Sage Security issues?

[John F]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes, but, it could also say, "I'm not actually playing anything, so why don't I just not do anything. And when I'm asked to play something, then I will try and connect."

And a quick test seems to back this up. The steps I did were:

1. Closed the book I was reading.
2. Opened an audiobook. This show "No Bluetooth Connected".
3. I tapped the play button on the Sage.
4. The pairing dialog showed. It showed my wireless earphones as a saved device. But, they were in the case and not available to pair.
5. After a few moment, the TV showed up.
6. I paired to the TV and the book started playing.
7. After a few seconds, I exited the book player.
8. After a few more seconds, I opened the book player again. This showed the device was still paired and when I hit play, it started.
9. Then I exited the book player again. The TV still showed it was paired (had it's player app up and showed the details of the device and book).
10. After a few minutes, the TV changed to say "Ready to connect".
11. I waited another couple of five minutes and opened the audibook again. The device hadn't gone to sleep in this time. This showed "No Bluetooth Connected".
12. I left it there for a couple of minutes while I caught up on typing these steps. The Bluetooth status did not change.
13. Tapping play brought up the device list with not connected devices. After a few moment, it paired to the TV and the device list closed.
14. I had to tap the play button to actually play the book.
15. Stopping, waiting and then opening the player again, showed the no connected device.
16. Opening the Bluetooth on my phone and my laptop and scanning for Bluetooth devices did not show the Sage. But, as it is the host device, I don't know what these should show.

All that says to me that the Bluetooth is not actually active except when playing an audiobook and maybe for a short time afterwards. It is definitely dropping the connection to the audio device within five minutes of stopping playing a book. And it isn't automatically connecting to an audio device when I open a book. It is by no means conclusive, but, I really don't think that the Bluetooth is continuously scanning or announcing itself when the audiobook player is not active.

davidfor, thank you for doing the detailed test. Rather smart of them, and I would hope that the connect happens rather quickly.

Once again, I made a bad assumption.

[pavelh]

Hi, I have received a final reply from Kobo, which is:

"This is a follow up regarding your concern. Our team informed that this is expected behaviour. You are welcome to leave this as feedback in our feedback channel for further improvements if you think that would better the user experience."

So, the reported behavior is a design as we've initially joked. IMHO any behavior that changes user setting w/o a user approval is identical to a virus/malware behavior and cannot be justified. But, well... it's not like my opinion matters. I'm glad, as tested by other users here, this behavior only happens on the particular menu screen, so its negative impact is reduced considerably. Still, this design approach reduces my trust in Kobo considerably. Not like there is much trust in any corporation to begin with, though. Microsoft often changes user defined security settings (e.g. turns OFF Restore Point) during Windows update w/o user approval or even any user notification, so it is a sad trend in technology these days. There is no assurance that the next firmware update won't change Sage's Bluetooth behavior to auto-connect at all times. Once the company starts on this road, I don't see any end to it. To again use Microsoft as an example:
(EDIT: THE FOLLOWING TEXT MARKED WITH ITALICS MIGHT BE MY MEMORY PLAYING TRICKS ON ME AND COULD BE ACTUALLY FALSE. IF IT REALLY IS, SORRY FOR POSTING IT) to use Windows 10 and later you need to agree that MS is legally allowed to delete any files on your computer should they find it appropriate. Where is the end of this road?
My thanks to all users who chipped in with their knowledge and testing.

PH

[martinot]

Originally Posted by pavelh

To again use Microsoft as an example: to use Windows 10 and later you need to agree that MS is legally allowed to delete any files on your computer should they find it appropriate. Where is the end of this road?
PH

Is that different from the EULA for iPhone or Android?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by pavelh

To again use Microsoft as an example: to use Windows 10 and later you need to agree that MS is legally allowed to delete any files on your computer should they find it appropriate.

Could you provide the section of the EULA that has this statement please.

[pavelh]

@martinot
@PeterT

I expected to write a very quick answer to your questions, because I have a very strong memory of the outrage from the 5-6 years ago and I remember that I wasn't alone. But I am questioning my memory now, because I can't find almost anything that would support my opinion. I have no idea now how my conviction became so strong. That is why you should take screenshot of everything :-D
The only piece I found is in the current Privacy Statement, which is referenced within EULA as aka.ms/privacy
When it is expanded to full length via "Expand All" button in the upper right, you can find the following paragraph:

Safety.
We use data to protect the safety of our products and our customers. Our security features and products can disrupt the operation of malicious software and notify users if malicious software is found on their devices. For example, some of our products, such as Outlook or OneDrive, systematically scan content in an automated manner to identify suspected spam, viruses, abusive actions, or URLs that have been flagged as fraud, phishing, or malware links; and we reserve the right to block delivery of a communication or remove content if it violates our terms.

But I don't think this is what I saw back then. I believe there was much more. But was there? I don't have anything in my hands to convince even myself.
Anyway right now I doubt my memory and I have doubt about the information that I posted. I am getting curious about this and probably will take a look at EULAs on my old install disks and perhaps in my backups and if I find anything I will certainly post it here with a great relief that I am not an idiot, which is hard to prove at this point.

Best regards,
PH

[martinot]

Originally Posted by pavelh

For example, some of our products, such as Outlook or OneDrive, systematically scan content in an automated manner to identify suspected spam, viruses, abusive actions, or URLs that have been flagged as fraud, phishing, or malware links; and we reserve the right to block delivery of a communication or remove content if it violates our terms.[/I]

It looks like it is related to their cloud storage services, like OneDrive. I would not be surprised if you find almost the same kind of reservation in the EULA for Google Drive and Apple iCloud.