An open community 
of Macintosh users,
for Macintosh users.

FineTunedMac Dashboard widget now available! Download Here

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Battery charging privacy invasion
#62569 09/16/22 06:23 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
ryck Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
Apparently you need to be really careful about where you charge your phone via USB, in case you open a door to information thieves. Here are a few places to be cautious. I assume the same applies to other devices.

Last edited by ryck; 09/16/22 06:26 PM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
ryck #62571 09/17/22 12:53 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Moderator
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Allowing your device to join a public Wi-Fi network at any, or all, of those locations is equally and potentially, far more dangerous to your security.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
joemikeb #62572 09/17/22 02:10 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
ryck Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
I was aware of the dangers in public networks and have a simple to follow policy "Just don’t ever". I am often in places where I have to wait and, when I look around and see all the people who are killing time using the free wifi, I think “Carry a book".

However, getting access through charging….new one to me but good to know.

Last edited by ryck; 09/17/22 02:11 PM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
ryck #62574 09/17/22 03:21 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
I have a rechargeable "charging brick" for lack of knowing what its name really is. It recharges from the Mac's USB port, and will recharge an iPhone or iPad a few times before it needs to be recharged itself. So I take that with me on trips to avoid using public recharging outlets.

Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
Gregg #62576 09/17/22 08:35 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
ryck Offline OP
OP Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 14
There’s a good idea.


ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
ryck #62578 09/19/22 12:25 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Here's what I have:

INIU Power Bank
Model B1-B42

Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
Gregg #62579 09/20/22 11:43 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
Moderator
Offline
Moderator

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 16
It just occurred to me that a "charging only" cable would prevent any data transmission either way and would be a LOT cheaper.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
joemikeb #62580 09/21/22 12:37 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Cable cheaper, yes. Cable works at home, yes, when you have power.
Brick more expensive, yes. Brick works at home, even when you don't have power.

That's why I got one. The traveling aspect is just a bonus. smile
We lose power at our house on a regular basis, at least twice a year. So I use the brick to charge my flip phone every week. After a month or so, I charge the brick to keep it near a full charge because I can't charge the brick when the power is out. The mfr. recommends not just letting it sit for weeks on end, so that's the approach I take to make sure it stays in good working condition.

Last edited by Gregg; 09/21/22 12:41 PM.
Re: Battery charging privacy invasion
Gregg #62582 09/22/22 01:34 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
Offline

Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 1
And, proving some sort of maxim somewhere, our power went out yesterday, only 4 or 5 hours after I made the above post!

I charged my iPad from the brick, just in case; even though without power, we were without a wifi connection.

This time we were out for only a few hours. Last winter, power was out for 30 hours.


Moderated by  alternaut, cyn 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.027s Queries: 32 (0.015s) Memory: 0.6087 MB (Peak: 0.6924 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-29 10:37:32 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS