Re:More Android phones than ever are covertly listening for ...
by anigbrowl on Saturday May 06, 2017 @04:33PM
(#14282100)
If I understand you right, you're saying that this doesn't actually work most of the time - but not that people are not trying it.
Myself, I don't care about the fact that Google is 'failing' on this, because even if they fix all the problems you identify, the people exploit such approaches will find some other loophole to exploit or work around. The inevitable result: another arms race that doesn't create value for consumers.
What I care about is the recurring social problem of which this is just the latest instance: marketing/advertising folk deceiving consumers. If your business model relies on deception then you are a Bad Person, and this applies equally to those who dream up such schemes and those who implement them at the technical level.
The legal system does not move at the speed of software development, and so there are strong economic incentives to engage in such unethical behavior and move on before people catch on and organize themselves to litigate the issue or effectively regulate the behavior. It is time, therefore, to punish bad actors by more direct methods of retaliation, which necessarily involves inhibiting their ability to buy their way out of trouble by renting legal mercenaries.
Myself, I don't care about the fact that Google is 'failing' on this, because even if they fix all the problems you identify, the people exploit such approaches will find some other loophole to exploit or work around. The inevitable result: another arms race that doesn't create value for consumers.
What I care about is the recurring social problem of which this is just the latest instance: marketing/advertising folk deceiving consumers. If your business model relies on deception then you are a Bad Person, and this applies equally to those who dream up such schemes and those who implement them at the technical level.
The legal system does not move at the speed of software development, and so there are strong economic incentives to engage in such unethical behavior and move on before people catch on and organize themselves to litigate the issue or effectively regulate the behavior. It is time, therefore, to punish bad actors by more direct methods of retaliation, which necessarily involves inhibiting their ability to buy their way out of trouble by renting legal mercenaries.