Re Researchers craft Android app that reveals to find horrific menagerie of hidden spyware; legally barred from doing the same with iOS

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com>
> Date: November 26, 2017 at 11:30:54 AM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Researchers craft Android app that reveals to find horrific menagerie of hidden spyware; legally 
> barred from doing the same with iOS
>
> This seems like compelling evidence to support not just extension of their DMCA exemption but also creation and 
> distribution of the tool.
>
> And it adds to the accumulating evidence that we need more effective privacy protections overall, with actual 
> penalties for violations -- both deliberate as here or through negligence (EquiFax and many others)
>
> Mary
>
> > On Sat, Nov 25, 2017 at 4:27 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> > > Date: November 25, 2017 at 3:21:12 PM EST
> > > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Researchers craft Android app that reveals to find horrific menagerie of hidden spyware; 
> > > legally barred from doing the same with iOS
> > > Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
> > >
> > > Researchers craft Android app that reveals to find horrific menagerie of hidden spyware; legally barred from doing 
> > > the same with iOS
> > > By Cory Doctorow
> > > Nov 25 2017
> > > <https://boingboing.net/2017/11/25/la-la-la-cant-hear-you.html>
> > >
> > > Yale Privacy Lab and Exodus Privacy's devastating report on the dozens of invasive, dangerous "trackers" hidden in 
> > > common Android apps was generated by writing code that spied on their target devices' internal operations, 
> > > uncovering all manner of sneaking trickery.
> > >
> > > it would be great if we had effective regulatory oversight and the power to seek legal relief from these companies 
> > > for lying to us and/or sneaking spyware into our lives; but every bit as important is the right to independently 
> > > audit their actions (as Privacy Lab and Exodus have done) and to install code that overrides the undesirable 
> > > functions of this spyware -- for example, by blocking its communications or chaffing it with plausible garbage data.
> > >
> > > The Exodus Privacy app's functionality is key to attaining the first goal, gathering independent evidence about the 
> > > conduct of mobile firms and app providers. Without that evidentiary basis, there's no way to know you need 
> > > self-help measures, nor is there any way to convince regulators to take action, nor is there the possibility of 
> > > creating public clamour for competing products that would spur investors and entrepreneurs to make tools that let 
> > > you reclaim control over your device.
> > >
> > > As Exodus and Yale note, these trackers are almost certainly also present in iOS: the companies that make them 
> > > advertise their iOS compatibility, for one thing. But iOS is DRM-locked and it's a felony -- punishable by a 5-year 
> > > prison sentence and a $500,000 fine for a first offense in the USA under DMCA 1201, and similar provisions of 
> > > Article 6 of the EUCD in France where Exodus is located -- to distribute tools that bypass this DRM, even for the 
> > > essential work of discovering whether billions of people are at risk due to covert spying from the platform.
> > >
> > > It's true that the US Copyright Office gave us a soon-to-expire exemption to this rule that started in 2016, but 
> > > that exemption only allows Exodus to use that tool; it doesn't allow Exodus to make that tool, or to distribute it 
> > > so independent researchers can investigate iOS.
> > >
> > > [snip]
> > >
> > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> > > Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp
> >
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