Some of you are aware of how "paranoid" I am, and refuse to have my Calendar and Contact synced via google.
Just before I did my firmware upgrade today, I used an application in the market place called MyBackup, but I carefully avoided choosing to backup to local (SD card) and not Online.
After I flashed the new firmware and made the restore, I discoverd to my horror that all my contacts are now having the symbol "g" within a square, which I understood to be indicative of the fact that these contact are now also stored in Google's server somewhere, and none of the contact are coming from my phone! So, MyBackup restored my entire contact database from my phone to the cloud rather than my phone? There is not single contact entry on my phone now. Everything I have is shown to be from Google.
Anyone knows how the hell could this happen? Is MyBackup a sneaky program which steal all these information and put it to the cloud without my consent?
I'm really really pissed
Now I'm forced to put in dummy tel number and address, birthday to all my contact and let Google get the false data, before abandoning Google phone platform all together. THIS IS EVIL, SNEAKY, UNETHICAL !!!
You really are paranoid .
I don't think MyBackup Pro actually stores all your contacts on some Google server - I think the app just assumes they are Google contacts. I've stopped using it for backing up contacts for a different reason: because it duplicates everything when restoring it - a real PITA. And by everything I mean everything - linked contacts become multiple independent contacts, some of them without any details and impossible to delete without a factory reset. I'm actually using Kies for that now (ironic, no? ).
Do you have a Google account for using the phone with? The simple thing do is to log in there and check whether your contacts are actually in there. If not then they probably aren't.
If you are that paranoid perhaps put the phone into airplane mode when you backup?
I think you are being a bit paranoid here. Besides google might just keep changelogs on the contact which would render you attempt with dummy info useless.
I just checked. I don't see any entry under contact when I signed in. Whew!
But please explain to me why all my contacts now are displayed under the google heading? (You know the display option in contact lets us select contact on the SIM, Phone, or Google?), now all my entries are under google. Yet, I don't see any thing there (yet?)
According to this thread, I think there's still a possibility that my details has already been taken without my permission, although it's not reflected in the contact list in google account.
I'm confused...
To anyone of you thinking that I'm paranoid, one day you will know I'm right. The world just isn't as innocent as you think.
I have to very seriously re-evaluate whether I would want an Android phone. It's way too open, anyone can take information from me, since there is no QA done on the market place applications.
Think someone's had a bit too much wacky tobacco.
GOT you info
I could be wrong but all my contact say Google except the one i use my HTC Sync to transfer my work email from Outlook.
By the way i can see all of your contacts. You were too late!!!
eaglesteve said:
To anyone of you thinking that I'm paranoid, one day you will know I'm right. The world just isn't as innocent as you think.
I have to very seriously re-evaluate whether I would want an Android phone. It's way too open, anyone can take information from me, since there is no QA done on the market place applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, for starters,
1) The [G] means they have been imported into your Google account. Probably, as mentioned by your backup. Go to Google Contacts and you can wipe them. But no, I don't believe they took them without your permissions.
2) What makes your email addresses so valuable? Do you honestly believe Google cares? Hahaha... Clearly, you don't know anyone who works at Google. I met a bunch and they really are all legends, and they know your rights. They are normal people, not politicians. This is in comparison to Apple people I know, who I post stuff to on their facebook wall, they remove it secretly and tell me by email that they didn't want their manager to see it.
3) If you are concerned about privacy, why can you trust the "MyBackup" program. did you install an applications which isn't open source?
Perhaps you should get a dumb phone or hack up your own firmware and remove Google's services?
You should also consider avoiding entering ANY google account if you don't trust them. Why did you enter them in the first place? To enter the market where Google could track your downloads, your location and your firmware? Seriously, I strongly urge you to sell your Android phone if you don't trust them. Instead, get a dumb phone. I however believe my contacts list is useless to Google, so have no problems sharing information with them
i don't know about that backup program you are using.
however, if you are concerned about the contacts @ google.
just login to your google account, and select DELETE all contacts, in your account.
then it'll be all gone
you can do the same for all the emails too.
once deleted they will no longer have your data on their servers.
eaglesteve said:
Some of you are aware of how "paranoid" I am, and refuse to have my Calendar and Contact synced via google.
Just before I did my firmware upgrade today, I used an application in the market place called MyBackup, but I carefully avoided choosing to backup to local (SD card) and not Online.
After I flashed the new firmware and made the restore, I discoverd to my horror that all my contacts are now having the symbol "g" within a square, which I understood to be indicative of the fact that these contact are now also stored in Google's server somewhere, and none of the contact are coming from my phone! So, MyBackup restored my entire contact database from my phone to the cloud rather than my phone? There is not single contact entry on my phone now. Everything I have is shown to be from Google.
Anyone knows how the hell could this happen? Is MyBackup a sneaky program which steal all these information and put it to the cloud without my consent?
I'm really really pissed
Now I'm forced to put in dummy tel number and address, birthday to all my contact and let Google get the false data, before abandoning Google phone platform all together. THIS IS EVIL, SNEAKY, UNETHICAL !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's BackupPro when it restores the contacts it assigns them as Google. I made the mistake of backing-up and restoring contacts with this and spent the next hour wondering how I've got contacts with 3 Google entries when I was expecting only two.
I have no problem syncing all my data with Google's servers, but I want to remember everyone that the right of privacy is an absolute requirement for a working democracy.
If eaglesteve does not want his data being stored at a central repository then he has every right to freak out when it appears as if his contacts were synced with Google's Servers.
Of course, if he should believe that Google is after him personally, well, then this is probably a bad sign of paranoia
flamingpitofhell said:
You really are paranoid .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same until I saw he's in Australia.... the government over there is screwed up big time. The crap they are trying to do to their Internet is appalling.
I'm also paranoid about the same...i did this to solve (ive not an english firmware so will try to give simmilar instructions):
go to contacts -> menu -> more -> import/export and save all contacts to a vcard on SD, and connect to pc and save that vcard on pc.
Go into settings -> privacy -> "erase all data" (dunno how its called on english firmware)
then i chose to erase data on SD also after unmounting it.
After that i restarted phone without simcard and with volup+home+power i cleared cache and hard reseted it.
After that the phone boots with factory settings and without simcard and keep it that way and connect to internet via wireless after booting.
Then i checked if i had no contacts, there were none so all okay... went to menu, definitions -> "accounts and sincronization" and i added my google account, but i unchecked first the auto sync and data in second plan above (the options above, dunno how they are called in english firmware). Then the google account was added. Then i disabled wireless and checked the options i disabled in last step (the auto sync and the other), i opened the google account i added in last step and disabled all syncs there (sync calendar, contacts and gmail).
After that i went to contacts and restored all contacts via the vcard, all are stored on phone after that (via the same import/export option).
As a final option i went to my gmail and deleted all contacts synced... now the phone is not syncing with google in any way but i can use the market because i have a google acc added...
dunno if i explained myself well, it worked for me that way.
I'd love to hear some worst case scenarios of what you think might happen if mr google checks your contacts and finds your mate Fred's email address.
And also why you'd think anyone would want to know your contacts.
are you worried that your network provider has a log of who you called and when?
if they find Fred's address, Fred is effed.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
well.... i dont like to give my info/data away, just really when needed.... some years ago maybe not, but today, google and other companies have so much info about so much people around the world, and you dont even know if they use it or not, you are not there to check... they can for example see the places you visit more because of gps tracking, if people in some zone visit shoppings a lot and at what times, who your friends are and if they use android and gmail also (by contacts), and assemble strategies for their business based on that, because all we are giving is free info about what we do, who we are, who our friends are....that, for business activities is very valuable. And im not talking about gmail, with all valuable info about everyone, they are able to see all your info since you have all stuff stored on their servers and they dont need to tell to you anything about it and you dont even know they maybe will do it... i may be wrong, but thats my point of view, i didnt had that oppinion since a friend i have, erased all his mails from gmail telling me "google can use all my info for marketing purposes or another stuff"...
They give us free services, but there is no such things as free services... we pay with info to improve their business, thats my point of view...
I'm not concerned with the email of my friends. I'm concerned that their photos, address, birthday, spouse's name, children's name, telephone number, work place number, fax number, and everything is on the cloud, which means any hacker could get it, and the consequence would be serious. It's not giving MY details away. It's giving my friend's details away, and I don't want to do that to my friends.
In Australia, we have this thing called the Privacy law. You just can't come around and grab my wifi address, email login password, and claim that you make a mistake unintentionally. All these data stealings are deliberate.
For those of you saying that it's not a big deal, could you all in your next post show me your real photos, address, name, telephone numbers, birthday, spouse's name, children's name, and the other typical contact info on this forum.
So, now they grabbed my contact without my consent. Have they also grabbed my eWallet password file and are now cracking it?
I can't believe you guys are not seeing problem here.
Nuf said.
as long as google don't try to sell me anything they can do what they want with my data.
I'm pretty sure my bank and credit card company know more about me than google and their sales and junk mail are certainly more annoying than anything google ever did to me.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
So, I love google voice.
<Back story> I have three Gmail accounts: business, personal, and a junk account. I didn't know there was a limit of it seems two or three times you can tie your phone to a google number. On top of that, my original EVO had to be returned to the store for a defect (i got a new one about 2 months ago)
So I'd love to use google voice again with the account I've already setup (one of my gmails) Problem is when i get to the part of verifying the phone by sending a text message I get "a problem has occured" message from the google voice app.
Some digging on google tells me that my phone number has already been tied to the maximum number of google voice accounts.
Further complicating things (and this one is my own fault) the ONE google voice accoun that I had working on my last phone (a 4th gmail account) I can't remember the password to. This seems to be the account that has the "active" status and would work on my phone if I could just remember the password. It's my junk gmail account, and even password recovery doesnt work.
Anyone got a friendly tip how I can go about getting my original Google voice account setup back on my phone? Is there a particular page on google I can request to have everything wiped out related to my phone and start fresh?
Thanks!
Jeff
Have you tried setting it up on the computer?
yes - anytime I try to setup on a computer it gives me the message "unable to verify number, the phone number you entered is already paired to two google voice accounts"
i guess their limit is two.
The weird thing is while the original phone was physically a different evo, I still have the same cell phone number (using it daily) that I used when I setup my first few google voice accounts.
Its like they just completely forgot to have a "reclaim" feature in their system such that someone can re-pair a phone with their google voice account as long as you verifty ownership of the number, which i totally can.
Go into one of your other numbers and change the main number to a different number. Like home or a friends cell for the time being. Then set up your main on your evo. If you really need 3 GV accounts, you can always get a virtual number for a minimal price. I use 3jam.com.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Greetings all. I’d like to ask a very strange question for someone that use android phones for a long time (now I’m using Nexus S). However, please bear with me for this introduction before I ask my question. Forgive me if it’s not repeated somewhere:
I’ve noticed in Nexus S that I can’t add contact/event locally. They should be @ google account or @ exchange account. And since I’m forwarding all my emails (POP3, hotmail, yahoo) to gmail for reading and replying, I could figure out that google knows the following about me:
- My emails (gmail and other email accounts)
- My Voice – Voice Search
- People I talk to (details, pictures, address, birthdays… ) – Contacts
- Events in my life – Calendar
- What I browse – Browser, Youtube, & Google Search
- My handwriting – Gesture Search
- Where I go – Maps
I also could understand that google prevented Facebook Sync because of they can’t access friends details!!
This really scared me. MY QUESTION IS:
Is there a way to save my contacts and events locally? I can remove gmail (use email app) instead. I can also remove Voice Search, Google Search, & Gesture Search. Alternative browsers are available too.
Use a flip phone if you are afraid of storing your information via cloud.
The point of a Nexus phone is to experience the Google experience.
you forget the govt listens in on every call you make... damn, if you're gonna be so pendantic, buy a cheap payg phone and not a smart phone
Should you really be posing such a question on an open forum?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I guess the answer is quite simple: If you don't trust them then don't use their products
It's not that I totally trust them, but things they collect are what most ppl already know about me. When I go somewhere, I use Facebook or Foursquare check-in. My calendar contains nothing but public holidays, public events, and meeting schedules. I never used gesture search or google voice so biometric data collecting is not a problem anyway
And if your entire life is filed on your phone or at least part of it, just think of the fact that big brother watches anyway, technology is becoming part of the road to consumption people depends on these devices now a days ........
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
See it in an positive way: You've got a backup of yourself for the case you've been erased accidentally!
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Lets be honest, why would Google care about the average Joe's personal information? I think the president or secret service should be asking "could I trust Google" instead of one of us. I DO NOT MEAN TO SOUND RUDE SO SORRY IF IT SEEM THAT WAY. JUST STATING MY OPINION.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
the better question is... can we trust apple? humancentipad?
but like I said in a previous post: if Google abusively used someone's information then everybody would panic and stop using their products. hell, look at Sony. I'm sure Microsoft's shares for Xbox significantly increased and people feel more comfortable on that platform.
Disable Syncing by tapping Menu -> Settings -> Accounts and Sync.
I believe this eliminates the account requirement; haven't tried it myself though as I'm not so paranoid without cause.
Use cyanogenmod without the google apps.
You can save contact information locally by the way, when you add a contact just choose "phone" instead of google account.
lovelymanmk said:
Greetings all. I’d like to ask a very strange question for someone that use android phones for a long time (now I’m using Nexus S). However, please bear with me for this introduction before I ask my question. Forgive me if it’s not repeated somewhere:
I’ve noticed in Nexus S that I can’t add contact/event locally. They should be @ google account or @ exchange account. And since I’m forwarding all my emails (POP3, hotmail, yahoo) to gmail for reading and replying, I could figure out that google knows the following about me:
- My emails (gmail and other email accounts) (Use maildroid)
- My Voice – Voice Search (Delete with titanium backup)
- People I talk to (details, pictures, address, birthdays… ) – Contacts (Use Cm7 it asks you to save it on gmail or not)
- Events in my life – Calendar (you can use any other calendar software)
- What I browse – Browser, Youtube, & Google Search (Use firefox 4.0.1)
- My handwriting – Gesture Search (Delete with titanium backup)
- Where I go – Maps (Use igo or ndrive)
I also could understand that google prevented Facebook Sync because of they can’t access friends details!!
This really scared me. MY QUESTION IS:
Is there a way to save my contacts and events locally? I can remove gmail (use email app) instead. I can also remove Voice Search, Google Search, & Gesture Search. Alternative browsers are available too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10 char.......
Simple question that puts an end to all this ****ty non-sense:
If you have these concerns NOW, then why the hell did you bought the phone in the first place ?
I usually use TripIt to manage my flights, hotel, and all the information we like to have in one place when we travel. TripIt can be seen from Google Calendar, in a separate calendar... and that is my problem. Since TripIt events are placed in a separated calendar, and Google Now only reads my main calendar, I cannot make Google Now to learn anything about my trips.
I wouldn't mind to do something by hand in order to have, for example, reminds to do the check-in, etc. How does Google Now works? When will Google Now show me cards about my flights? When I search for them? But how can Google Now known what day I am traveling? (in general the flight number is the same every day).
If somebody knows how to better use Google Now, please give me some tips.
JanusDC said:
I usually use TripIt to manage my flights, hotel, and all the information we like to have in one place when we travel. TripIt can be seen from Google Calendar, in a separate calendar... and that is my problem. Since TripIt events are placed in a separated calendar, and Google Now only reads my main calendar, I cannot make Google Now to learn anything about my trips.
I wouldn't mind to do something by hand in order to have, for example, reminds to do the check-in, etc. How does Google Now works? When will Google Now show me cards about my flights? When I search for them? But how can Google Now known what day I am traveling? (in general the flight number is the same every day).
If somebody knows how to better use Google Now, please give me some tips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For flights, you enter the carrier and flight number as a google search ( for example, jet blue 1234) and a card will come up with all of the flight info including gate, arrival/departure, and if its on time. Recently, calendar integration has been added to google now to show upcoming events in the recent update. Try to add your Triplit account under the phone accounts and sync the calendar. This may work if you have an email and password for that account.
Here's a card list help section from google: https://support.google.com/nexus/4/answer/2839499?hl=en&ref_topic=2839478
Good Luck.
Now is still very hit and miss, I wouldn't depend into for any crucial information.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
jt.61 said:
For flights, you enter the carrier and flight number as a google search ( for example, jet blue 1234) and a card will come up with all of the flight info including gate, arrival/departure, and if its on time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the tips. The problem is that if I search jet blue 1234, it will show me the informations of the flight of today, not the day I am travelling, which carries the same number.
jt.61 said:
Recently, calendar integration has been added to google now to show upcoming events in the recent update. Try to add your Triplit account under the phone accounts and sync the calendar. This may work if you have an email and password for that account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no way to add the tripit account. The calendar is however already seen, because I have the calendar in my Google Calendar, but Google Now will only read the main calendar (which of course is not the one managed by tripit).