Samsung Device Care sharing data with China?

[mustang7757]

My thing with this , even if it's not sending crucial information , Samsung is big company and should of handle this themselves or reputable company even so it shouldn't let any out , that's how I feel about it .

 

[Rukbat]

I wonder how the company is determining which files are junk? By looking in them? Then they have to have downloaded them.

The easy way to defeat that, of course, is a firewall that doesn't allow the app access to the internet. When you need an update, maybe, but otherwise no. And if the firewall throws a notice when some blocked app is trying to access the internet, you'll know.

But how can an app know what files you don't want to keep? I did a "cleanup" on Windows a while ago and (lucky I had backups) it deleted all my isos. I don't need them, I guess. I just download 3GB and up files for the heck of it.

When I delete "unneeded" files, I know they're unwanted. And that they're not being sent anywhere.

 

[Golurk]

Re: Samsung device care phoning home to china

The Chinese were right after all - no need to stress about 5G security / Huawei. Our phones are all infested with Chinese spyware anyway.

I wouldn’t be too worried about it...I use a Samsung phone. My data going to China will probably being used in exactly the same way as data being harvested by US companies like Facebook. No need for “Chinese spying/China bad” hysteria XD

 

[dendron01]

Re: Samsung device care phoning home to china

I wouldn’t be too worried about it...I use a Samsung phone. My data going to China will probably being used in exactly the same way as data being harvested by US companies like Facebook. No need for “Chinese spying/China bad” hysteria XD

This isn't hysteria, it's just the truth. If you want to dismiss sharing your info with a third party company you never agreed to share it with in the first place as "no big deal" that's your prerogative. But please don't be so ignorant comparing this to Facebook. That's a company whose services people opt in to completely by choice and secondly, its a US based company accountable to US laws.

 

[B. Diddy]

Let's keep this discussion civil and not throw derogatory terms around loosely, thanks.

 

[cvflowe]

This is unfortunate. More than likely I may switch to a different phone.

 

[Gary02468]

This alarm is xenophobic sensationalism being used to peddle a third-party software product. There is no evidence that the built-in software divulges any user information. Yes, it communicates with servers, but so do many apps for various legitimate reasons. Yes, the company will cooperate with its government's demand for data--but so will US companies! (That's still cause for concern, just not a reason to favor US companies over Chinese companies. If anything, US companies are better poised to harm you with data disclosures, if you're in the US.)

Here's a more balanced article about the matter: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/8/2...y-china-device-care-scanner-qihoo-360-privacy.

 

[B. Diddy]

I would agree that concerns about data privacy and Chinese servers are likely overblown. However, I still take issue with a huge manufacturer like Samsung partnering with shifty companies like Cheetah and now Qihoo who have a record of questionable practices when it comes to their apps (e.g., sneaking ads anywhere they can, adding hidden "features" like additional lockscreens that include prominent ads, and promoting features that have no real benefit in Android, like "task-killing" and aggressive "antivirus scanning"). It's bad optics, in my opinion, and it raises questions about judgement.

 

[joeldf]

So, as I understand it, it only starts pinging the servers when analysing the device?

Does that mean if you simply never use that particular feature, then it never calls home?

I don't trust file "cleaners" in general, because I have so many uncommon file types on my device as backups that I don't know if any cleaner might think that 1.5 GB Revit file and related BIM family and linked CAD files are junk and it just trashes my courthouse model currently under construction.

 

[cvflowe]

I would agree that concerns about data privacy and Chinese servers are likely overblown. However, I still take issue with a huge manufacturer like Samsung partnering with shifty companies like Cheetah and now Qihoo who have a record of questionable practices when it comes to their apps (e.g., sneaking ads anywhere they can, adding hidden "features" like additional lockscreens that include prominent ads, and promoting features that have no real benefit in Android, like "task-killing" and aggressive "antivirus scanning"). It's bad optics, in my opinion, and it raises questions about judgement.

I couldn't have said it better. Agree 100%

Thx!

 

[msm0511]

Looks like Samsung removed Qihoo from Device Care
https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-removes-qihoo-360-library-device-care-update/

 

[B. Diddy]

Good response from Samsung, if only for peace of mind.

 

[msm0511]

Good response from Samsung, if only for peace of mind.

Yeah, even though I'm pretty paranoid about that stuff I wasn't too worried with what Samsung was doing after reading up on it. But it's still good to know they aren't comparing file names with 360 anymore.

 

[mustang7757]

Looks like Samsung removed Qihoo from Device Care
https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-removes-qihoo-360-library-device-care-update/

They probably just removed the name but still with their services

 

[B. Diddy]

If anything, hopefully Samsung will understand that they need to be more upfront about these kinds of things. If they had gotten in front of this and started off by explaining what Qihoo was doing for the Device Care app, it probably wouldn't have caused this much of a ruckus.

 

[mustang7757]

If anything, hopefully Samsung will understand that they need to be more upfront about these kinds of things. If they had gotten in front of this and started off by explaining what Qihoo was doing for the Device Care app, it probably wouldn't have caused this much of a ruckus.

Exactly

 

[msm0511]

They probably just removed the name but still with their services

The entire Quihoo library is gone from the code, which is good news, but there are a few strings left. Technically Samsung wasn't really sending anything to Quihoo anyway, just using their library of file names to compare for junk files.

Who knows though?

 

[mustang7757]

The entire Quihoo library is gone from the code, which is good news, but there are a few strings left. Technically Samsung wasn't really sending anything to Quihoo anyway, just using their library of file names to compare for junk files.

Who knows though?

Yeah , who knows , and why was it kept under wraps until exposed.

 

[Golurk]

Re: Samsung device care phoning home to china

This isn't hysteria, it's just the truth. If you want to dismiss sharing your info with a third party company you never agreed to share it with in the first place as "no big deal" that's your prerogative. But please don't be so ignorant comparing this to Facebook. That's a company whose services people opt in to completely by choice and secondly, its a US based company accountable to US laws.

I’m not being ignorant here.

People ‘opting in’ to Facebook data sharing? When that option is buried deep in settings, the complete terms hidden within hundreds of lines of the privacy policy’ etc, it might as well not be a choice. Facebook was also sharing their users data with other companies without their consent, so claiming that user have complete control over their Facebook data and how it is used is laughable.

Details here: https://www.wired.com/story/facebooks-sloppy-data-sharing-deals-might-be-criminal/

It is a US company accountable to US laws, but it has also repeatedly betrayed its users, federal and public trust despite being slapped with hundreds of millions in fines, because it can afford to. Until much stronger action is taken and Facebook is punished to the extent that it won’t repeat those actions, it might as well be unaccountable.

All I’m saying is, just because it’s a Chinese company doesn't mean it’s bad, which is an assumption many here seem to be making. As I’ve said with regards to Huawei, you need evidence to prove it’s bad. Innocent until proven guilty is a principle of Western justice systems. And until you have evidence of crime, the suspect is innocent (also applies to Huawei).

 

[methodman89]

Re: Samsung device care phoning home to china

This isn't hysteria, it's just the truth. If you want to dismiss sharing your info with a third party company you never agreed to share it with in the first place as "no big deal" that's your prerogative. But please don't be so ignorant comparing this to Facebook. That's a company whose services people opt in to completely by choice and secondly, its a US based company accountable to US laws.

Actually, just being a Contact in a device running fb on someone elses device was being scooped up by fb.