Forums » Android
Vendetta for Android and the privacy thing
Hello!
Today I wanted to install this wonderful Vendetta-Online game on my Android phone and was puzzled because of the access rights this program demands to be granted. Some of them are reasonable, however there are some others for which I could not imagine the necessity. In Detail:
1. In-App Buys:
This I do not need because I am a long-term subscriber already. But I certainly can understand why this right is necessary.
2. Photos/Media/Files:
Why does the program need to access files outside its own folder? I do not feel very comfortable to allow software to read the entire memory of my phone, no matter what company has developed it.
3. Camera/Microphone:
Is it for eaves-dropping my curses while I have been shot down again by a pirate? :-) Or does Vendetta want to see my face the moment the pirate's ship explodes?
4. WiFi Connection Information:
This means, Vendetta can retrieve a list of all WiFi devices I am connected to. For what purpose does it need this?
5. Device ID and Caller Information:
The program is allowed to read not only my own phone number but also the phone numbers of each person who calls me or whom I call.
Yes, you can say that I am paranoid. :-) I simply could sleep better if someone explained why these access rights are necessary and what they are used for...
Or perhaps I could not sleep better because I would play day and night - day on PC, night on Android. ;-)
Today I wanted to install this wonderful Vendetta-Online game on my Android phone and was puzzled because of the access rights this program demands to be granted. Some of them are reasonable, however there are some others for which I could not imagine the necessity. In Detail:
1. In-App Buys:
This I do not need because I am a long-term subscriber already. But I certainly can understand why this right is necessary.
2. Photos/Media/Files:
Why does the program need to access files outside its own folder? I do not feel very comfortable to allow software to read the entire memory of my phone, no matter what company has developed it.
3. Camera/Microphone:
Is it for eaves-dropping my curses while I have been shot down again by a pirate? :-) Or does Vendetta want to see my face the moment the pirate's ship explodes?
4. WiFi Connection Information:
This means, Vendetta can retrieve a list of all WiFi devices I am connected to. For what purpose does it need this?
5. Device ID and Caller Information:
The program is allowed to read not only my own phone number but also the phone numbers of each person who calls me or whom I call.
Yes, you can say that I am paranoid. :-) I simply could sleep better if someone explained why these access rights are necessary and what they are used for...
Or perhaps I could not sleep better because I would play day and night - day on PC, night on Android. ;-)
Off the top of my head, the Microphone is needed to support integrated Voice Chat (this is actually explained in the Play Store description, if I recall). We can't optionally support mic only for those who want it, as it is an install-time permission. We don't use the camera at all, it's just part of the same Android permission.
Many of the others are similar, the game does something that Google considers "requiring" that permission, even though what we're looking to do really has little or nothing to do with the intended or common goal of the permission. So, for instance, the fact that we can access your photos has nothing to do with what the game actually does. Same with the Wifi, there's always some orthogonal functionality that causes us to need the permission.
Anyway, it's been a long time since we've implemented the things that added these requirements, so I can't immediately remember the rest, but I will look into it and post a more thorough response at a later point (release night tonight, I don't really want to bug Ray, he's currently trying to ship a big update).
Many of the others are similar, the game does something that Google considers "requiring" that permission, even though what we're looking to do really has little or nothing to do with the intended or common goal of the permission. So, for instance, the fact that we can access your photos has nothing to do with what the game actually does. Same with the Wifi, there's always some orthogonal functionality that causes us to need the permission.
Anyway, it's been a long time since we've implemented the things that added these requirements, so I can't immediately remember the rest, but I will look into it and post a more thorough response at a later point (release night tonight, I don't really want to bug Ray, he's currently trying to ship a big update).
Hello incarnate,
thanks a lot for your explanations!
Sounds plausible. Summarized, the Android access-right categories are far too coarse granular. Obviously, one cannot deduct what the program really does... :-(
Please don't disturb Ray while he is programming. He's doing an excellent Job! I cannot remember an application which runs on so many different platforms.
Your Android App brings new players frequently. On help channel 1 they ask questions I usually cannot answer because they concern Android user-interface things. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to install Vendetta's Android version. And of course simply because I'd like to play on the way, on train, in the cinema... and so on. ;-)
thanks a lot for your explanations!
Sounds plausible. Summarized, the Android access-right categories are far too coarse granular. Obviously, one cannot deduct what the program really does... :-(
Please don't disturb Ray while he is programming. He's doing an excellent Job! I cannot remember an application which runs on so many different platforms.
Your Android App brings new players frequently. On help channel 1 they ask questions I usually cannot answer because they concern Android user-interface things. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to install Vendetta's Android version. And of course simply because I'd like to play on the way, on train, in the cinema... and so on. ;-)
Also keep in mind that Google recently made application permissions less granular. Developers used to have more control over exactly what permissions they wanted their application to have. Now they have to choose sets of permissions, even if they only need one of however many there are in a set.
Also voice chat always fails to start incarnate. This needs to be fixed
A quick peek in the manifest shows these permissions which look fine to me:-
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . W R I T E _ E X T E R N A L _ S T O R A G E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . I N T E R N E T
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . W A K E _ L O C K
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . A C C E S S _ W I F I _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . A C C E S S _ N E T W O R K _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . M O D I F Y _ A U D I O _ S E T T I N G S
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . R E C O R D _ A U D I O
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . R E A D _ P H O N E _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . B I L L I N G
You only see permission group names when you install the app, these aren't the actual permissions required by the app. You need to scroll down to the bottom of the Play Store app description and tap on permission details to see the exact permissions within each group. Then you will see for example that under the camera/microphone group the app only uses the record audio permission.
I don't know why they changed to this new way of showing permissions when you install an app. It was meant to make it easier for users but clearly it just causes more confusion. Plus it means apps can then request additional permissions within a group and the user is told that the app requires no additional permissions during the update. Clear as mud.
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . W R I T E _ E X T E R N A L _ S T O R A G E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . I N T E R N E T
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . W A K E _ L O C K
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . A C C E S S _ W I F I _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . A C C E S S _ N E T W O R K _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . M O D I F Y _ A U D I O _ S E T T I N G S
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . R E C O R D _ A U D I O
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . R E A D _ P H O N E _ S T A T E
a n d r o i d . p e r m i s s i o n . B I L L I N G
You only see permission group names when you install the app, these aren't the actual permissions required by the app. You need to scroll down to the bottom of the Play Store app description and tap on permission details to see the exact permissions within each group. Then you will see for example that under the camera/microphone group the app only uses the record audio permission.
I don't know why they changed to this new way of showing permissions when you install an app. It was meant to make it easier for users but clearly it just causes more confusion. Plus it means apps can then request additional permissions within a group and the user is told that the app requires no additional permissions during the update. Clear as mud.