Monday, December 16, 2013

Google removes 'awesome' but unintended privacy controls in Android 4.4.2

Praise for what some thought was a a new privacy feature in Android called the App Ops has turned to criticism after Google cut off access to the feature on devices running its latest version of its mobile operating system. 

The App Ops UI could be exposed by installing one of several third-party apps launcher apps, offering users granular control over which resources each app has access to. For example, it could revoke or grant an app the ability to read location data and contacts, send SMS or MMS, or post notifications — addressing the seemingly unnecessary permissions that apps demand before they can be installed.
The removal of access to App Ops was brought to attention by the Electronics Frontier Foundation (EFF) last week, which had earlier praised Google for the surprise feature, calling it "awesome".
"Today, we installed that update to our test device, and can confirm that the App Ops privacy feature that we were excited about yesterday is in fact now gone," EFF technology projects director Peter Eckersley wrote.

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