yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 5 General] unoo:
I don't really understand what you are getting at. If you don't like all of the Google services then why not install cyanogen mod? The sole purpose of a business is to make money for it shareholders and Google is a business. They provide amazing apps and services for "free". I put free in quotes because you are indirectly paying for it. No one is forcing you to use Google phones or Google services.

Edit* okay I do understand what you are getting at but I don't feel that Google is hiding it from its users. It's no secret that Google sells ads. That is their business. They can become a more successful business if they gather more information about its users. I am aware of what Google does when I use its services and I accept it because I use the services they provide and don't have to pull out my credit card.
[Nexus 5 General] droid_<3er:
It's not that hard to understand; why are we all flaming this dude? He was just asking for everyone's opinions.

I agree with you 100%. Especially as I initially made the switch from CM9 to CM10, I was really wary about Google Now. It seemed like it was collecting waaaayyyyy too much info. The G+ integration in Google Play and Youtube also ticked me off.

However, the more I think about it, Google is still being sensible. Google Now can't be compared to Siri because Siri can't do crap; Siri just takes what you say and searches it up. Google Now can be turned off, and if you don't want it always tracking your location, just turn off location and it'll turn off all the location-based cards.

I'm also intrigued (not concerned) by Google's recent actions, especially with the acquisition of Moto, the release of Moto X and Moto G, and the introduction of so many GPe devices. Perhaps Google feels threatened by Samsung and feels the need to tighten its grip? The Nexus/GPe community used to be solely dominated by Samsung, but now it's seen entrances by HTC, LG, Asus and Sony. It seems to me that everything Google has done in the past few months has been forced by Scamsung and Crapple, and that we shouldn't really feel concerned in any way...yet.
[Nexus 5 General] 3UR0TR45H:
The whole world runs on information and EVERYONE is trying to collect as much as possible. You might as well let it benefit you. Imagine if you had to pay for an email client, gps, countless news subscriptions, data hosting, and on top of that, had to pay for every new software version as it was made available. Even paid services are focused primarily on learning as much about you as possible. At least they are trying to learn what interests you to offer you something you might actually want!

I for one am very sad to see Google's Android deviate so far from pure Android. I am not a fan of the Google Experience launcher and I miss the beautifully simple AOSP experience. Even when I do run stock android, I fill it up with Google services. I think the point here is that you should choose what you want... ESPECIALLY with a Nexus device. The Nexus has become too commercial with the N5.
[Nexus 5 General] danarama:
I dont want anyone selling my data. I do appreciate that I use many Google services for free so I'm happy for their bots to analyse my data to sell tailored advertising to support these services.

-----------------------

Sent via tapatalk.

I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
[Nexus 5 General] markdapimp:
Long as i dont get junk in my email or mailing address, besides what do you got to hide huh? unless you're al qaeda right? or some terrorist..

Google doesn't sell your info to other people, and nor does it "read" your inbox or someone is "reading" it, it looks for certain keywords then deliver ads based on that... test it your self on your phone email your self with any subject and just make a random sentence containing the word viagra, you will now receive ads that have to do with "Male enhancement pills".. google does this to provide cheap devices such as the chromecast and nexus line they want you to buy it in return for your interests then deliver ads based on that then google gets paid by the advertiser or the marketing campain, so lets just call this instead of google stalking you or like mining your information like gold think of it as google trying to see what you're interested into and deliver that to you!

oh also inb4 someone says punctuation is your friend
[Nexus 5 General] OptimusVDarwin:
I've always been very bugged about this that's why I try to download privacy apps to control what permissions they are asking for
[Nexus 5 General] finalhit:
Google is just a modern day netzero (from back in the days). The sooner you realize that, the better you'll be able to set your expectations.

That being said everything you find worrisome, you can substitute with a different service. It's not being forced to you.

The reality is, you made a calculation that the benefits outweighs the costs. You just may not be conscious of it.

Lastly, the nexus line is pure Google, it's not pure asop. It's Google flavored android, just as htc one is htc flavored android.

---------- Post added at 12:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 AM ----------

Stawman
[Nexus 5 General] danarama:
This is exactly my point. You seem to be arguing my point back to me, which makes no sense. Perhaps you misread my post ;)
[Nexus 5 General] ChongoDroid:
Nothing online belongs to you.. there are many ways to stay frosty on android.
[Nexus 5 General] rayiskon:
i guess some people didn't get my point, maybe since English is not my native language.

Anyways, as i mentioned in my previous post i do use Google services, and i'm grateful that most of them are free. But it's getting harder and harder to control your privacy. Look at the new location concept in kitkat, you can't switch location OFF completely from the power widget, you have to take additional steps and go into settings. Furthermore, on previous versions, you could use GPS, let's say for sport tracking apps, but deny location from all Google apps. Now you can't do it anymore, even if you use "device only" Google's apps (and facebook and others) are able to ask for your location.

Same goes to the Photos app, if you log in your G+ account, and choose photos from the slide menu, you'll see all your photos, even if they are still only on your device (autobackup OFF), something like the GMusic concept with on-device/cloud music. Honestly, i don't want my photos on G+, and i have a feeling i'll be forced soon to upload them whether i like it or not, just like the location thing.

Also i want to be able to choose what G services i want to use. AOSP still gives that freedom, but no one can deny that Google progressively is stopping to develop AOSP apps, and it's forcing it's own. I think some around here take stuff that Cyanogenmod or the Paranoid team (and others) do for granted. I think people should be thankful for things like 8Sms , Focal and so on, and recognize the effort put in them, and help (test/report bugs) and donate to those devs to encourage them to polish these apps and make them even better. Honestly, i think we were lucky to get to choose what sms client we want as default, if it was up to Google, we wouldn't have that option available.

And lastly, look at what happened to App Ops, it would've been a nice tool to give back control to the end users, but it was killed in the last update with a statement that it was never meant to go public. If they are afraid some people will misuse it and break app-functionality (then whine about it) , well they could've put it in Developer Options right beside ART and the rest of the stuff that can potentially break things on your device.

So as a conclusion, i do like and use Google services, but i also don't want to be forced to share my private data, i just want to be able to do it in the range that i'm comfortable with, and putting everything on Google's servers does not make me feel comfortable :good:
[Nexus 5 General] Cirkustanz:
You're never forced to share your data... You don't even have to use your real name on an account!

Sheesh.
[Nexus 5 General] meangreenie:
That's cool, can I use your name when buying my next phone.... how about my Google store/wallet account, oh yeah and PayPal

makes you wonder why so many laws in the past prohibited such practises... they must of been real stooooopid!! haha

also if it was a bad thing lots of literature would have been written about it, warning us
[Nexus 5 General] Cirkustanz:
Don't be silly.

You can pay cash for an Android phone. You can even pay cash for a Nexus 5.

You have the option of paying for mobile purchases with your carrier account, and have you never heard of a pre-paid visa card? There are all kinds of ways to get one without providing any personally identifiable information of any kind. The point of google store purchases being an invasion of your personal information is also entirely moot as you can very easily use an Android phone without making a single purchase on the play store.

You don't even have to use wallet, in fact most Android users CANNOT even use wallet to its fullest since they don't have NFC in their phones.

For real now, if you think your personal data is so valuable and sacred, have fun not having a checking account, loan, a real job, or a real place to live.

You don't even have to have google services running on your phone. This is XDA...install a custom rom and just don't load gapps. Or be even more lazy about it and just disable those apps in settings and they don't run.

That's me being silly. See how that works?
[Nexus 5 General] rayiskon:
That's the type of answer i was looking for, thank you for this :good:

i can recognize myself in most of the things you wrote, basically that's how i feel about it too. i hope we won't get to the part where we'll have to "reconsider our position", but all the closing down and limitations are an indication that we're heading that way (i hope i'm wrong).

I started this thread to hear what others think about this subject, and to see if maybe i'm being excessively paranoid :D
[Nexus 5 General] meangreenie:
well none of that was my point, but don't worry about it. your willing to give my and my children's freedom away.. no argument will ever be good enough for you to stop you doing that.
[Nexus 5 General] mb3030:
Personally i don't care what Google knows about me (i'm not that interesting and i got nothing to hide - heck let the NSA spy on me too. don't care). I love their services and don't see anything wrong with them using my info to make $$. They are providing me with a service that makes my life a lot easier/better. I also really like the consolidation of Google aps and services and the synergy it creates. Google may force you to use one service to access part of another, but they do not force you to use anything you choose not to. If you don't like G+ integration, don't use Google's suite. I'm not trying to flame the OP, but i just don't get the point of this post. If you don't like something the best way is the speak with your wallet. If enough people do that maybe Google will pay attention.

---------- Post added at 12:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 PM ----------

this is why you started the thread? to hear opinions that validate your own? i thought it was to spark discussion?
[Nexus 5 General] Letitride:
Look at it this way, we do have choices - including that of not using any mobile or cellular devices that can be tracked, monitored and analyzed - and off the grid completely. Androids and Google itself came way after other OS - and in case anyone is fooling themselves, the US government (w/o naming those alphabet agencies) has been on top of it all data-mining without yours & mine explicit consent for various purposes, Constitutional or otherwise. We are all getting tracked multiple ways, whether we liked it or not, wanted it or not and despite our objections and displeasure - get over it and move on. What are the alternatives out there ... Apple, Microsoft or LInux. Of course, in case some of you aren't aware - our postal system scanned & captured data on our daily mails and parcels they processed, and knew about eBay purchases & UPS is (most definiely) keeping numbers on # of deliveries to our addresses, whether it's from Amazon or from uncle Sammy... We are deep in the digital, electronic, informational and cyber age - and there are satellites orbiting above too - the difference is whether it's reasonable, proper and discrete vs. overtly intrusive.

Paranoid, don't even toggle the switches and stay deep in the cave - is it completely safe & obscured, think again..
[Nexus 5 General] PhillyCheez:
I'm a private person. The way to keep things private is to use more than one Gmail account. My finances, my personal life my mobile life.. All have Gmail accounts. On Google Dashboard you can delete the majority of information. Yes, I don't like having to opt out of things but if you want privacy you have to be proactive nowadays.

I also have zero info on FB. I don't even have Facebook loaded onto my phone. I deleted/froze practically all social media apps that came stock. I froze Google Wallet app as I never use it.

You can also download apps that will block apps from contacting home which I'm thinking about doing.
[Nexus 5 General] indianajonze:
this
[Nexus 5 General] ozzmanj1:
I agree with OP. I love googles services but don't like or want them to have access to 100% of my data and activity. Like default GPS location on photos. I turned that off. I don't want someone to take a photo from fb of one or both of my kids and be able to obtain their GPS location from the photo. And while it's nice to use the services. I'm mixed on how much data is too much to give them. For now its GPS location embedded in photos. Soon it could be another thing. As I said I love their services but am becoming mixed on a few things as well.
[Nexus 5 General] californiarailroader:
There is a thing known as ethics and morals too, well, unless you're a modern business, then it's "money before humanity". The "it was only business" won't cut it with the final judge though. I am sorry, but if making money somehow excuses you from doing what is right, well, then be prepared for a rude awakening in the future. Google, like any other company must be held to certain standards, being their customer does NOT give them carte blanche to do as they please, if they want to do that they should go to Somalia.
[Nexus 5 General] OptimusVDarwin:
I understand where your coming from bro and I feel the same way?
[Nexus 5 General] rayiskon:
it's fascinating how some guys will always take the discussion out of context. No one is being paranoid (yet :D ).

Obviously some of us are a bit careful with what we share, and take a moment to think out of the box to see -potentially- where is Google headed with android. Others don't care and have absolutely no concerns with what may happen to the info they share, and that's ok, it's a discussion, there's supposed to be more than 1 opinion.

on a side note, a couple of weeks ago this piece of news emerged http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/6/5181472/brightest-flashlight-free-ftc-location-data-settlement . If small software companies are doing this, don't you think with the amount of info Google has on all of us, that they'd sell it for the right price? and not just to advertisement companies.

Most of us probably are ordinary people and have nothing special to hide, but nevertheless i'm not comfortable with my location updates, travels, family pictures, bank accounts, addresses, tel. numbers... being available to anyone.

Google still offers the possibility to delete your account and all data linked to it, and that's good, but don't count on that option too much :good:
[Nexus 5 General] JJMT:
For me, it's Google+ that causes me the most challenges. I had a Google+ account prior to owning Android, and I set up a new gmail account to manage my phone because I didn't want Google to be able to tie all my phone data to my social network data (they have the data, so they can if they want, but I think they should have to work for it ;)). The end result of that is that I can't comment on apps in Google Play because I don't have a Google+ profile for my phone account.

But the larger issue for me is my kids. I have two kids, 8 and 9, that have Nexus 7s. I set up gmail accounts for them when I set up their tablets. But they are limited in what they can do because I won't let them have Google+ accounts. Example: we all play a specific game that we like, but we can't play in multi-player mode because the game uses Google+ to coordinate users. I would *almost* say OK and set up Google+ profiles for them, but then I would have to figure out how to fully lock down their Google+ profiles, and then effectively hide them on mine. I could do all that, no doubt, but it's an awful lot of work just to play a game.
[Nexus 5 General] PhillyCheez:
Paranoia and Privacy are two different things.

Patriot Act anyone?

But whatever... Yeah, if you care about privacy you're a terrorist now. That's what the mindset is these days
[Nexus 5 General] Cirkustanz:
FB strips that data when you post it. Upload a picture with GPS data to faceobook, upload it, and download it again. Another person will find there is no GPS tag. Furthermore, if you are worried about people taking the GPS data off photos of your kids, I'm quite certain you don't have your pictures visible by everyone...right?

Fact is, many examples of the "personal and private data" that exist in technology nowadays does benefit the user. It might not benefit YOU, but an example of that is GPS tags embedded in photos are a lifesaver to those who do geocaching, hiking, and other activities. The fact that you can turn them off should be a specific clue to not complain about it. Another example is google maps having access to your contacts list, gives you the option to view the location of other people who have CHOSEN to share their location with you.

It's not creepy if you WANT this information shared.

waah waaah waaah the data is there, someone is accessing it!

That's how everyone thinks. You might as well complain about the magnetic strip in your driver's license or the NFC tag in your passport.

But you deactivated those, right?

It's simple really...if you don't want to share your "personal and private data" don't give it to your phone. :)

You can even turn off the ability for the phone to send any data. As in, none what-so-ever!
[Nexus 5 General] meangreenie:
you sure about that?

just keep justifying away, after all its no harm, where will it all end up.. it will be ok

thx
[Nexus 5 General] DigitalUnderground:
Wait... You mean what I put on the interweb isn't private? :eek::o:eek::thumbdown:

Sent from my Hammerhead
[Nexus 5 General] Cirkustanz:
Yes I am sure.

Don't turn the phone on.
[Nexus 5 General] Albert62:
This.

This.

And this.

They don't give a rats ass about you.

Are you hiding something or from someone? Don't freaking use a phone. Send letters or whatever.

About the guy who said that AOSP is better.. Are you kidding me? The browser was replaced for a better one, Google Play Music is better than Music, G+ Photos is way better than Gallery and about Hangouts they are trying to put 2 apps in 1! You don't want it get the messaging app back!

For God's sakes.. This is Android you're free to customize it at your own taste.
[Nexus 5 General] rayiskon:
That's one typical fanboy statement right there :cool:

Anyways, that's your opinion, tastes differ. Period.
[Nexus 5 General] Tsk_Tsk_Tsk:
I'm honestly not concerned with the companies possessing this information, I'm concerned about the government possessing this information and said companies ability to protect it. Its not the governments business whatsoever. They aren't providing any services for that knowledge. They aren't paying me. What they will do is employ it in their politics for admittedly some good but a lot of bad. And that's bad.
[Nexus 5 General] fireblade:
yeah, thats exactly what i'm concerned about.. and when there are governments involved there is no app that can save you :( they can and they will spy us for whatever reason, and we'll be lucky if we get to know they are spying us: Angela Merkel seemed pretty upset about it last time i rang her :P
[Nexus 5 General] Doukeyakusha:
OH NOOO, Google would NEVER do anything wrong with my stuff, much less fall under pressure from government entities....Yes let's whole heartedly be so trusting and never ask questions or doubt! *rolls eyes* I hate the argument of "What have you got to hide?" EVERYONE has secrets, keyword being secret. Privacy, we have a right to it. But lately not so much. You know, what with the Constitution being destroyed bit by bit daily. But hey...we want convenience instead of rights, huh? lol...........OP I understand where you're coming from, and your questions and fears are legit. Good on you for asking and wondering. I'll continue to go against the set mindframe of the majority of people here, like it or not.
[Nexus 5 General] PhillyCheez:
I've always been confused why people even argue "what you got hide?"

If you read the news it's pretty clear lots of people have plenty to hide... Idiots have been caught, fired, or arrested over stupid crap they have posted on the Internet.

Some deserve what they got, some didn't read the privacy statement, and some were just so ignorant that they believed "what do I have to hide?"

Opting out is the issue nowadays. Be proactive for your privacy. Be smart.

I fear the days I bring some child into this world. I'm only 28 and already see the younger generation being completely oblivious to the dangers and risks of what they post on the Internet. They actually TRUST the Internet like it's their best friend.
[Nexus 5 General] Doukeyakusha:
All this bashing coming from the same people who whine and complain when companies have their cell phones or tablets on lockdown. Saying "Its my device, I bought it. I should be able to do whatever I want with it and install custom roms." Well, heck, same rights apply. It's MY phone, I bought it, I should be able to use it as I see fit, without having to have my personal info and data being collected, sold, used, or spied on. Also the same people who threw a fit when a user discovered a hidden app or something that would pretty much record everything you do on your device, keystrokes and all. Never just follow blindly and without question, whether you have anything to hide or not. Our business, is our business, why should someone have to resort to "sending a letter?" Installing custom roms is MUCH less important than one's privacy.
[Nexus 5 General] scouser_75:
As a total Android noob… and as someone who knows nothing about Cyanogen Mod (or any other ROM), could you please explain how Cyanogen is advantageous in these examples?

Google has been p1ssing me off recently, but not because of all the stuff mentioned so far on here. More to do with the fact that they have atrocious and contradictory customer service!
[Nexus 5 General] rayiskon:
Cyanogenmod is only one of many. A lot of developer teams and individual devs have based their work on AOSP (Android Open Source Project), and they contributed with a lot of new features and ideas, some of those were even adopted from these communities and are now present in "stock android".

My point was that Google is replacing (in nexus devices) a lot of AOSP apps and services with their own, it's moving away from AOSP. So the work of those communities/devs/dev groups should be even more appreciated if we want a truly open source based OS, but yet, some people tend to take everything for granted.

P.S. (among other stuff) there are privacy and security options introduced in cyanogenmod and other ROMs that Google or any other company would never give control of to the end user. Add to all that Ad blockers, Google's first enemy.
[Nexus 5 General] scouser_75:
Thanks mate for your reply.

So even Nexus devices aren't as Vanilla as they used to be, right? But due to the developers and their ROMs these AOSP Apps are being added back in, right?

Sorry if these are stupid qs. I really am still learning - albeit minus my Nexus 5 (had to return it due to defects!)