Problem With TrueCaller and Similar Apps

There are lot of so called caller identification apps that will put a name for an unknown number calling your cellphone. But the ugly truth behind this is usually overlooked. People just don't understand that just by installing these stealthy apps, they are breaching privacy of others and also putting themselves and others in risk. Let me explain few of the possible scenarios and a possible solution for handling apps like this.

1. Person A gives his number to Person B so that they can stay in touch (may be for business or personal needs). Person C asks Person B for Person A's mobile number.

In usual case, Person B will politely refuse to share Person A's number. In some cases Person B will call Person A to get his consent to give his number to Person C.

But in TrueCaller's case, the entire contact list of Person B is uploaded to TrueCaller's server WITHOUT getting the consent of anyone in the list.

2. Person A stores some sensitive information like credit card numbers and PIN numbers as contacts. (It is stupid, but people always do that right?)

In usual case, Person A puts his credit card at risk in case someone snatches his phone or hacks in to his phone.

But with TrueCaller, the numbers are uploaded to the third-party server by default. They may claim that their system will filter out numbers that are not phone numbers. But who is going to audit it?

3. Person A stores his brother's/girlfriend's/son's/mom's number with their pet-name.

In usual case, this can be seen only by few (if they are staring in to Person A's phone when their dear one is calling.

With TrueCaller, the contact is uploaded and anyone who receives a call from the number may get the pet/nick name of the person. Similarly, some people store relationships like "Person A's Mom", "Person B's Wife" etc in their phone. With whose consent these sensitive information are shared with anyone on the Internet?

4. A womanizer or a scammer can browse the TrueCaller database with random numbers and get the names. Sometimes information like the company they work for or the college they study are also included with the contact name. With this, they can call the person and start a conversation like "Hey, Rajesh, how are you? I studied MSc with you..."

Above mentioned are not the only problems you can have. There are lot more possibilities that we can never figure out! The main problem with TrueCaller and such apps are this. My (or your) mobile number, name and often, other sensitive information are uploaded to the server of a private third-party's server without my (or your) consent just because some asshole who stored your number in his contact list installed a stupid app to say him who is calling from an unknown number.

To avoid the above mentioned problems and to ensure that everyone's privacy is respected, these apps should first get the consent of the users before they store their data in their servers and make them accessible to the public. If someone who has your contact uploads their entire contact list to these thrid-parties, they should send an SMS or make an automated voice call to get your consent before even storing your data in their servers. Unless this is done, these apps remain as a serious privacy and security threat to the public.

If you want to protect yourselves and your family and friends from these rouge apps, follow the below steps.

1. Uninstall these rouge apps if you have them installed
2. If these rouge apps come pre-installed with your phone, then disable them before you start using the phone.
3. Go to their sites and unlist your numbers.
4. Tell about the dangers to your friends and family and ask them to do the above steps.
5. Give feedback to developers of these unethical apps. Give them poor rating. File complaints against them in appropriate forums.

ஃபயர் ஃபாக்ஸ் ஃபோகஸ் - இணையத்தில் உலாவ ஒரு நம்பகமான தோழன்

ஃபயர் ஃபாக்ஸ் ஃபோகஸ் (Fire Fox Focus) ஒரு புதிய ஆண்டிராய்டு / ஐ-ஓ.எஸ் (Android / iOS) செயலி (App) ஆகும். மிகவும் அறியப்பட்ட உலாவிகளில் (Browsers) ஒன்றான ஃபயர் ஃபாக்ஸின் மற்றுமொரு பரிமாணமே இந்தப் புதிய உலாவி செயலி. இந்த உலாவி விளம்பரங்கள் மற்றும் உங்கள் பயன்பாட்டைக் கண்காணிக்கும் டிராக்கர்கள் (Trackers) ஆகியவற்றை தானாகவே தடைசெய்துவிடுகிறது. இந்தப் புதிய செயலியை ஆண்டிராய்டு ப்ளே ஸ்டோரில் இருந்து பதிவிறக்கம் செய்துகொள்ளலாம். இந்தச் செயலி வெறும் 4 எம்.பி அளவு மட்டுமே கொண்டது. எனவே உங்கள் கைப்பேசியின் வேகத்தை இது குறைக்காது.

சில வலைத்தளங்கள் உங்கள் கைப்பேசியில் உள்ள ஜீ.பீ.எஸ். மூலம் உங்கள் இருப்பிடத்தைக் கண்டுபிடித்து, அதற்கேற்றார் போல விளம்பரங்களை காட்டுகின்றன. சில தளங்கள், நீங்கள் படிக்கும் பக்கங்கள், மற்றும் தேடும் சொற்களைக் கொண்டு உங்களை பற்றிய ஒரு ப்ரோபைலை உருவாக்கி வைத்துக்கொண்டு நீங்கள் யார், என்ன செய்கிறீர்கள், எங்கு உள்ளீர்கள், என்ன விருப்பு/வெறுப்பு உள்ளவர் என்று ஒரு அனுமானத்திற்கு வருகின்றன. இதனால் என்ன தப்பு என்கிறீர்களா? அவர்கள் இத்தனை மெனக்கெட்டு இதைச் செய்ய என்ன காரணம்? இந்தத் தகவல்களைக்கொண்டு குறிவைத்து விளம்பரத்தாக்குதல் நடத்தி (Targeted Ad Campaigns), உங்களைப் பொருட்களை வாங்க வைப்பதே நோக்கம்.

ஆன்லைன் வர்த்தகம், நமக்கு வேண்டுமா வேண்டாமா என்ற முன்யோசனையின்றி, நம்மைப் பல பொருள்களை வாங்க வைக்கும் ஒரு சிலந்திவலை. கடன் அட்டைகளும், ஆன்லைன் வர்த்தகமும் நம்மை தேவையற்ற பொருட்களை வாங்கி குவிக்கும் அடிமைகளாக்கியுள்ளன. முதலாளித்துவத்தின் இன்றியமையாத அம்சங்களான அதீத உற்பத்தி (over production), நுகர்வுக்கலாச்சாரம் (consumerism) மற்றும் கடன் மூலம் அடிமைப்படுத்துவது (debt slavery) எல்லாம் உங்கள் கைப்பேசிக்குள்ளும் ஒளிந்திருக்கின்றன. இந்நிலையில், ஃபயர் ஃபாக்ஸ் ஃபோகஸ் உங்களுக்கு ஓரளவேனும் இந்த துல்லியத் தாக்குதல்களில் இருந்து பாதுகாப்பளிக்கிறது.

மேலும் கூடுதல் பயன்களாக, இந்தச் செயலி மூலம் நீங்கள் இணையத்தில் உலாவும்போது, உங்கள் கைபேசியில் உள்ள டேட்டா குறைவாகப் பயன்படுகிறது. இதனால் பக்கங்கள் சீக்கிரத்தில் தெரிகின்றன. மேலும் குறைவான மெமரி, டேட்டா மற்றும் ப்ராசசர் பயன்பாட்டால் உங்கள் மின்கலன்(பேட்டரி) பயன்பாடும் வெகுவாகக் குறைகிறது. கூகிளின் கோரப்பிடியில் சிக்கி இருக்கும் ஆண்டிராய்டு இயங்குதளமும், அதனோடு வரும் உலாவியும் (ஆப்பிள்/ஐ-ஓ.எஸ் குறித்து சொல்லவே வேண்டாம்!) ஏற்படுத்திடும் அச்சுறுத்தல்களில் இருந்து நாம் சற்றேனும் தப்ப இந்த புதிய உலாவி நமக்கு உதவும் என்று நம்புவோமாக!

Why eBooks Are Evil?

• You don't own the book.
• You can't gift the book.
• None can inherit your books.
• You can't donate it to local library.
• You can't sell it.
• You can't buy it for second-hand price.
• There is no way to have special editions.
• Rare books which are no more of interest and out of print (say for example Soviet era books) can't be found in eBook stores.
• Your books can be censored by or deleted by anyone sitting in a remote location.
• Photos, diagrams, tables and maps look better on physical books.
• You can't have any number of books open in front of you and cross-refer as with the physical books.
• You need to recharge your batteries.
• Your guests won't have an opportunity to peek in to your collection and find a common interest.
• You can't show off your collection to others.
• Your children will not be drawn to books if you always stare at a tablet. But a colorful cover is enough to hook in someone to read the book.
• Your reading choices can be used to predict your political or religious or any other demographic information with data mining.
• You won't get the physically connected feeling with your book. Unlike the physical books, with eBooks, all books feel the same in your hand.
• You need to stay with a particular service provider to access your books.
• You need any third-party software or hardware to read your book.
• You can't tear away pages, paste extra pages, combine and bind a customized book as per your wish. (My dad had compiled entire novels from published series in some magazines.)
• Paper may be considered polluting. But the impact can be mixed. But with tablets, the impact is always negative. Paper wastes are far less damaging than e-wastes and pollution from manufacturing process of tablets. Also eBook readers need constant power supply throughout their life! Hence eBook readers are far more damaging to the environment.
• Can't be used to cover your face, hold your ticket or letter, swat flies, as pillows or to adjust the height of your monitor!
• Can't be burnt to show your opposition to an ideology.

These are very few of the many reasons why eBooks suck and its advocates are dumb.

Unethical Behaviours of Some Apps

There are many stupid apps. But there are some apps that do more than just being stupid. They are totally unethical and evil. In this post, I will share few of such cases and provide some tips to avoid such apps.

1. They steal your data

There are some apps that snoop in to your data. They read what you type, they find where you are and lot other activities you do. Some apps (at least in theory) can even turn your microphone without your notice and send the sounds to their servers.

To prevent such apps from infringing your privacy, you need to double check the permissions of the app. If they have unjustified permissions, then NEVER install them. Nobody is born with a smartphone and surely everyone can live without a stupid app, especially when it does more harm than good.

2. They violate others' privacy

One (or more) of my stupid friend(s)/relative(s) had an app called "True caller". The evil privacy violators behind that app shamelessly steal the phone numbers in the user's contact book along with names. I was shocked to find my name and some of my friends' name in their servers. Some people claim that it only uploads after asking the users' permission. But to make MY phone number with MY name available to public, they need to get MY permission and it is not enough to get their stupid user's permission. Recently the morons at "True Caller" allowed their system to be hacked and exposed millions of user data!

The worst part is, if someone saves our number with pet names, then that too is visible to public. One day, when I was travelling in train, two college students were chatting about girls. What they said shocked me! One of the boy told his friend that he just randomly search numbers and collect numbers that have female names. Then he will make calls, calling them by name and other details. He said, some names also have the name of office/college of the person and hence he can easily trick them believing that he is their friend.

There are many such apps (WhatsApp is one) that not only endangers you but people in your contact list. Also there are lot of people who save credit/debit card numbers, PIN numbers etc in contacts. Everything is going to the app's server! Beware! To avoid such apps, my advice is to check the permission. Also report such apps to Google. If they are not listening, then take it up to other proper forums. If you have such apps, then it is time to remove them right now!

3. Fake Apps

These are apps that pose like genuine apps with all the logo, name and description, but a fake app. The following incident too happened just 3 weeks ago. One person who was sitting near me in a bus was talking through phone to his friend. He was telling that their company's (I guess it may be 4 to 5 person strong) business model is to create fake apps and post them in Google Play Store. He was telling he had created a fake app for a popular Tamil website and getting around 300 to 400 rupees per day (through ads).

To avoid this problem, check the developer of the app. If you are in doubt, check the email id of the developer too. If you find the app suspicious, report it immediately. Also write it clearly in the review too.

4. Stolen Apps

Some apps just lift the code of open source apps, rename it, change the logo and re-release them as closed source. This is violation of some free software licenses like GPL.

To avoid such apps, first check if there is a free software alternate for the app you want in F-Droid repo and if available, use it! If you strongly suspect code theft in any apps, inform the original developer about the same.

5. Bloatwares

Some phone manufactures bundle some apps with their phone itself. These apps range from mostly harmless to full fledged spywares. There is no way to uninstall them unless you flash your phone with a different ROM. Some of these apps are hardwired so that some phones need them to work properly.

To mute such apps, go to settings and try to disable them. If you are worried about disabling the app preventing other functionalities, check before buying. Also write feedbacks to the manufacturer that you have opted not to buy their phone due to bundled bloatware!

My Experience with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in my new laptop due to laziness. (Yes, that was to top most reason as I was not in a mood to download a new distro. My USB drive had Ubuntu 12.04 as I used it lastly to install the same in my friend's laptop.) The laptop originally came with Windows 8. But I am happy only after wiping all the traces (installation, hidden rescue partition, drivers partition and even the Windows sticker) of it from my laptop. Now let me share my experience in upgrading and using 14.04 LTS.

First I did a normal update and made sure that all things are up to date. Then I opened update-manager through terminal and it showed that 14.04 is available. I chose to upgrade. It downloaded some 2300+ packages (around 1 GB) and took nearly 2 hours to get completed. Occasionally it asked few things like which display manager to use (as I have installed 4 desktop environments) and there was a change in only one conf file. So everything went fine.

After the reboot, I was taken aback by the speed. But on the other hand, the brightness control stopped to work. All other hardware drivers like bluetooth, Wi-Fi, touchscreen, volume keys, suspend/resume were working fine. So I did these simple changes to get things working! Overall the UI and the system are optimized and they run faster than earlier version. Also the UI is polished to work well with touch devices. So it is a great deal for people having touch laptops.

It packs lot of goodies and everything you need from media player to office applications are readily available. With Ubuntu LTS, you also get enterprise quality, robust and secure OS, which will be supported for another 5 years. Hope my laptop will live longer than that!

Boot speed has greatly improved.I logged in to the default Unity interface for the first time. I was greeted with a screen detailing how to use Unity. Fine. The UI is smooth and as a Gnome user, I like Unity too. Only thing is that, whatever you search in Unity will be sent to internet for searching other service providers, especially Amazon. You can easily disable it though! Just type privacy in the search box and turn off Internet search. You can also remove Amazon extension from software center or through command line.

Now my favorite, Gnome 3! It too was awesome. Clean and responsive. But due to my low end processor and lesser RAM, there were some occasional lags. But still it is usable.

 
Gnome Classic modes are also available in the login screen itself. Both Metacity and Compiz options to play with! It too is polished and less resource savy. I usually choose this session, if I am going to kill time with games and media.

LXDE desktop offers a old style but lightning fast experience. The LXDE needs some touch-ups to make things like screenshots and brightness control to work. But thankfully, they are all easily configurable!

XFCE experience is also smooth. I prefer this for most of the times as it is bit heavier than LXDE but lot lighter than Gnome or Unity, perfect for my laptop configuration!

Book Review: Kurunthogai Portrait (குறுந்தொகை ஓவியம்)

In this busy life we seldom pause and appreciate the beauty of small things around us like a flower's bloom at our backyard or a bird's song in the morning. Then how can we explore the marvels of literature written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago? Unless wrapped with religion or made compulsory in curriculum, we ignore these gems for cheap arts like cinema and TV serials. If you love reading, especially good old literary works, please continue reading...

Kurunthogai (குறுந்தொகை) is one of the books in Ettuthogai (எட்டுத்தொகை), which means "Collection of Eight books".  ”Kuru” means short and ”Thogai” means consolidation or compilation. The songs in Kurunthogai were written by numerous authors. The themes involve love and romance and hence classified as ”agam” (அகம்) literature, a literary genre that discusses love while maintaining anonymity of the parties involved. Tamils gave importance to privacy even centuries before.

Scholars estimate that the compilation happened in 7 century AD. It is one of the so called ”Sangam literature” (சங்க இலக்கியம்).  Whatever! I don't mind how old the literature is, but how good matters a lot for me.

Now, coming to this book, ”Kurunthogai Portrait”. It is an English paraphrase (I feel translation is not the right word) of the Tamil literature. It contains the Tamil songs in Tamil script immediately followed by English paraphrase. As you have Tamil songs in their original form, you can enjoy its beauty fully. The English paraphrase provides easy access to the meaning of the songs.

The English used by the writer is lucid. The sentences are deliberately made small in order to avoid confusion. The book has a list of Tamil words used within the paraphrase and their meaning for easy reference of readers. So if you are a person without in depth Tamil knowledge to understand the meaning of Tamil songs, then you can also benefit from this book.

This book is also suitable for readers who don't know Tamil at all. They can just leave the Tamil songs and read the paraphrase alone. So it is a win-win for everyone from hardcore Tamil literature freaks to those who don't even know what Tamil is. So this book is a must have even if you have slightest interest in Tamil literature!