? and, even though the screenshot taken shows the list of apps that backup on their servers, how do we know that every app used isnt somehow backed up or tracked on their servers? I am really not a conspiracy theorist but just wanted people's take on this.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
The same story with Patriot Act, the same with going through files on computers of people crossing the border (almost evenly 50/50 citizens/non-citizens), which is against the Fourth Amendment, but they still keep doing it, so not really a conspiracy theory anymore.

And literally

nothing

would stop them from doing what you've just described, because CMClient has all the privileges, have a look at Settings/Apps, if you haven't deleted it yet.
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Yes, but there is a perfectly valid reason as to *why* they are doing these things - it's called 9/11. Personally, I'm *glad* they are doing these things!
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
Good for you. There will always be an excuse. You know how many of these there were in world (and US, for that matter) history before 9/11? :)
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
9/11 is not an excuse. Do you *really* think that they are doing this just to spy on the common man? They are doing this to try and catch the "bad guys". Does this cause the privacy of some "good guys" to be compromised? I'm sure it does. That is the price we pay to try and keep our people safe. There is always a price to pay - such is life.

Do you think they should do nothing about it and let the terrorists do as they please?

So, what is your solution?
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
Oh please. It is just not that simple. Yes, I believe it was the original reason, but reasons become great excuses and (psychological/moral/emotional) blackmail:

"Do you really want the terrorists and pedophiles to live on your street? So give us your laptop, show us your pictures, e-mails, dental records, we'll take care of the terrorists and pedophiles."

When you give people or organisations power, they will take it and ask for more power. This is true for almost everybody, but is especially true in case of law enforcement. See how they treated the "99%" protesters, it's a shame. I believe there was a legitimate reason for doing what they started doing. And then they crossed the line very easily. Spying on common people without a warrant or legitimate reason is that line.

BTW, the "bad guys" and the "good guys" is a really infantile way of putting this, very common in politics, but I am rather amazed you copy these cliches. How about the good guys becoming the bad guys while fighting the bad guys, lol. Doesn't this raise moral or legal concerns for you?

And if you want to trade your liberty for security, that's fine. Just leave alone people that don't want to, not everybody wants their private pictures, chats or documents in the hands of other people just because they have some three-letter signs on their outfit. There are people at XDA forums who wouldn't like to make this transaction, hence these discussions.
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
So again, what is your solution? You are correct that it's not that simple, which is why were are in the situation we are in.

If you have a better idea of how to handle it, please let us know... They are doing what they can.

EDIT: By the way, if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about...
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
And what they can't, too, obviously. But I see that you prefer a police state to a democratical one with something recognised as the constitution.

My solution is always try to set balance between freedom and security, not give up to any easy answers in that matter, like you try to do with your rhetorical and demanding question. That's exactly the way of thinking of the people in these three-letter agencies - short, simple answers. In most European states there are just different standards for this. As there were in the US a long time ago.
[Asus Transformer TF700] henbone11:
not for nothing, but this is a very trite argument and quite naive as well. even if you have nothing to hide, you always have something to worry about when it comes to your personal privacy. didnt mean to butt into your debate, sorry.
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Believe me - I *do not* prefer a "police state". However, given the choice between doing nothing or living in a "police state", I'll take the police state.

I do believe that they *are* in fact trying to "set balance between freedom and security", just as you said you would do.

Obviously, we'll have to agree to disagree on this. One thing is for sure though, I certainly have not had any intrusion of my privacy that has affected me in any way - I do, however, believe that I am safer because of the Patriot Act. So, I think it's working.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
It's an open debate, no worries, but should be probably a closed one by now, as we're doing a quite big off-topic here, even if connected to the original thread in many ways, so we can either set another topic, discuss it in the PMs or probably agree to disagree.

And I have everything to hide. I don't want any piece of my personal data to belong to anybody I wouldn't give it to out of my own independent will. And I will take all necessary precautions for it to remain that way. Even if that means not helping your favourite agencies fighting the crime, because of all the great statistical data they would have out of seeing my ex-girlfriends naked.

Edit: (some xda lag, I didn't see your post before posting this) I don't think that violating your privacy is something you would often know about (until it's really too late). Let's agree to disagree on this then. After all, we might be arguing with different measures for similar purposes.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Pretoriano80:
I agree, we really shouldn't go any further on this because it's a very delicate topic and mostly political stuff so now let's get back on topic :D

Even if i'm not concerned about Asus device tracker i do believe that d14b0ll0s has very good points on the situation. The most important imo is that Asus should have warn people about this special feature and provide customers with a way to disable this service (a standalone service only for this that can be disabled without affecting OTAs and Unlock services) directly from the device.

Many people (myself included) doesn't consider this service such high risk threat , but guys don't forget that we have constitutional rights and when someone gets your stuff without asking permission they break the rules and your freedom rights.

If d14b0ll0s can put together a nice tutorial on how this service can be disabled i will add that to the All-in-one guide thread.
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Well, that's another thing - do we *really* know whether or not any of this is even true (that they are determining if you are rooted or not through this service, and if they are, are they denying warranty service).

I'm sorry, but no offense to the person that reported this, but just because someone says something, that does not mean it's true. I've not heard of *any* other such reports. Before we start accusing Asus of something like this and start telling people to disable services, we should at least verify that it's actually occurring.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
It's in the first post, but a tutorial would probably mean entering these commands in the term as root:

su
mount -o rw,remount /system
cd /system/app
mv CMClient.apk CMClient.apk.bak
mv CMClient.odex CMClient.odex.bak
mount -o ro,remount /system

or do the same in a Root Explorer-like kind of app.

If you want to get rid of it for good, instead of mv do:

rm CMClient*

If the report about losing warranty because of the Device Tracker surveillance proves to be true, rooting in general should be done with WiFi off and WiFi should be turned back on only after deleting CMClient.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
And so we're waiting for where it goes now, but this is only a small point of the whole story. What's certain is that this is a backdoor in your system, whether they treat is as an argument for voiding warranty or not. Just have a look at your logs, grep DMC, grep CMC, etc.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Pretoriano80:
Indeed i don't really trust one report about that and to be honest i don't even consider it but one thing is true, that cm client service has a bit too many permissions and i don't like that, basically it can do tha same things i do with the device but there's one exception...i'm the owner of the device not that Asus service.

Btw, a guide doesn't tell people what to do with those services, just help them in case they want to disable them but the decision is still their... ;)
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Yes, but by the title of this thread, you would think that it is "CONFIRMED", which it's really not...

The thread title is just a tad misleading, in my opinion! Surveillance has not been confirmed by any means.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
The way that people who are being detained in Guantanamo haven't been confirmed terrorists? Possibly.

But ASUS support may be more reluctant to confirm these things than their one particular employer who said too much. Let's wait and see. There was a report by an XDA member, so people deserve to know about this. And let's close the discussion on the methodological approach to the thread titles for now, LOL.
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Say what?

Why is that every time someone presents a different view you want to "close" the conversation??

It has *not* been confirmed that Asus is conducting any sort of surveillance on anyone, so the title is misleading at best! If one user reporting something is all it takes to "confirm" something then let me do some confirming:

Asus is NOT doing any surveillance that is actually confirmed. There - it's apparently confirmed now! :)

Give me a break...

Anyway, this is getting out of hand - I'll just remove this thread from my subscribed topics and you won't have to read any opposing views.
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
Don't be rude, I think I have confirmed already I am open to conversation, especially with you, after you've made a huge off-topic (which is the reason I tried to cut it now, which you've already suggested as well).

There is a flaw in logical thinking in your statement. Neither has this user said that ASUS is monitoring ALL devices, nor do you possess any knowledge on the basis of which you could assert that NO devices are being under surveillance.

I'm always happy to read the opposing views, which is the reason I've suggested three possible solutions that came to my mind to go with this further, before I've noticed you've already said yourself you prefered to agree to disagree on this. I think you're just trying to make your way out of conversation and leave me as the "bad guy" (which is the term you prefer), but I'm not going to make any argument based on that, so do it as you like, whether this was your plan or not.

Having said that, I hope we'll get to know more about how ASUS is doing their monitoring, but this is not something that leaks easily. And normally we don't hear about such things until there's a big political affair going on (spying on journalists etc.). So I guess everyone has to answer to her/himself now, if s/he wants to have a backdoor process running on her/his device that has all possible privileges. And that's what we've been discussing here, before we entered into the highly-politicised debate, I believe.
[Asus Transformer TF700] HeartWare42:
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- Benjamin Franklin, 1775
[Asus Transformer TF700] urrlyx:
Thanks. I was trying to remember who said that. =)
[Asus Transformer TF700] Darnell_Chat_TN:
Don't feed the troll.
[Asus Transformer TF700] QuietBillG:
Words to live by!!! :)
[Asus Transformer TF700] gyrene2083:
Just to sum it up........

Ok guys, I have read all 12 pages, I've been confused, amused, scared to the point where I locked all my windows and doors and pulled the shades down. So, while I am now with all the locks on and shades drawn, and my gun on my nightstand, let me just see if I have all this right. I could just rename the CMClient.apk / odex files to .bak files and then I could open the shades again and unlock my doors?

I am still unclear though, on what to do when the Jellybean update comes down. Because I did nothing to the DMClient files I will still get the OTA update? (It's 0230, I've been up for 20 hours straight, so after 12 pages of conspiracy, I'm a bit punchy)
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
:)

Yes, you can change the filenames or copy it to a different path somewhere in /system/ preferably and there should be no way for other processes to trigger it, at least on the current firmware. And yes, keeping DMClient keeps OTA functionality. Just remember to (re)move CMClient after every update.

BTW, after another e-mail to ASUS support (saying app data is nowhere to be found in Google Dashboard and there is no way to opt out in the DT) the same guy has just admitted to lack of any certain knowledge on this and said that he has to contact the Taiwanese section to make sure, so he should get back to me after a few days.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Unibrow:
I really really REALLY love my Infinity but threads like this make me want to return it pronto. I have no plans of unlocking it really and have rooted it but Asus seems like they are not a consumer friendly company. I've frozen CMCLIENT in Titanium, is this as good as deleting it? I feel like I shouldn't have to even do any of this garbage to be quite honest.

/annoyed with Asus
[Asus Transformer TF700] Kaskade:
deleted, decided not to add even more off topic stuff
[Asus Transformer TF700] ImYoungxD:
Does root really void warranty? I heard it doesn't.

Source: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1833212
[Asus Transformer TF700] PolishPoet:
Come on ASUS isn't the only company to place this type of functionality on a device. Apple has bragged about the fact that this capability has existed. (A friend had his iPad stolen, with this functionality enabled. As a result he still never got it located, recovered or as far as he knows data erased.) If you're paranoid about freeze it, rename it or delete it.

/annoyed with Asus but for other reasons.....
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
I believe that's one of the reasons Android users avoided Apple (but let's not start a war over it), myself included.

I would recommend changing the filenames, freezing it arguably solved it for some, but mine was still able to trigger it and lock the device remotely, so there's a possibility of a different app/process with root privileges will "unfreeze" it.
[Asus Transformer TF700] scott.m:
I think this functionality is helpful but it should be optional and you should be able to set your own server/controller so we can decide who we trust

But most importantly, there should be some mention of this in the manual, or during the setup process.

I think there is two different cultures in here... the PC users who enjoy and expect full control of their systems, and the Phone users who have never had privacy from the start, and have accepted this long ago.

Imagine if dell was slipping a back door into its PCs and tracking the GeoIP/location of your computer secretly. You can't help but wonder why it was done without telling the end users. I can't help but think of the telescreens from 1984 :P

Avast Mobile's firewall can run in white list mode and block everything except specified apps

Also:

According to this message I got when visiting the device tracker site, it doesn't track your device until you sign in and agree to this quoted message
[Asus Transformer TF700] d14b0ll0s:
Perhaps they don't (we were discussing this issue already), but the backdoor is still there, so theoretically they can do it with any device. Anyway, getting back to the first part of your post - it summarises the real issue here very well.
[Asus Transformer TF700] mischiew:
It can't be optional by design, unfortunately, since one of the goals is recovery in case of theft. But it should be indeed more visible to the user.

As for the only isolated case reported by an anonymous user about their warranty being voided... it's hard to grant any confidence in that until further information, and other similar reports.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Darnell_Chat_TN:
The individual who reported their warranty is void due to rooting, was not a new poster to these forums.

With well over 100 Thanks and a longevity of hundreds of posts, I think they would have been banned long ago if they were a liar.

This is not the type of thing that will have many repeats given the news is already out. But of course you could try and let us know :o .