Gregory's ServerI have absolutely no idea what the consequences of agreeing to this particular dialog are, but I keep on seeing variants of it from all sorts of different applications
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@simon apps that you give this permission can make local network connections, that is, they can scan and map your local network, TV, washing machine, idk people connect _all sorts_ to their LANs now. And who reads app EULAs in full, to see the part where it says “we can pass on the fingerprints from our network scan to advertising data brokers who will use them to target you based on what’s on your network”? That’s the legal, pleasant outcome. @simon It allows a lot of detailed fingerprinting and ad targeting. I think one of the iOS betas illustrated it by listing some devices, but theoretically advertisers could see if you had a smart scale, smart car, washer/dryer brand, etc @simon I assume it's for chromecast capability, but it also almost certainly means network devices will be mapped & tracked too @benschwarz but to what end? What does it mean for software to map and track my network devices? Why would anyone want to do that? @simon honestly—not sure, but with this info you can get a rough idea of family numbers, smart home devices, toys, games, tv. if metrics are collected by any devices, then it’s a reasonably vivid picture of a lot of households Could be used for R&D, marketing, profiling, advertiser interest intent. None of which being illegal information to gather. As we know, plenty of TVs track what you watch/listen to, so doesn’t seem overly far fetched that more surveillance is in use for “metadata”  @simon @benschwarz I’ve had to go back into settings to allow it for a couple of apps, because it turned out that to do local dev, the browser had to be able to reach my web server (a physical server). Who knew! ;) OK, this FAQ appears to explain it (quite a lot of text to wade through though) https://wandering.shop/@kithrup/113313734937314892  @simon great FAQ for a developer or technical person, thank you for sharing Absolutely useless FAQ for a normal person though (I guess it being in the developer forum indicates the audience)  @simon @juandesant It’s a Faustian question. If you click « Allow » you sold your soul to the Devil. 🤣 @simon Previously, Apple required some granular permissions to access particular local network features, but it was generally open. From around iOS 14 to iOS 18, they’ve been turning up the frog steamer on the feature (so I had to add the request into my SuperConnector app to control my radio) and looks like we're in pre-boiled frog territory now. |
Like, what's the downside of just saying "Yes" to it as quickly as possible any time it shows up?