iPhone 13 Pro Privacy issue and charging nonsense

[NoBoMac]

According to this Apple Support page, an iPhone running iOS 13 or later can filter phone calls from unknown callers, or install apps that block spam:

That's what I've been doing since they introduced it. Add in the call blocker I have (ATT's, which appears to be better than the free Verizon app I've installed on relatives' phone [more/better options on ATT]), my phone is "silent" other than the people I allow in by creating a contact for them.

EDIT: in light of the replies that came in while composing this, yes, early iPhone call blockers were not great. Today, at least with the ATT call blocker, has the attached settings. Can get same with some other apps, but unfortunately, subscriptions. Iirc, ATT is using re-badged Hiya.

 

[Lihp8270]

I know exactly what my VPN does and doesn’t do

It also makes packet sniffing harder, and it makes it show my ISP/cell phone company only sees a connection to a server, not connections to websites, my email, banks, chats, etc ISPs and cell companies have proven not to exactly be protective of their users info

But your VPN sees and logs everything you do.

 

[Vlad Soare]

The current API is CallKit:

CallKit | Apple Developer Documentation

Display the system-calling UI for your app’s VoIP services, and coordinate your calling services with other apps and the system.

developer.apple.com

my phone is "silent" other than the people I allow in by creating a contact for them.

The iPhone can do this natively, but it doesn't help me. I want to receive calls from people who aren't in my contacts list. Blocking every unknown number would render my phone useless.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, can anyone specifically name a carrier-independent app that can do the following:
1. Block all calls from private numbers. Not unknown, in the sense that they aren't in my contacts, but just those intentionally hidden by the caller. Allow unknown numbers as long as they are visible, but block private ones.
2. Block all calls from numbers starting with a certain prefix, say +918.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no app whatsoever that can do no. 1. I'm almost certain that it can't even be done, due to iOS restrictions, but I will be happy to be proven wrong.
As for no. 2, the only one I know of is WideProtect, which only works to a very limited extent due to API limitations. That is, it must generate enormous lists of all possible combinations of digits beginning with that prefix and mark each of them as blocked. It's just an extremely clumsy workaround.

For text messages I found an app called VeroSMS, which seems to do what I want - i.e. filter text messages based on specific words. I've yet to test it, but at first glance it looks fine.
But for calls there's still nothing.

Later edit: I've also found one called NumberShield, but it works the same way as WideProtect, so it's not a proper solution either.

 

[OneBar]

No point trying to help if you refuse to read...

That was the point; there is nothing to read. It's just a random CO2 plot with no source for data and there are no links going to any other pages. It's like a standalone webpage.

 

[johnmacward]

Yes it is true, on the large scale. But of course that makes no sense on the regional scale. All those solar/wind farms in Texas and the Southwest aren’t even connected (for the most part) to the Eastern Interconnection and will never feed power to someone living in New York City for example.

My point was more Apple is probably using some really simple estimates here that don’t really require your location. The original poster seems to think Apple is mapping out the entire US power grid live, and estimate what time you are most likely to be getting electricity sourced from green power at your exact wall socket. This is most surely not what Apple is doing.

Fair enough but to talk about Texas is a truly unique case in point, as only in Texas would you have a power supply that decides to be completely disconnected from the rest of the US. That's not the case in the rest of the US, nor the rest of the world. Even Europe interconnects just about everywhere to share their power grids and we're talking entirely independent countries, not just states.

From looking into it in even more detail Apple does seem to be looking at your location (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213323) and probably determining green power load based on your region (maybe with some data they have from local providers). Its just something that seems utterly silly to me, the few watts your phone will draw is of virtually NO impact to the grid - even millions of phones in a region (the vast majority of which get charged at night more than likely) have a very tiny impact compared to a factory in full production, air conditioning systems for a 6 storey office building, refrigeration, appliances and induction hobs in restaurants, lighting and IT resources for a multi-storey shopping centre.

 

[johnmacward]

Everything I guess is the easy answer, though it’s not paranoid, it’s just historically giving more people more personal info hasn’t been a benifit

Even buying something, and simply providing your email, we’ll most of the time you just get spammed

The other benefit for a mail box is your mail is secure and out of the elements if you’re away for a few days

To a great extent I agree with you, the idea that you need to furnish so much info online (account creation) to buy something when many websites (but not a majority) offer payment without storing your data (without creating an account) - I know they force it to facilitate your future purchases (in the hope that you'll find it easy to spend your money with them if there's less friction). Im not a fan for some one off purchases on a particular website, for example hardware shops online that sell tools, cables, screws etc. and the fact that I'ùll use them once for some obscure tool I need and NEVER again and still my address, number, username and password sits on their site for decades awaiting a potential hack.

However I don't mind if a national utility sends a gas bill to my house, maybe being European I have a bit more faith in them and the rules over here to protect me against abuse.

 

[I7guy]

Fair enough but to talk about Texas is a truly unique case in point, as only in Texas would you have a power supply that decides to be completely disconnected from the rest of the US. That's not the case in the rest of the US, nor the rest of the world. Even Europe interconnects just about everywhere to share their power grids and we're talking entirely independent countries, not just states.

From looking into it in even more detail Apple does seem to be looking at your location (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213323) and probably determining green power load based on your region (maybe with some data they have from local providers). Its just something that seems utterly silly to me, the few watts your phone will draw is of virtually NO impact to the grid - even millions of phones in a region (the vast majority of which get charged at night more than likely) have a very tiny impact compared to a factory in full production, air conditioning systems for a 6 storey office building, refrigeration, appliances and induction hobs in restaurants, lighting and IT resources for a multi-storey shopping centre.

“Virtually no impact” is not the same as no impact. If the grid can be more green by flipping an optional switch, why not? I would think it’s much harder and certainly more costly to have a net positive impact in the environment from a factory in full production.

 

[OneBar]

“Virtually no impact” is not the same as no impact. If the grid can be more green by flipping an optional switch, why not? I would think it’s much harder and certainly more costly to have a net positive impact in the environment from a factory in full production.

Because virtually no impact means it's next to immeasurable and you can do things in your home that have greater impact on the grid than scrutinizing when your phone can charge. Power plants are going to generate the same amount of power regardless of whether your phone is charging or not. They don't alter generation based on demand. The only thing you're accomplishing is freeing up electricity for a different part of the grid. You're not saving any electricity or reducing pollution in any fashion.

 

[I7guy]

Because virtually no impact means it's next to immeasurable and you can do things in your home that have greater impact on the grid than scrutinizing when your phone can charge. Power plants are going to generate the same amount of power regardless of whether your phone is charging or not. They don't alter generation based on demand. The only thing you're accomplishing is freeing up electricity for a different part of the grid. You're not saving any electricity or reducing pollution in any fashion.

If humankind can measure atoms splitting it can measure or at least estimate the impact on the electrical grid. It’s true that if I run my air conditioner (or not) the power plan most likely won’t alter its power profile.

But if I can charge my phone when the grid is the greenest seems like a win win.

 

[ian87w]

Because virtually no impact means it's next to immeasurable and you can do things in your home that have greater impact on the grid than scrutinizing when your phone can charge. Power plants are going to generate the same amount of power regardless of whether your phone is charging or not. They don't alter generation based on demand. The only thing you're accomplishing is freeing up electricity for a different part of the grid. You're not saving any electricity or reducing pollution in any fashion.

And with those excess energy, the power company can sell them to other companies. Win win for them? 😅 I’m just glad it can be turned off.

 

[JerseyDoug]

Because virtually no impact means it's next to immeasurable and you can do things in your home that have greater impact on the grid than scrutinizing when your phone can charge. Power plants are going to generate the same amount of power regardless of whether your phone is charging or not. They don't alter generation based on demand. The only thing you're accomplishing is freeing up electricity for a different part of the grid. You're not saving any electricity or reducing pollution in any fashion.

Actually, power plants do manage their output based on projected demand. The plant operator can adjust output of specific units or shut them down completely. That's part of load management. I agree that charging or not charging your cellphone will not affect power plant output (unless you've got a cell phone battery the size of a small city. LOL!) But, your statement the power plants don't allter generation based on demand is generally not correct, unless they are running at full capacity and need more.

 

[OneBar]

Actually, power plants do manage their output based on projected demand. The plant operator can adjust output of specific units or shut them down completely. That's part of load management. I agree that charging or not charging your cellphone will not affect power plant output (unless you've got a cell phone battery the size of a small city. LOL!) But, your statement the power plants don't allter generation based on demand is generally not correct, unless they are running at full capacity and need more.

Yes, as you said *projected* demand. Meaning sometime in the future. They don't go look at the current draw and say hey, turn the coal down a little, we're overproducing. They say we've averaged 6.5 Mw over the last 6 months, we don't need to produce 7 next month or, more likely, they say during spring and fall we don't need to produce as much because the temperature is milder and in winter and summer we need to produce more because of greater draw needs.

 

[JerseyDoug]

Yes, as you said *projected* demand. Meaning sometime in the future. They don't go look at the current draw and say hey, turn the coal down a little, we're overproducing. They say we've averaged 6.5 Mw over the last 6 months, we don't need to produce 7 next month or, more likely, they say during spring and fall we don't need to produce as much because the temperature is milder and in winter and summer we need to produce more because of greater draw needs.

Actually, that is exactly what they do. Power generation is actively managed in real-time. Its not a set it and forget it type thing. Electric utilities don't over-produce if they can help it. They don't want to incur the cost of producing electricity if they can't sell it. As demand increases and decreases, generating units are throttled up or back as necessary in an attempt match output with demand. Not on a micro level, but on a macro level.

 

[OneBar]

Actually, that is exactly what they do. Power generation is actively managed in real-time. Its not a set it and forget it type thing. Electric utilities don't over-produce if they can help it. They don't want to incur the cost of producing electricity if they can't sell it. As demand increases and decreases, generating units are throttled up or back as necessary in an attempt match output with demand. Not on a micro level, but on a macro level.

Yes that macro level is month to month. Not hour or day or week to week. They can't anticipate sudden draws so they're not going to actively tweak the output day to day lest they cause a brownout when there's a concert downtown with a bunch of lights suddenly hitting the grid.

 

[JerseyDoug]

Yes that macro level is month to month. Not hour or day or week to week. They can't anticipate sudden draws so they're not going to actively tweak the output day to day lest they cause a brownout when there's a concert downtown with a bunch of lights suddenly hitting the grid.

Well, that is what we used to do when I worked for an electric utilitty and then for a state public utility regulator. Demand changes during the day and we actively managed it in real time. I'm just relating my actual experience.

 

[OneBar]

Well, that is what we used to do when I worked for an electric utilitty and then for a state public utility regulator. Demand changes during the day and we actively managed it in real time. I'm just relating my actual experience.

You couldn't regulate in real time, though. By the time the plant registered the increase in draw, there would already be a brown-out happening. I've talked to our co-op and plenty of people over the years from the coal plant across the river and it's always on an average monthly basis that they regulate that I've always heard.

 

[Vref]

To a great extent I agree with you, the idea that you need to furnish so much info online (account creation) to buy something when many websites (but not a majority) offer payment without storing your data (without creating an account) - I know they force it to facilitate your future purchases (in the hope that you'll find it easy to spend your money with them if there's less friction). Im not a fan for some one off purchases on a particular website, for example hardware shops online that sell tools, cables, screws etc. and the fact that I'ùll use them once for some obscure tool I need and NEVER again and still my address, number, username and password sits on their site for decades awaiting a potential hack.

However I don't mind if a national utility sends a gas bill to my house, maybe being European I have a bit more faith in them and the rules over here to protect me against abuse.

I’m in the US and protected by the constitution, still when it comes to giving out data less is more Opsec and all that

 

[Vref]

But your VPN sees and logs everything you do.

Based on independent audits, that is false

 

[JerseyDoug]

You couldn't regulate in real time, though. By the time the plant registered the increase in draw, there would already be a brown-out happening. I've talked to our co-op and plenty of people over the years from the coal plant across the river and it's always on an average monthly basis that they regulate that I've always heard.

I can only speak from my experience with coal and nuclear generating plants. But, I think we agree more than we disagree. I agree with an average monthly base load for forecasting purposes. But things change from what is forecasted and that has to be accounted for and managed. Also, you have to remember, your little coop is connected to a larger power grid (I hope) and is able to purchase wholesale power on demand during peak demand situations where it cannot generate all the power its customer require. There are a lot of variables at play.

Since you mentioned coop, it may well be that they set their production on a monthly average knowing that they can purchase extra power as needed to meet high demand situations. I don't have a lot of experience with coops. We used to sell to them during the summer months when they couldn't meet their demand. Based on hsitorical demands, customer growth, degree days, etc., we could anticipate the increase in demand (or decrease) and adjust our ouput accordingly. We only had one one nuclear plant at the time I worked there, so we used mostly coal. So, we just had to increase the conveyor belt speed of the coal feed to increase the steam output into the generating turbines.

I found this info on a regional transmission purveyor site . It does a far better job of explaining than I do - https://learn.pjm.com/three-priorit...-generators-continually-balance-the-grid.aspx

 

[Lihp8270]

You couldn't regulate in real time, though. By the time the plant registered the increase in draw, there would already be a brown-out happening. I've talked to our co-op and plenty of people over the years from the coal plant across the river and it's always on an average monthly basis that they regulate that I've always heard.

The UK infrastructure is done so that there are a baseline of “always on” power generation stations such as coal etc.

But then in addition there are rapid response electricity generation methods (such as Dinorwig pumped hydro electric plant).

So, some methods will be as you describe they run off average forecasted figures because rapidly changing output is difficult. But the grid can save power by not using rapid response stations to increase capacity in the short term.

In the long term it changes usage trends which allow the always on stations to reduce their power generation.