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The problem here is that they don't really want location, they just want a list of the surrounding Wifi networks, it just happens that such information is easil
by icebraining 8y ago
The problem here is that they don't really want location, they just want a list of the surrounding Wifi networks, it just happens that such information is easily converted into a location, so Android requests that permission.
- tyingq 8y agoI don't think they even want a list. Sounds like they'd be happy with a single SSID. Perhaps passed to it the way a browser file dialog works, where the OS sees the list, the app only sees what was selected.
- blihp 8y agoAndroid doesn't request the permission, the app does (via the app manifest) While that is the stated reason, that really isn't a legitimate reason for a remote control app to require location as it might not even work in all network scenarios. (i.e. the device in question may not be using a wifi network the phone can see/use) Keep in mind that many things including trivial flashlight apps have a history of wanting location access. There's usually a pretext in the form of some questionable/marginal feature that's used as a justification for the permission. Often after some digging the real reason becomes apparent in the form of data collection or an included ad serving library. For example, I have a 'smart' thermostat which has an app that requests location access. I deny it and it still works. There's at least one feature they use to justify requesting it but I suspect that if there weren't other uses (having nothing to do with benefiting me) for location data that the feature requiring location data probably wouldn't even exist.