“It insisted it needed all of this data in order to mirror the screen from my phone to a monitor that I owned, via a cable that is physically connected between the two.”
The adapter copies Apple’s branding and boots to a QR code. The code leads to an ad-riddled portal pushing a $49.95 a month streaming signup, then an app rated 2.1 out of 5 that wants your location, photos, sensor data and installed apps, shared with advertisers. A cable used to be a dumb piece of copper. Now it comes with a privacy policy from Actions Microelectronics.