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Is Go Keyboard safe?
- Thread starter WuBoy
- Start date
kejlyCZ
Android Enthusiast
This warning is present in every keyboard and recognition method, it's hardcoded in input method selection. It warns the users, that keyboard is used to enter sensitive informations like passwords or credit card numbers, if the keyboard application has internet access, it can then (theoretically) pass all you type to the network. Of course this never happens (hopefully), but it's displayed automatically, you have to worry just if the app asks for network permissions with no reason (many free does it, but just to show ads).
Smart Keyboard Forum • View topic - Google Warning About Smartkeyboard Pro - passwords, etc.
Smart Keyboard Forum • View topic - Google Warning About Smartkeyboard Pro - passwords, etc.
cindypycke
Lurker
Hallo, ik heb onlangs ook het go keyboard geinstalleerd en kreeg ook deze melding! Heb jij ondertussen daar nog problemen mee gehad of moet ik mij geen zorgen maken?
Alvast bedankt,
Cindy
Metroid Prime
Oil Can!!! Oil Can!!!
GO keyboard is safe so there's nothing to worry about. That warning is present when installing any type of third party keyboard. 
Hallo en welkom! Gewoon om u te laten weten dat we een Engels sprekende site en om een vertaler te gebruiken. GO toetsenbord veilig dus er is niets aan de hand. Die waarschuwing is aanwezig bij de installatie van elk type van derden toetsenbord.
Hallo en welkom! Gewoon om u te laten weten dat we een Engels sprekende site en om een vertaler te gebruiken.
GO toetsenbord veilig dus er is niets aan de hand. Die waarschuwing is aanwezig bij de installatie van elk type van derden toetsenbord.You get the same warning with every 3rd-party keyboard including Swype, SwiftKey and SlideIt.
HOWEVER, the Go lineups of apps are made in China, and they are free. I know Chinese, (I'm one myself.) We don't do things for free. And China is a hacking and cybercrime haven. Wouldn't surprise me if Go turns out to be funded/sponsored by the Chinese communist government to collect and find data that may be used to hack into government and corporations in the US.
I personally would not care because I have nothing that's useful for them. However, if you work for the US government, a government contractor (like defense contractor,) or companies like New York Times (Chinese have been trying to hack into NYT to retaliate against an article that exposes the corruption of Chinese President and his family,) then you really should be careful with using anything free from China and can access you user IDs, passwords and other information.
HOWEVER, the Go lineups of apps are made in China, and they are free. I know Chinese, (I'm one myself.) We don't do things for free. And China is a hacking and cybercrime haven. Wouldn't surprise me if Go turns out to be funded/sponsored by the Chinese communist government to collect and find data that may be used to hack into government and corporations in the US.
I personally would not care because I have nothing that's useful for them. However, if you work for the US government, a government contractor (like defense contractor,) or companies like New York Times (Chinese have been trying to hack into NYT to retaliate against an article that exposes the corruption of Chinese President and his family,) then you really should be careful with using anything free from China and can access you user IDs, passwords and other information.
^^^^
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it's of questionable pedigree. There's a lot of free Chinese software that logs and monitors everything and reports it back to base. Tencent QQ IM does this.
The Go series of free Android products are made by Beijing Innovative Link Technology Co., Ltd. 3g.cn
I think the Chinese 1Mobile Market should be treated with suspicion as well, has many apps for free that have to be paid for on Google Play.
BTW I'm in China as well, but I'm English.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it's of questionable pedigree. There's a lot of free Chinese software that logs and monitors everything and reports it back to base. Tencent QQ IM does this.
The Go series of free Android products are made by Beijing Innovative Link Technology Co., Ltd. 3g.cn
I think the Chinese 1Mobile Market should be treated with suspicion as well, has many apps for free that have to be paid for on Google Play.
BTW I'm in China as well, but I'm English.
Duckduckgo promises to block tracking cookies "before they reach your device ". So if the spying is the main driver, the software probably wouldn't work.
Well, it does work on this Android 9 device. Not on the Android 11 equipmed one I want to change to.
(Cannot be configured, then back to default Gboard which has a weird layout for me)
P. S.
Duckduckgo tracking blocker warns about A LOT OF tracking requests (being blocked diverted by their servers) from other apps than just this keyboard. Amoh which: over 10 tracking attempts by Google, for apps who provide access to banking, payments, login to government and security websites.
So any app using Google's API, is tracking you. Why would we worry when wone extra does it? Because this one isn't a big USA based one?
Well, it does work on this Android 9 device. Not on the Android 11 equipmed one I want to change to.
(Cannot be configured, then back to default Gboard which has a weird layout for me)
P. S.
Duckduckgo tracking blocker warns about A LOT OF tracking requests (being blocked diverted by their servers) from other apps than just this keyboard. Amoh which: over 10 tracking attempts by Google, for apps who provide access to banking, payments, login to government and security websites.
So any app using Google's API, is tracking you. Why would we worry when wone extra does it? Because this one isn't a big USA based one?
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A keyboard app can do a lot more that just report how often you open the app: it can pass your card details, passwords or anything else you type back to the developer. So it's fair to be more cautious about a keyboard.
Plus what you may not know is that since the earlier posts were made the "Go" apps were pulled from the Play Store over security concerns, so don't be too quick to assume that words of caution are based on prejudice! The few that can be found now have a new name for the developer: whether this is the same dev under a different name or someone else hijacking the defunct branding I don't know. Of course some of the recent "improvements" in the Play Store make it much harder to find out anything about the app developers.
(Unfortunately almost every change Google have made in the last decade has made it harder for people to make responsible choices about apps before installing - they pay lip service to security, but they clearly don't want people to think about it for themselves.)
Plus what you may not know is that since the earlier posts were made the "Go" apps were pulled from the Play Store over security concerns, so don't be too quick to assume that words of caution are based on prejudice! The few that can be found now have a new name for the developer: whether this is the same dev under a different name or someone else hijacking the defunct branding I don't know. Of course some of the recent "improvements" in the Play Store make it much harder to find out anything about the app developers.
(Unfortunately almost every change Google have made in the last decade has made it harder for people to make responsible choices about apps before installing - they pay lip service to security, but they clearly don't want people to think about it for themselves.)
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