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An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
Google fixing vulnerabilities even before the release can only be good news, but one does have to be wonder why a whole class of such vulnerabilities are even allowed after so many releases?
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
It seems super simple to provide that basic level of control to the end user.
I also want shadow/fake address books and location information as a feature.
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
And this is how I have learned that Google's Calc app apparently wants network access. No thanks!
Do previous Android versions have these vulnerabilities?
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
1. Disallow bg internet access.
2. Disallow fg internet access over wifi.
3. Disallow fg internet access over mobile network.
I've been building an app that exposes privacy features like bouncing permissions when apps are in bg (remember AppOps?), firewalling apps by disallowing data usage, setting DNS over TLS to servers that blackhole ads and trackers, show log of network activity, kill bg processes and activities and so on. Hopefully, would be done in a month or so.
You could do all of the above, today, but mostly, manually, by navigating through nested menus and what-not.
Android 10 would make some parts of what I'm building obsolete, and that's a good thing.
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
The permission may still exist (it has been a long time since I last wrote an android app) but it is no longer user visible.
We can still not sandbox apps access to data by default. Numerous academic projects have show how this can be implemented, e.g. by fudging data when details are not needed. Also, in order to get these security fixes I have to buy a new device from one of their partners.. Google has failed society by advancing surveillance capitalism to the extreme.
1. Google has added API to access resources without getting full unconditional access
2. They are enforcing use of correct APIs on their store
3. Most of the system is now updated from the store. This is significantly faster than any of their competitors
4. Most vendors are now providing timely security updates. Some even have an Enterprise program with 4-5 years of updates.
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
(Android DOES have a network permission, but at some point Google decided it should always be allowed)
A revocable permission for network access on Android would be a great step towards giving users more control over which apps can transmit their personal data. An entire class of apps could be rendered safe by disallowing network access, especially the ones that do work offline, but are keen to phone home.
This has been possible since Android 8, if not before. You could, per app, from the App Info page: 1. Disallow bg internet access. 2. Disallow fg internet access over wifi. 3. Disallow fg internet access over mobile network. I've been building an app that exposes privacy features like bouncing permissions when apps are in bg (remember AppOps?), firewalling apps by disallowing data usage, setting DNS over TLS to serve…