Comments on: LG Revolution Update Introduces Verizon’s “Remote Diagnostics” Tool, Says It Needs Your Permission to Use It Though

By: Loki

Loki — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:18:00 +0000

Two words, Patriot Act.
“The Patriot Act has been used improperly again and again by law enforcement to invade Americans’ privacy and violate their constitutional rights,” said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington legislative office.
From any of your bills, the federal government can derive what type of medication you take, what kind of firearms you purchase and what types of books you read. Even phone companies such as Verizon and AT&T are prohibited from informing you that your conversations are being monitored. The Patriot act is now a law, but certain provisions with in it must be renewed.

By: Haxcid

Haxcid — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:59:00 +0000

What is bigger than this is that this update breaks root on the revolution. It appears to patch the zerg rush root method used to root many phones. All available root methods have been tried with the Revolutions VZ8 update and they all fail. I see this update or one very close to it rolling to all Verizon android phones soon.

By: Justin Garrison

Justin Garrison — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Scott: Again, I worked for Verizon back in 2009-2010, so I can’t speak to that as it wasn’t a big thing then, or at least not something they were tracking.

I know that there is a tab within ACSS (the billing system) that would show you the customer’s software version, but again, can’t speak to their ability to show Custom ROMs. I can tell you they would be in their rights to do so though, since the device is on their network, though that doesn’t necessarily make it “moral” or “correct”.

By: Letz_Shake

Letz_Shake — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:38:00 +0000

“Verizon Video is Now Preloaded”
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Verizon: Yo dawg, we heard you like bloatware, so we put some bloatware along with your bloatware so your phone can bloat when it bloats.

By: Lavoisier1794

Lavoisier1794 — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:26:00 +0000

I can’t speak to the remote diagnostic tool, but my phone became much more stable after installing this update.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:23:00 +0000

So Verizon can tell then if you’re running a Custom Rom without even calling in or giving prior permission?

By: Tripod4

Tripod4 — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Good points, I can see both sides of the story.

Your second paragraph though….

By: Justin Garrison

Justin Garrison — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:14:00 +0000

I thought this was already well-known, but perhaps not. I have a Galaxy Nexus, and each time I’ve had to call technical support (which has been several, due to some voice quality issues I had with the phone), it says something like, “You have a device that allows us to access your device remotely in order to assist with troubleshooting.” or something to that effect and asks if I approve this. This happens AFTER I put my mobile number in, so I have to imagine the Galaxy Nexus already has this since the wording is so device-specific.

By the way, Verizon can already view your software version. They could when I worked there in 2010 and I’m sure it’s only become more advanced. And trust me, if you’ve ever worked for a Verizon call center, you would be gleeful about a feature such as this. Verizon (and any other carrier) can already tell exactly where you are, who you call, who you text, and what applications you download. This feature just isn’t scary at all to me, and in fact I find it pretty darn awesome… and possibly even helpful.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:37:00 +0000

If that is true, all the more reason to install a custom rom.

By: Jesterz

Jesterz — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:07:00 +0000

Now you know why Verizon doesn’t want unlockable bootloaders on phones running on their network.

By: Michael Forte

Michael Forte — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:59:00 +0000

So when you call for technical support they can now see the software your phone is running, hmm no thanks.

By: SH

SH — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:53:00 +0000

From a call center point of view, this could be good for all the updates that come with Android.

Just think, the phones that are going to get updated to ICS are going to have a lot of customers calling in because something doesn’t function the same anymore.

A lot of people here forget that its not always a tech savy person buying these devices.

By: Kellex B

Kellex B — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:45:00 +0000

That’s the question. Verizon says that it won’t, which is why I would like a way to opt-out of a service like this.

By: kimir

kimir — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:44:00 +0000

I wonder why the nexus update got pushed back… *hint* *hint* *wink* *wink* *gag*

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Kellex, I would be more concerned that they tracked you down at a basketball game. Was there a consent/permission option for that?