Apple

17451 readers

236 users here now

Welcome

to the largest Apple community on Lemmy. This is the place where we talk about everything Apple, from iOS to the exciting upcoming Apple Vision Pro. Feel free to join the discussion!

Rules:

No NSFW Content
No Hate Speech or Personal Attacks
No Ads / Spamming
Self promotion is only allowed in the pinned monthly thread

Lemmy Code of Conduct

Communities of Interest:

Apple Hardware
Apple TV
Apple Watch
iPad
iPhone
Mac
Vintage Apple

Apple Software
iOS
iPadOS
macOS
tvOS
watchOS
Shortcuts
Xcode

Community banner courtesy of u/Antsomnia.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

295

Uninstall the Nightowl App, now. (robins.one)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The NightOwl application has existed since 2018 and is used to automatically switch between light/dark modes on the operating system. It is an alternative to the built in macOS automatic mode which only switches when the user steps away from the computer.

However, the application has been bought out by “TPE.FYI LLC” in late 2022 that forcibly joins your devices into a botnet for use of market research, without your knowledge (other than the TOS in small text on the download page) or express consent (this feature cannot be turned off, even when the app is quit). This is documented in their terms of service.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Disclaimer : not an Apple user, not a lawyer

This should be illegal by European law. Without further knowledge it seems like a prime example for the GDPR letter of death and a pretty solid case for data protection lawyers

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unannounced changes to the Terms of Service are definitely illegal.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But various forms of backstabbing are legal as long as you let your users know that the TOS have changed. I mean, who reads that stuff anyway. You can literally throw in there whatever you like and people will just click “I agree” regardless.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is right. In the modern day, people likely receive dozens of emails each year informing them of changes to some terms of service or another. When most can't be bothered to read those updates for absolutely crucial applications, how many would be expected to read an update for a small-time utility app that they might even forget they had?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I get those from my bank, insurance company and some other places too. I trust that their brand isn’t disposable, so they probably aren’t going to do anything too sneaky.

However, some random app from a random developer you never heard of is a different story. All of that is 100% disposable, so reputation is meaningless to a scam operation like that. Once they get your money, the company suddenly goes bankrupt and the developers disappear forever.