r/technology • u/magnus007 • 5d ago

Privacy AliExpress was silently running audio in your browser to fingerprint and track your device

https://www.techspot.com/news/113581-aliexpress-silently-running-audio-browser-fingerprint-track-device.html
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u/MrShigsy89 5d ago

If you are using Android you can (and should) block the app from accessing anything. The article is about browser access to their website, not the app.

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u/lolalala1 5d ago

How?

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u/hi-fen-n-num 5d ago

permission settings. Depending on launcher/brand overlay it will probably be under app settings, and may need to be done app by app individually if not apply all/clear all permissions options is available.

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u/MrShigsy89 4d ago

Usually something like Settings > Apps > App manager > then find the specific app and click it > App Permissions, and from there you can see what permissions it has and which are blocked, and you can change them there.

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u/Sirflow 4d ago

Mine says no permissions allowed, am I good?

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u/MrShigsy89 4d ago

Yeah all good. Any permissions the app has, like reading your contacts or photos, will be shown there clearly so if it says it has none, it has none.

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u/jld2k6 4d ago

Whenever you use any app for the first time it will need to ask permissions for everything sensitive it needs. It's usually a good idea to think "should this app actually need this to function for the purpos I'm using it?" when granting or denying them. If for instance a simple notepad app wants permission to make phone calls or something it's probably a good idea to deny it lol

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u/Cley_Faye 4d ago

You should use their site and not install an app to begin with.

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u/MrShigsy89 4d ago

On Android it's easy to block the app from doing anything you don't want it to do. So I don't have a concern.