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Help Contacts on 5.0.2

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sg4rb0

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When I try and save a contact on my Moto E (2nd gen, 2015), it says "Your new contact will be synchronised with john@gmail.com". The only options you can choose are "add new account", or "ok". There is not an option to not synchronise it with my email address.

I'm really unhappy about this. I'm anal about privacy, and uploading contacts to Google servers just ain't the way to go. In the mean time I have gone into my google account and disabled synchronisation. But I just want to save my contacts to my SIM, and SIM alone. Please can you fix it, or tell me a workaround?
 
If you turn off sync to your account contacts are being saved only the phone only. That is your workaround. Just be sure to do manual backups and keep a copy somewhere other than on the phone in case of theft or loss of the phone.

The option to save contacts to SIM cards is disappearing and no doubt will be gone completely in a year or two. Unlike other contacts options, SIM contacts can have names and numbers only - no email addresses, physical addresses, photos, birthdays, notes - none of the extra information most people like to be able to add. In short, SIM contacts is old, outdated technology that should not be considered a viable option.

All that said, I *highly* recommend saving contacts to your Google account. The information is out there anyway. Google is not the security risk you should be worried about.
 
I'm a bit surprised though. I know that different manufacturers and models vary, but if I try to add a new contact with my HTC One running 5.0.2 I can still select contact types "Google", "Phone only" or "SIM". Now I agree that SIM contacts are historical for most people, but surprised the "Phone only" option isn't present.

P.S. Good call on using an invalid gmail address in your post. ;)
 
Ok, at least now I understand why they have put it this way. They should still allow us to save contacts to our memory though.

FYI, Google tracks and records everything you do or say and stores it in a nice big bank of information ready for GCHQ to have at a moments notice. Or, if Google were to get hacked and your contacts data was leaked then this would also be terrible. When there is no need to put privacy at risk, then I don't :). Wish you could see how much effort I've put into security for all my electronic goods to evade metadata capture.
 
sg4rb0 said:
FYI, Google tracks and records everything you do or say and stores it in a nice big bank of information ready for GCHQ to have at a moments notice.
Click to expand...

No they don't. Or at least any more so than your bank, phone network or ISP if they're presented with a valid warrant/subpoena. :)

if Google were to get hacked and your contacts data was leaked then this would also be terrible
Click to expand...

Wish you could see how much effort I've put into security for all my electronic goods to evade metadata capture.
Click to expand...

Quite probably as much as many of us have taken to ensure that we can still benefit from Google's services without leaking unwanted info. ;)
 
@Slug, yes they do lol. I'm not sure if they still have unrestricted access since I last checked, but due to PRISM the NSA and GCHQ has had unrestricted access to content to companies such as Yahoo, Google, Hotmail etc. If either GCHQ or the NSA ever needed to use your data then you would also be trialed in a secret court, where they would have SO much metadata against you that they could easily suggest the data shows preposterous allegations that would be very difficult to defend against. It's a broken system and I'll always do my best to reduce any of my data stored online.
 
:thumbsupdroid:

conspiracy.jpg


Saving contacts to SIMs, is really a relic from the early 90s, when we just stored names and numbers on brick sized dumb-phones. My phone does have save contacts to SIM. But given that my contacts list is about 2 megabytes, and my CMCC SIM states on it 128kb (kilobytes), it's obvious that's just not going to happen. However it does have backup contacts locally and to the manufacturer's on-line service. But these features might be specific to certain manufacturers and devices. A Motorola phone I believe is not far off vanilla Android, which will only have what Google provides as standard. There are third-party apps you can install, that will allow you to backup and sync your contacts locally, without the need for on-line services, that the spooks have access to

FWIW Chinese govt. spooks likely know everything there is to know about me. I still sleep at night no problems.
 
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Contacts is the last thing you need to worry about syncing to Google. I can understand notes, letters, pictures, etc. But choosing not to sync contacts won't help your privacy anyway, because if these people in your contact list has other friends syncing to Google, which is highly likely, then their details are already up there anyway.
 
Your carrier knows every number you've called and received, and if they're in your contacts list, chances are you've phoned them at sometime. And carriers will provide that information to law enforcement if required.

Stay off the grid, throw your phone away, close your bank accounts, cut up all your credit cards, go and live in a cave. :thumbsupdroid:
 
Actually contacts are the only thing I do sync with Google (well I have a GMail, but it's low traffic and only one of many email accounts).

But removing the "phone only" option? Just makes me glad that not all manufacturers follow Google in all things. :(
 
sg4rb0 said:
due to PRISM the NSA and GCHQ has had unrestricted access to content to companies such as Yahoo, Google, Hotmail etc.
Click to expand...

1. PRISM is/was an NSA operation, so a foreign agency such as GCHQ would never have "unrestricted" access as that could compromise US intelligence and/or security.

2. All the companies named, plus others, flatly deny such claims. Access to data on production of a valid warrant/subpoena yes, but no covert backdoors. Various oversight reports back this up.

If either GCHQ or the NSA ever needed to use your data then you would also be trialed in a secret court
Click to expand...

Why on earth would a "trial" be needed to use data that is supposedly so easy to access covertly anyway? :confused:

It's a broken system and I'll always do my best to reduce any of my data stored online.
Click to expand...

You're entitled to your opinion of course, and I applaud you for taking responsibility for your privacy. However there's more to it than just "metadata", as you call it. You might also want to consider using a VPN connection, encrypting all email/SMS traffic, and avoiding social media. ;)
 
I already do those things :) I am pretty aware of how easy data is to get. Only last week I ethically hacked a users Facebook and their bank account (Halifax specifically) just for the crack to show them how easy it is to do. FYI I encrypt the following data:

-Emails (I PGP my emails & then use an encrypted email provider)
-Voice
-Texts
-DNS traffic
-Web traffic (also proxied and tunneled)

I also tunnel a lot of protocols over SSH and use 2 factor authentication.
I also have very tight access-lists on my router, with logging. I also log traffic on my firewall.

If you aren't worried about your data, crack on. I will always use crypto.
 
sg4rb0 said:
Ok, at least now I understand why they have put it this way. They should still allow us to save contacts to our memory though.
Click to expand...

What do you mean, "they should still allow us to save contacts to our memory though?"

They do allow it, it has been and always will be a standard Android feature, your phone has it and now you know about it.

You say "still" and "though" like it's not happening or the ice is thin - none of which is true.

FYI, Google tracks and records everything you do or say and stores it in a nice big bank of information ready for GCHQ to have at a moments notice. Or, if Google were to get hacked and your contacts data was leaked then this would also be terrible. When there is no need to put privacy at risk, then I don't :). Wish you could see how much effort I've put into security for all my electronic goods to evade metadata capture.
Click to expand...
I appreciate comedy and fiction as much as the next guy.

I especially loved the bit about the benevolent hacking. That was golden. :D


As you mentioned the GCHQ, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you may somehow be in or tied to the UK.

If true and with your skills, why not get a job with them? I don't know if you've read this or not, but they're hiring -

http://www.recruiter.co.uk/news/2015/05/gchq-goes-on-a-mission-to-recruit-cyber-skills/

It was the first link I hit looking them up because I'd never heard of them over here in the US. It's these guys, yeah?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Headquarters

Between the hiring news and the Wikipedia definition I also noticed this link -

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-05/18/gchq-hacking-legal-secret-change-in-law

Seems clear to me that you'd be a shoe-in.

But as the original question has been answered, and having read this entire thread, I fail to see a point coming anywhere in my future.

Best of luck with your security. Let us know if you get the job! :)

Until then, let's stick a fork in it.

If anyone disagrees, drop me a line. :)

@Slug if you disagree or I've missed something, please open as you see best. :)

/closed
 
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