Don't know for certain, but this could affect Square!

Comment by Walt Bennett on November 30, 2011 at 4:00pm

I'm getting too old - here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/carrier-iq-trevor-eckhart_...

Comment by Michael Reimer on November 30, 2011 at 4:39pm

I watched the video and read some articles.  On thing is that the software in question runs on android operating systems, so no impact to iPhones.  Also, you mention that it logs every text message - last I checked, the Square doesn't transmit data via text messages.  So, I think you are really, really jumping the gun on waving your red flag. 

Comment by Walt Bennett on November 30, 2011 at 5:38pm

He claimed iPhones are also affected.  Data is data is data - that's something I lived with for a long time.  What these aps are actually doing still isn't being told. 

Comment by Barry Bernstein on November 30, 2011 at 9:22pm

I've been railing about this stuff for years on this web site.  This should not surprise anyone.  Android is a Google OS and Google is one of the 2 leading data miners.  The other one is Facebook.  However, boys and girls, the worst is yet to come.

 

Data mining in itself is not that dangerous because it is supposed to be anonymous.  The problem escalates when they start connecting the data with individuals.  This is supposed to be illegal and an egregious trampling of our privacy if they were ever to do that, you say.  Well, the House of Representatives is trying to rush through a bill called The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act(pdf).  If I read this right, it allows these companies to connect the data to the individual and share it with other corporations and the government. And, because it allows private corporations to collect and share the data, there is no oversight to make sure there is no abuse.  This bill, if passed, along with the Software Online Piracy Act, will turn this country into the Orwellian nightmare predicted in "1984."  

 

Of course, if these bills actually get passed, will they will be challenged in court and declared unconstitutional?  It isn't a given.  Of course, the best way to fight this is to be informed.  The best place for info is the Electronic Frontier Foundation web site, https://www.eff.org/, not the Huffington Post.  They are also the group that is going to file the suits to protect us from Big Brother.  I go there a lot, but, it's hard to sometimes because it's amazing to me what our own legislators and corporations are continually cooking up.   

Comment by Walt Bennett on November 30, 2011 at 11:13pm

What I'm more looking at is what V/MC/D/etc. will think about when they realize that transaction information MAY be 'logged', recorded or whatever.  If there's ANY potential for this info to be passed to any third party, it's the same as someone caging a paper slip - and who would this 'trusted' or not organization be?

Comment by Barry Bernstein on November 30, 2011 at 11:37pm

You're talking about 2 different things.  The credit card companies have a vested interest in keeping this info private.  Same with the corporations that want your data info.  Are you suggesting that the credit card companies didn't know about Carrier or who is doing what on your phone?  Not likely.  The only people even interested in stealing your credit card info for illegal purposes are scammers, organized crime, and whoever wants your identity and your money.  I don't think the risk is any greater on a cell phone as it is for hackers stealing your name and password on a web site or those who can steal your pin at an ATM.  It's probably less risky but I can't say for sure.  I don't know enough. 

Comment by Walt Bennett on November 30, 2011 at 11:45pm

It's not about illegal scamming, it's about CC information getting anywhere it shouldn't be.  These outfits are rightfully very paranoid about this happening and have probably dozens (if not thousands) of lawyers examining any potential breach.  Connect the dots.

Comment by Barry Bernstein on December 1, 2011 at 12:02am

That's my point. I think it is very secure.

It reminds me of something that happened a couple of months ago.  I had a remote CC machine that always worked when I tested it the day before the show.  It never seemed to work at the show, however.  I ended up writing down the persons CC info and when I got home the tech guy told me I would have to send him the machine this time to fix it.  Or, I could just give him the CC info and he would put it into my account.  I did that but I thought if they only know what I was doing they would not be happy.  It turned out all right.  It's not something I would ever do again.

Comment by Walt Bennett on December 1, 2011 at 12:10am

As point of sale merchants, we're supposed to be extremely careful of customer's CC information.  There's this outfit that I've never been able to find that insists on 'compliance' with some sort of security rules (so we changed providers).  Nothing seems to be very transparent, but there's supposed to be some very tough security rules (somewhere) - so how does all this fit into little aps on smart phones (of all types) recording 'some' information?  I'm seriously NOT a conspiracy theorist, but I can certainly see some conflicts here.

Comment by Barry Bernstein on December 1, 2011 at 12:39am

You bring up a good point.  I definitely have some concerns with those apps.  I'm kind of a computer geek and I have a group of friends who discuss things all the time. One important discussion is about security.  There are plenty of applications for the computer that keeps me protected.  There are none for the phone, though.  One of the reasons why I got an I-phone instead of an Android based phone is because there was some question about how secure the Android phones were.

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