Google Bans Disconnect.me App From Play Store

Discussion in 'privacy problems' started by dogbite, Sep 3, 2014.

  1. dogbite

    dogbite Registered Member

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  2. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Bad decision by Google. :thumbd: I don't use their app but I like their search and use it when I think it's necessary.
     
  3. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    I can't imagine using devices that can only use software from "the company store".

    Edit: Maybe I'm misguided. How hard is it to use apps from other sources? Is the issue just that doing so is riskier?
     
  4. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Not hard at all, but disconnect.me did not provide an official mirror.
     
  5. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Why would they not provide a download site?
     
  6. dogbite

    dogbite Registered Member

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    Maybe it's downloadable from amazon app store for android..

    EDIT: just checked. It's not (yet?)
     
  7. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Nope.
     
  8. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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  9. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    I've read http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08...apps-get-blocked-from-the-android-play-store/ linked from your post to that thread. Having no experience with such things, this statement ...
    ... implies to me that "getting kicked out" means no market for the app. But the app is still available via https://disconnect.me/. Is it just that hardly anyone will download it from there? Or will the Android Play store later see that it's installed, and nuke it?
     
  10. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    Casey from Disconnect is playing the "Lawyers with Yachts" tune, I think.
    Email - support@disconnect.me addressed to him should get a reply back.

    EDIT:

    Disconnect have informed me that the app has been removed from Google Play.

    Side loading the app - assuming one could still get it would mean installing from unknown sources.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2014
  11. Holysmoke

    Holysmoke Registered Member

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    where is it available? I only see it for IOS
     
  12. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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  13. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

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    "You'd think that the company with the whole "don't be evil" slogan would appreciate an app that tries to protect users from evil."

    :(
     
  14. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    OK, so the Android link on their site is dead?

    Why can't disconnect.me just provide it? They're the source. How can they be considered untrusted? Indeed, in this case, they seem to deserve more trust than Google does ;)
     
  15. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    This is a legal political football between Disconnect and Google, why Disconnect removed all info to the product is unknown to me.
     
  16. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    I get that.

    And I'm still ignorant about the possibility of Disconnect offering it from their site. Would users need to unlock their devices in order to use third-party apps?

    Or maybe Disconnect signed an agreement to offer the Android version only through Google? Maybe Google paid them?
     
  17. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    Users would need to unblock their phones to side-load apps, this could void your phone supplier warranty.
    Many preloaded security apps prevent third party downloads as a default setting.
     
  18. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    I don't know what you guys mean by "unlock" and "unblock", but you do not need to root your phone to sideload apps. Just checkmark "unknown sources" in security settings.
     
  19. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    Good article on APK Sideloading or installing from unknown sources.
     
  20. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    So an app from the app developer is an "unknown source"? What about apps from Amazon? Are they also "unknown"? I get the security aspect of this behavior. But it's horribly prone to censorship :(
     
  21. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    To install the Amazon App Store apk, you need to enable that. If it's pre-installed, then I don't know.
     
  22. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    An app from a developer loaded from anywhere than Google Play (for purposes of this thread) is considered an unknown source. If you look at previous cases of Google removing privacy related apps, it can be viewed as app censorship as Google has presented weak cases in all of the events software was revoked.
    See also:
    https://adblockplus.org/blog/adblock-plus-for-android-removed-from-google-play-store
     
  23. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    If I had an Android, I'd never use Google Play or Amazon, just on principle.
     
  24. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    You would then be hard pressed to legitimately fetch apps for your device.
    Some light reading.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Play
     
  25. LuksWall

    LuksWall Registered Member

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    I don't understand why Disconnect would not offer the app as a direct download from their site? Unless they are waiting for a decision of google's appeal?
     
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