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>Android with per-app permissions controlled by user (e.g., user can enable/disable access to location data for particular apps). This could be a fork of Androi

by dice 11y ago

>Android with per-app permissions controlled by user (e.g., user can enable/disable access to location data for particular apps). This could be a fork of Android or maybe there is security software that could be installed, such as on a rooted phone. This is a built-in feature in Marshmallow [0]. [0]: http://www.greenbot.com/article/2990078/android/how-to-toggle-app-permissions-in-android-marshmallow.html http://www.greenbot.com/article/2990078/android/how-to-toggl...

josh2600 11y ago
Doesn't solve the problem of the network reporting your location (disabling the baseband does, but operating system level permissions don't impact the network). I know that's outside the scope of your comment, but I wanted to point out that the baseband is not a thing the operating system really controls in any meaningful fashion.
nicholasjarnold 11y ago
Yes, one can limit some permissions, but there are others that vanilla Android will not allow one to block. For instance: Device ID. I don't have a complete list of the un-blockable permissions, but simply using Android's built-in functionality is not sufficient to block all identifiable data that your phone's apps leak.
- hackuser 11y ago
  > simply using Android's built-in functionality is not sufficient to block all identifiable data that your phone's apps leak Do you know happen to know a solution? I know there are many confidentiality utilities and Android forks which emphasize it, but I don't know enough to evaluate them.
  - nicholasjarnold 11y ago
    Not exactly. Years ago I used an app called LBE Privacy Guard with success, but it's closed-source and cannot be trusted with such a privileged level of access to my phone. Now I use a combination of blocking with the built-in app, running a custom ROM with root (which allows you to use many of the known privacy apps at their full potential), regularly changing my DeviceID with the help of yet another app and routing some of my device traffic through Tor via Orbot. It's definitely not perfect, but I feel like I'm at least partially thwarting the rampant collection/trade of my personal and private data. So, sorry I can't be of more help, but you really have to just dig in and read the fine print with this sort of thing. Many of the apps only work with specific versions of Android, require root, might require ROM patching, ect. YMMV, unfortunately. Good luck.

by dice 11y ago

josh2600 11y ago

Doesn't solve the problem of the network reporting your location (disabling the baseband does, but operating system level permissions don't impact the network). I know that's outside the scope of your comment, but I wanted to point out that the baseband is not a thing the operating system really controls in any meaningful fashion.

nicholasjarnold 11y ago

Yes, one can limit some permissions, but there are others that vanilla Android will not allow one to block. For instance: Device ID. I don't have a complete list of the un-blockable permissions, but simply using Android's built-in functionality is not sufficient to block all identifiable data that your phone's apps leak.

hackuser 11y ago
> simply using Android's built-in functionality is not sufficient to block all identifiable data that your phone's apps leak Do you know happen to know a solution? I know there are many confidentiality utilities and Android forks which emphasize it, but I don't know enough to evaluate them.
- nicholasjarnold 11y ago
  Not exactly. Years ago I used an app called LBE Privacy Guard with success, but it's closed-source and cannot be trusted with such a privileged level of access to my phone. Now I use a combination of blocking with the built-in app, running a custom ROM with root (which allows you to use many of the known privacy apps at their full potential), regularly changing my DeviceID with the help of yet another app and routing some of my device traffic through Tor via Orbot. It's definitely not perfect, but I feel like I'm at least partially thwarting the rampant collection/trade of my personal and private data. So, sorry I can't be of more help, but you really have to just dig in and read the fine print with this sort of thing. Many of the apps only work with specific versions of Android, require root, might require ROM patching, ect. YMMV, unfortunately. Good luck.