Samsung S8 and the things it's doing.....on it's own.

[jcummins]

Finding something a bit troubling with my Samsung S8. The phone is putting together collages of various pics similar in nature, thinking I might want these. I don't, and if I do, I'll do it myself. But the real troubling part is the phone is analyzing content without my approval (knowingly) and what else is this thing doing...sending the content to who knows where?

Anybody else run into this? I've got an SD card in the phone with around 20,000 pictures....it's digging through all of that.

 

[vvanders]

That's google. What you get for free in Android OS they get rummaging through your data, location history and the like.

As the saying goes, if you're not paying for it you are the product.

Oh and your ISP is free to do it as well now that they rolled back the net neutrality laws, which is all the reason to use HTTPS everywhere.

 

[sailfast]

That is the Google photos app, actually the Google photos app storage cloud storage.
Not even actually happening on your phone itself. You can turn that off in the settings for Google photos. They think it is a great feature, not everyone needs it though, so one can turn it off.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Ditto here... turned off 90% of the apps.

 

[Wagtail]

Finding something a bit troubling with my Samsung S8. The phone is putting together collages of various pics similar in nature, thinking I might want these. I don't, and if I do, I'll do it myself. But the real troubling part is the phone is analyzing content without my approval (knowingly) and what else is this thing doing...sending the content to who knows where?

Anybody else run into this? I've got an SD card in the phone with around 20,000 pictures....it's digging through all of that.

All I have to say on this is, "Really?!? You're wearing that shirt with those pants?"

 

[mikester]

That's google. What you get for free in Android OS they get rummaging through your data, location history and the like.

As the saying goes, if you're not paying for it you are the product.

Oh and your ISP is free to do it as well now that they rolled back the net neutrality laws, which is all the reason to use HTTPS everywhere.

Apple does it too. Welcome to 2018.

Now you know why your cellphone batteries don’t last more than 1 or 2 days. The last “update” took my S8 battery life from 2 days down to 24 hours and broke my Bluetooth car connection. Yay.

 

[mikester]

That is the Google photos app, actually the Google photos app storage cloud storage.
Not even actually happening on your phone itself. You can turn that off in the settings for Google photos. They think it is a great feature, not everyone needs it though, so one can turn it off.

It’s the stock “Samsung Gallery” app doing it and it does it locally on your device. If it transferred the files to some server first we’d all blow over our data caps very quickly.

Go through the settings you can limit some of the stuff it does in the background

 

[JohnBuffaloMN]

Look for a ".faces" directory on your phone. Samsung scans and collects images that contain faces... whether you want it to or not. Look at what is happening in China right now with their surveillance state. Arguably the US Government we all are learning not to trust one lie at a time is totally behind the tech giants since they USE ALL THAT DATA to "keep us safe" cough cough.

mikester: "It’s the stock “Samsung Gallery” app doing it and it does it locally on your device. If it transferred the files to some server first we’d all blow over our data caps very quickly."

Well, not really - they have algorithms that summarize you into a very small data packet... no need to send all that data. They can just add it to your records in their database.

Friends don't let friends use Alphabet (aka Google, Gmail, Youtube and whoever else they suck up), Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp and the many other egregious violators of privacy and decency - the axis of evil if you ask me, but nobody asks - they think they don't have to worry because they've got nothing to hide.

Use a VPN.
NEVER use your real name online if possible.
Abandon the thought that you can be anonymous. Your phone gives you away.

Let's change the countries diapers by setting term limits in congress.

juan

 

[Ritothebull]

The only way to get full control of your phone is to root it, and one thing that kills the battery is the apps running in the background, every time you do an update they screw with your settings and turn things back on that may have been turned off so they can keep tracking you. On some phones, you can limit these processes but the controls are usually hidden way back in the developer options. Do a search on how to limit the background process for your phone model and you should find some instructions on you tube.

 

[JohnBuffaloMN]

The only way to get full control of your phone is to root it, and one thing that kills the battery is the apps running in the background, every time you do an update they screw with your settings and turn things back on that may have been turned off so they can keep tracking you. On some phones, you can limit these processes but the controls are usually hidden way back in the developer options. Do a search on how to limit the background process for your phone model and you should find some instructions on you tube.

Arguably, the only way to get full control of your phone is to use your largest implement to crush it into a fine powder. All other means are easily overcome by your "Agreement" to the terms and conditions your app developer had you agree to when you installed it (or started using it in the case of your phone), and your continued use of the product implies your continued agreement to terms that may change over time.