I’ve just been back through the thread and I didn’t see anywhere, where anybody blamed Apple. The only reference was that the API was jointly developed by Apple and Google.
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If you read the instructions on mass.gov on how to enable it on an iPhone it sounds like the config is pre-installed there too. The instructions are identical for Android and iOS. But Google seem to be getting all the bad press for some reason.
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Ok so its the app that Mass had auto installed, I dont live in Massachusetts but drove through and it was auto installed on my android, got a notification that it was installed and needed the API turned on, now I was able to remove the app but not cool that they just install this to everyones phone that might be just driving through or lives there. Yep I know we have given up all rights to privacy but why install some stupid app, so does this mean if you go to Vegas they can install gambling apps? or a dope app in some states that allow dope sales? Yes It is the same problem letting any entity install something on your private device.
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Interesting. So geo-based then?
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The article is about an APP that was installed surreptitiously by Google to Android phones in concert with the state of Massachusetts- Apple should not even be mentioned and doing so is a red herring to cover Google’s ass! Yes Android and iOS have the code to run these apps when written but that’s NOT what this article is about - it’s about shyte Google doing shyte things
So, based on Jeff stating his phone got updated simply by driving through Massachusetts, one assumes the technology exists to target updates based on the towers your phone connects to. So, did New York residents along the NY/Mass border also get the updates?
I always go back to one of the very basic tenets I accepted when I first logged onto the internet, and which I have heard repeated many times by the tech press. If you want privacy and still want to own a smartphone, put it in airplane mode.
The only way that could sensibly happen would be that certain cell towers, physically within the state, were broadcasting the availability of the update (much as I guess the emergency notification system would work.)
This would be my guess that the cell provider pushed it out as verizon is not much different than google, but who actually did it? I would put my money as Massachusetts pushing this via either cell or google, cant speak for apple, the funny thing is the app did not show up in installed apps (that i saw) only noticed it when an update was available for the app. Kinda pisses one off to see something installed you didnt ask for (yes phone and cell venders do put crap on and bad when it cant be removed) but this is just wrong in so many ways.
When we got to Hawaii I got a push notification on my iPhone offering to install the state’s Covid tracking app. I said yes, of course.
Sometimes civic duty trumps personal privacy.
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The point is, Hawaii asked when Mass didn’t. I’ve got zero problem with this scenario, I installed the tracker that my state developed too.
I don’t appreciate Mass’s “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” decision here. In fact, I don’t think it should be legal.
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The key there is that they ASKED your permission
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Since no one asked your permission to install the API in the first point, I fail to understand the distinction to fail to ask to install an extension of that API which is useless without the API (and it being active.) It seems like people think they have more control than they do. The city doesn’t ask your permission before adding more pipe onto the water system do they? They don’t ask your permission to install a new street light or stop light? You have tasked Google with providing you with an OS… and they took an action which they thought was the best approach for providing the service to that OS on the advice of your government. If you’re unhappy with that decision, the government is the right party to shake your finger at, not Google for doing what they asked.
The usual privacy-on-a-smartphone caveats apply - but there would seem to be a distinction between Google installing a Google API and Google installing a government-built/run app that uses the API - without permission.
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Every device, computer, phone, tablet etc. has thousands of APIs that are included as part of the operating system and are only active if you install an application to take advantage of it. This API is just another extension of the operating system for all post 2015(?) smartphones from Apple and Google.
The Mass app is an app, not an extension to the API.
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According to the articles (and Google’s support docs) it’s neither of these. It’s a config for the Google API that then auto-generates a very basic app automatically. And @jeff confirmed he got a notification it was installed and was invited to turn it on (although that behaviour may have changed after the bad press?)
I suspect the decision to do this came from local govt rather than Google.
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If that is the case, then it may have been a poor decision on Google’s part to present this to the user as an app from Massachusetts (which I assume is what all the hubbub is about) or to allow it to be automatically installed.
It’s not clear from the article if the Mass app is automatically installed in iOS phones, just that the API is available. Might have been helpful had they included that 