Comment by geerlingguy
7 days ago
Sounds like you're affected if you have either Facebook or Instagram app installed on an Android phone, you're signed into your account, and you don't have anything set up to block tracking pixels and the like (though that last part I'm not as sure of).
Getting through VPNs and incognito mode are the most egregious parts of this offense, though. I think some people are under the impression that's a way to act like you're in total privacy... but it's not. It's just an easy way to act like you're in a new browser session or coming from another location, mostly.
> I think some people are under the impression that's a way to act like you're in total privacy... but it's not.
It should be for the average person. VPN and private browsing should be enough for what most people use it for. I don’t think it’s fair to expect people to think that the browser is secretly communicating with apps on their phone, tying all behavior to their identity.
> I don’t think it’s fair to expect people to think that the browser is secretly communicating with apps on their phone, tying all behavior to their identity.
If it was possible for this to happen in the past, we have reason to believe that the technical capability to link behavior with identity still exists. What’s “unfair” about informing others about the limitations and risks of using a device online?
I mean, I think that Google (or Apple) have full visiblity to everything on my Android (or iPhone). Why wouldn't they? Just because they say they don't?
And if you actually leave the Facebook or instagram apps running in the background.
Some people hate apps running in the background and they terminate all apps as soon as they are done using them.
Android apps can continue running software in the background even if you dismiss them from the switcher. It's up to the OS to decide when to kill them, unless you go into the settings and press force stop.
And force stop doesn't mean they won't restart after reboot or receiving a push notification or whatever. Absolutely sucks how little control you have about what goes on in your phone.