When I talk evil business practice, it’s generally Apple or Google that’s in my cross-hairs. Apple does so many things disguised as features but really designed to dominate markets at its users’ expense that the “Apple is Evil” conversation can go on and on. And Google? I’m still in the search giant’s corner on technical and technicality-based grounds, but for a company that formerly used “Don’t Be Evil” as their unofficial motto there sure is a lot of questionable stuff going on.
Got an HTC-designed Android SmartPhone in your pocket? Heads Up, please; HTC and your phone carrier are watching you.
Actually, the fact that Android Phones using HTC’s Sense interface know stuff about their users bothers me in a mostly-theoretical way. We all know our SmartPhones know where we go and what we do and we all realize, if sub-consciously, that the information is being shared back to our wireless carriers and the companies that make all those Apps that we install and let us do things like review restaurants while sitting in them. But it turns out that phones using HTC Sense aren’t just sharing information, they’re leaking it, too.
I’m not sure there’s a whole lot going on here that necessarily casts either HTC or the phone carriers selling HTC SmartPhones as evil, but the potential for mayhem carried out by unscrupulous software developers is huge. And I won’t be going all conspiracy-theory, or even going into a lecture about the importance of managing computers correctly.
I point out the HTC Sense Android Data Leak problem because I want you to make sure you know about a project here at Answer Guy Central. I announced this last week, and so far I haven’t found the right developer to help out:
We’re building an Android Screen Capture App.
If you read that piece you’ll see that Android Screen Capture has been on my mind for a while, and now I know that it’s no coincidence that Screen Grab on HTC Sense Androids is where the subject started.
I’m serious about this, and as you can see, our long-tail marketing search engine optimization numbers for major variants of Android Screen Capture is already jumping, just as I promised last week:
So today, business change is sending us in a lot of different directions. You can see how good The Answer Guy is at Search Engine Optimization (and can read about our SEO Philosophy). If you’re a developer you can begin a dialog with us about Creating an Android Screen Capture App.
And if you’re using an HTC Sense Android SmartPhone, you can … re-think that decision. Or simply get used to sharing every move you make with the world.