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Using Kies without giving Google all my contacts' data

K

Kotch5

Lurker
Hi
I've recently converted to Android after about six years with an old Windows Mobile 6.x phone. I decided on Android as I wanted access to apps and I didn't want to get involved with Apple.

My new phone is a Galaxy S4 Active, running Android 4.2.2. One reason I went for the Samsung phone is because I already had a Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0in) running Android 4.0.3. I had hoped that by buying another Samsung device it would be easy to sync my contacts and calendar between the two devices and my PC (which runs Win 8 and Outlook 2003). As soon as I paired the tablet and the phone on bluetooth the contacts from the tablet appeared on the phone. However, since then it's not been so easy.

I've tried Kies but I'm concerned that it seems to want me to upload all my data to a Google account and I'm not sure I'm happy with them having that. Even if I don't mind Google having my data there will be people I know who won't want their names and addresses on Google's servers. When I tried Kies I found I was able to choose an option not to use a Google account (though I do have one for YouTube and searching) but I found the Kies browser interface on my PC a bit baffling and the video tutorials didn
 
Store your contacts on Google. It's cloud storage, they don't look at it. And when you have a little accident and you have to replace your phone, or reset it, getting all your contacts back in your phone will be as simple as putting your Google email address and password into the phone.
 
^^ +1

There have been a few people who have come over from Apple with the same concerns as you have. You do have a valid concern but you don't have anything to worry about storing your contacts of Google's server. You will find out it is very helpful. I even store all my music on their server. When you get a new phone or need to do a factory reset, all this information will return to your phone when you log into the phone.
 
Okay thanks for those replies, unfortunately I'm less trusting. They happily scanned all the wireless connections from the Google car until someone told them that they shouldn't have. A company that had the motto to not be evil, but then seems to have the policy of not asking permission before doing something until they can't get away with it any more, that just seems untrustworthy. I'm beginning to suspect I should have stayed with Windows, the updates worked every time without a single duplicate over years, all I needed was a USB connection on each PC (bluetooth would be the modern equivalent) and no global networks were involved.

Just because the cloud exists does not mean it should be used for everything. I simply do not have the permission from everybody I know to store their contact data on their servers. They already own my browsing history, I don't want them to own any more of me. I simply don't trust them.

Oh, and I don't have Google mail for the same reason. The very fact that you have to have their mail service to use it makes me suspicious. Any company that demands dedication to their services to gain the benefits makes me want to walk away. They are already too powerful and we shouldn't be giving them any more power.

Has anybody developed a simple app that will sync data the old fashioned way directly between their devices without the cloud? If not I may have to do so myself and brand it privacy.
 
You do not need to use Kies.It installs the Samsung USB driver(SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe for my Win7) but you can get this as a standalone file and install it even if you remove Kies and then just connect as a normal removable hard drive and transfer files.There are apps for syncing etc.

I only used Kies to upgrade my official Froyo to Gingerbread on my Galaxy Ace and then rarely if ever opened it again as I found it too bulky,slow and buggy and unneeded for everything except official firmware updates.
 
Kotch5 said:
what is the situation with Kies and Google, does it store all your private contact data in the cloud
Click to expand...

The last time I used Kies it stored its backups locally, on the PC. All OEM software I've used (HTC Sync, Sony PC Companion, Samsung Kies) worked like that.

is Kies any good anyway?
Click to expand...

It has its uses, but I found it flaky and unreliable with my S2. The backup feature worked, but most everything else seemed to depend on the phases of the moon. YMMV though, as I've not used more recent versions.

Your concerns with cloud storage are understandable, but all I can say is that I've sync'd my contact info with Google for over 4yrs now and nobody I've queried has complained about an increase in spam. The facility REALLY comes into its own when you have multiple devices; with four handsets still in use I couldn't live without it.
 
What's the difference between your friend's contact info being backedup on a Google server... and Verizon/ATT/Sprint/Whoever having your friend's contact information because you called him/her?

It all goes into the same NSA data dump.

If you are truly concerned for your privacy, you shouldn't be using a smartphone. Every phone call, text, and email passes through many servers between A and B -- all easy pickings for any organization that wants a copy.

I'd ask your friends, who don't want their contact info on Google's servers, what the solution is and go with what they recommend... and hope all your mutual friends do the same. Just remember, it only takes one person in the "group" to backup to Google and.. well... Google has you all. Or one to backup to Apple.. and Apple as you all.

It all goes into the same NSA data dump.

Since hiding is futile, I'll go for the opposite approach. As an example, I run Chrome with the TrackMeNot (https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/trackmenot/) extension... and fill up the tracking databases with countless fake searches a month.
 
Kwalla, you make my point entirely. It's already too late, but when did we give permission? I've known of the cloud for years but decided I'd not use it. I would have been happy keeping my data in one place, making my own backups as I have for 20 years and living my life. I was prepared to do my syncing over USB as I did with my Nokia or my HTC. However, now it only takes on person you know to use these services and they have you. It's not about whether my email goes through hundreds of servers, as those emails don't contain my name, address and phone number, employer, and, largely, they aren't stored for long periods. It's not about spam, as much as the use the data will be put to when they think of a use for it and it will probably be aggragated but that's not the point either. This is data farming, each time a new service is offered the data is scraped and kept, just in case. The Google cars collecting WiFi data wasn't about using it immediately, it was about having it and then deciding how it might be useful later. It's a philosophy of never asking for permission, rather asking for forgiveness but only when they get found out. I'd say that's pretty close to unethical if you don't call it evil. I don't care about the NSA or MI5 (I'm in England), it's about acceleration of unregulated organisations. It's about people like my granny not knowing that she is now part of the data set when she hasn't even seen a computer. It's about informed consent and the inability to opt out unless you are extremely tech savvy.

I take the point about don't use a smartphone. I only bought the Android so I could use apps. I don't intend to store anything on it so I don't need to sync anything other than appointments, work meetings, contacts, etc.

A few of you guys mentioned stuff I didn't really understand as I don't really keep up with the technology. Hence me hoping for a simple aplication I can put on each device and have copy contacts and appointments over.

Thanks all for the suggestions, I've now come across The Missing Sync from markspace.com. Does anybody know if it's any good? It's for work so I'm happy to stump up the 30 dollars if it's going to do the job reliably.
 
1. Kies on your PC cannot sync to Google. In fact it gives you a warning that says that if you are storing your contacts and calendar to Google, Kies cannot sync it. Kies can only work with local data of contacts and calendar, with an option on your phone to sync it to Samsung's cloud should you want it. But Samsung contacts cannot sync to Google. They are kept separate on the phone and labeled as "My Contacts" or "Phone Contacts", as opposed to Google contacts which are labeled with your Google account. So basically with a Samsung phone, if you want to keep your data off Google, use Kies to manage it.

2. IMO it seems really pointless to keep your contact data off Google. Sure all your other data is fair game in keeping safe, but contact data is an exercise on futility. Even if you keep your contacts off cloud, there is a very high chance that a friend or relative, or set of such people, who have the same contacts you have on your phone and are syncing to cloud, whether Apple or Google. This is including your own contact details you gave away to people. Which means, no matter how much you try to keep your own contact list safe, they aren't and they are already up there anyway.

Anyway, in my experience with my Tab, Galaxy S, and current S3 mini, Kies worked reliably. However it may have to do with the fact that my devices are using Samsung firmware unaltered by carriers with no bloatware.
 
This debate seems to be a pessimist vs. optimist. Some people trust until given a reason to not trust. Others do not trust until given a reason to trust.

To the OP. Make sure all the contacts in your phone are stored as "Phone Contacts". That way they cannot be stored on Google's Cloud. Then to back up your contacts you have two choices. You can export them as a CSV file and save that file. Or, you can use KIES to backup your contacts.

Also, if you are (or every do) use Verizon, make sure you have their Backup Assistant disabled otherwise your contacts will get backed up onto Verizon's Cloud storage. Not sure if other carriers have a similar service.
 
I take the point about don't use a smartphone. I only bought the Android so I could use apps. I don't intend to store anything on it so I don't need to sync anything other than appointments, work meetings, contacts, etc.
Click to expand...

You best pay a lot of attention to what apps you install -- you can easily grant access to an innocuous program (a calendar app, texting app, etc) that gives access to your contacts.. and then all your fretting about Google Servers is for naught.

As for giving permission, that ship sailed a long time ago. As an example, the first phone book was printed in 1880 -- from that point on everyone who gets a phone (publicly published number or not) has been tracked by phone companies.

The phone company could, if it wanted to, figure out your friends just by looking at where you go (i.e. which cell towers you connect to) and who is commonly with you -- so you best keep your phone totally off until you are ready to use an app/make a call.

If you use a credit card, that company knows everything you buy. If you write checks, your bank knows everything you buy -- so best only use cash.

The difference now is that what was once data has become information which can lead to actions: firms want to improve how they market goods, so want to use this information to better target consumers. Governments want to try and track/find people they consider dangerous.

Trying stay "off the grid" or "hidden" is a full-time job that, I suppose pays in sense of self-satisfaction... but on the flip side, how much time have you spent researching this "contact storage issue"? How much will you spend reviewing Terms of Service and Android App Permissions?

How sure are you no one you know has backed up to Google/Apple/Whatever?

How valuable is your time?
 
Kotch5 said:
I don't have Google mail for the same reason. The very fact that you have to have their mail service to use it makes me suspicious.
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You don't HAVE to use Gmail. Yes you require a Google account to access the Play Store, but apart from that you can safely shun all other Google services if you so wish. Better still, log in to the Google Dashboard and go through everything to ensure that you are in control of your data.

That, together with Kies, should keep you safe from The Chocolate Factory's clutches. :)
 
@kotch5: I have a gmail account and use the Play Store. I also sync all my contacts/calendar to my Google "account" on the phone but have sync turned off so it does not get sent to the "cloud". I use MyPhoneExplorer to sync with my contacts/calendars/tasks/notes in Outlook on my PC. (It also syncs with Thunderbird or just use its own contacts/calendar). All done locally.

You may say that because I have to initiate a 'sync' then my desktop will be behind my phone, or vice versa, but when is that going to be an issue? In the real world, almost never.

Dave
 
It's not like you're storing data that can be used to steal someone's identity. As was noted before, most of that data you're likely to have would be data that can be obtained (legally) through other means. Personally, I don't store mailing addresses in my phone/Google contacts, all I have are phone numbers. The best anyone can get from my contacts are the people I associate with and what phone number I use to call them, which can be obtained anyway by getting a court order to look at my phone records.

Oh yeah, I guess I have email addresses for some, but Google has those already as most are Gmail addresses, or for other email accounts that are hosted by Google (but not Gmail).
 
I feel that many of the comments above have missed my point. I wasn't sayingf that I cared about anybody knowing who my contacts are, it's that my address book has the name and address data (plus in some cases employment and other data) for the people I know. Telling Google, or whoever, that I know these people is different to me giving Google all the information I have on all the people I know. Anyway, I surrender. I give in and I take all all your points that it's already too late and Google, Samsung, Apple and every big data collector allredy has all this so I'm past caring.

So now I'm trying to install Kies. It was no help from Samsung to discover when I read a random web page that Kies Air doesn't support Outlook sync. That would have been useful info. Sorry if anybody told me that already but I missed that in the thread above. So I've installed Kies on my PC but I can't find a matching app for it (other than Kies Air) to install on the phone.

So I'm running Kies on the PC, I have the USB connected to the S4 Active and Kies on the PC just says 'Please connect a device.' I've run the USB trouble shoot a couple of times and it just reinstalls the driver while displaying an error message in really bad grammar, which doesn't fill me with confidence.

Any ideas?
 
Make sure the phone is unlocked and that the PC itself is recognizing that the phone os connected. If the phone isn't appearing on My Computer, the drivers still probably aren't installed and you'll have to wait while they get downloaded and leave the phone connected until it's done.
 
If the USB drivers have failed to install sometimes the registry entries can become corrupted and any further attempts will fail.In this case use MS's online or standalone help system/driver removal and remove the USB drivers properly.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=msicuu2.exe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&gws_rd=cr&ei=GU9mUqmEMs2o0wWOpICwAw

and then re-install the correct USB drivers.I had to do this to get my USB and later my Bluetooth drivers working on this Lenovo Laptop running Win7 and XP Pro.

I also use a safe free Registry cleaner by Auslogics and have done for years to remove old redundant registry entries as these can accumulate and cause install problems.



Note:I keep a disc image backup of this system using the free EaseUS ToDo backup program before doing any of these operations as the Lenovo Bluetooth package ruined the operating system making it unbootable.I have an emergency bootable flash drive(Made with EaseUS) which allows me to access the program before the Computer boots to the O/S and reload the running O/S Image in around 20 mins.EaseUS also allows you to set a PreOS boot section to access the program but I like to keep my bootable flash drive just like I used to have a bootable floppy disk/cd back in the day.
 
Kotch5 said:
Anyway, I surrender. I give in and I take all all your points that it's already too late and Google, Samsung, Apple and every big data collector allredy has all this so I'm past caring.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry if that was your impression. I intended, in my own post, to reassure you that Kies does not 'share' backup data.

I'm running Kies on the PC, I have the USB connected to the S4 Active and Kies on the PC just says 'Please connect a device.'
Click to expand...

Power down the PC, swap the USB cable to a different port, restart and try reconnecting the handset.

I assume that you've downloaded and installed the most recent version of Kies from Samsung's website?
 
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