Allow Access

[#1]

I have an app on my tablet but to use it you have to agree to the following,

1. Allow xxx to access photos, media and files on your device.

2. Allow xxx to make and manage phone calls

3. Allow xxx to access your calendar.

Exactly how safe is it to agree to this ? In particular the bit about phone calls which I never use my tablet for.

Could this information identify me as a individual ?

This is not some essential app that I must have and it is from a well known but foreign company.

Please advise.

[#2]

Personally, I'd run a mile from any app that made such demands - if it doesn't NEED those facilities to operate, it is intrusive.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

Yep, avoid that one like it has the plague! But it could and may be argued that it depends on what the app actually does, but I don't think for one second that it needs those permissions to function, if it does try and get something else from another vendor.

[#4]

Thanks for the replies.

I know some apps require access to certain things to work but the bit about the phone was something I had not come across before.

Fortunately it's an app I can live without but I imagine it could be annoying if you purchased an app and then found that to use it you had to agree those points.... fortunately this particular app was free

[#5]

the "Allow xxx to make and manage phone calls" is actually a misleading message.
the app isn't trying to get access to make or manage calls, it is just need access to the part of the system that happens to deal with that.

this has come up many times with android, and i believe some of vaaries were smoothed out in Android v7.x to make the permissions requests a bit clearly.

which app was it?

with regards to if it could identify you, well the app can already do that as it's tied to your google play account, so it knows who you are already.

[#6]

Chenks is kinda right here because the app permissions on android are very vague with their names / descriptions and cover a range of different things.

What annoys me with the permissions system in android is that (at least in 5.1) doesn't seem to be a permission for using the internet. There are some apps that I don't want to be given internet access.. yet apparently i can't deny it. Coming from google who claim to be very aware of users privacy etc i'm rather surprised that they give app developers direct access to the users internet connection with the ability to completely exhaust a users data.

[#7]

---

@chenks76 wrote:

which app was it?

---

LG TV Plus

[#8]

the listing on the play store actually gives a very detailed explanation of what access it requires

Version 3.3.9 can access:
Device & app history
retrieve running apps
read sensitive log data
Identity
find accounts on the device
Calendar
read calendar events plus confidential information
add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owners' knowledge
Contacts
find accounts on the device
Phone
read phone status and identity
Photos/Media/Files
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Storage
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Microphone
record audio
Wi-Fi connection information
view Wi-Fi connections
Device ID & call information
read phone status and identity
Other
receive data from Internet
view network connections
pair with Bluetooth devices
access Bluetooth settings
allow Wi-Fi Multicast reception
connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi
disable your screen lock
expand/collapse status bar
full network access
draw over other apps
control vibration
prevent device from sleeping
modify system settings

i think rather than app needing all these permissions, it's just sloppy coding where they've given the app blanket permissions rather than limiting it to what it actually needs.
as it's LG though, i doubt there would be any real issue in using the app to connect to your TV.
what you should be more worried about is your TV being connected to the internet 

[#9]

---

@gleneagles wrote:

LG TV Plus

---

 I've just uninstalled that because of its battery usage

[#10]

@chenks76

Thanks, some very useful info in your post.

Fortunately I have not installed it but based on the post will certainly get rid of it.