{"id":151,"date":"2022-02-03T07:18:11","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T07:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.0.0.172\/?p=151"},"modified":"2022-02-09T13:09:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T13:09:41","slug":"dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><strong style=\"user-select: auto;\">Authors:<\/strong>&nbsp;Ashikka Gupta, Sudipta Pandit<br><strong style=\"user-select: auto;\">Editor:&nbsp;<\/strong>Deepanjli Paulraj, Nithya Kurian<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over <strong>70%<\/strong> of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing it, do you just select <strong>Accept<\/strong> to all permissions? Most people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing on your privacy. To prevent companies from flagrantly accessing your private data,&nbsp; you must first understand what is at stake.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apart from giving companies access to your data, apps with dangerous permissions are also used to disseminate malware, orchestrate espionage campaigns, and defraud individuals.&nbsp; In 2019, customers of several Czech banks reported money unexpectedly missing from their accounts. Investigators eventually traced it back to hackers who were employing malicious Android applications to overlay phony permission pop-up windows on top of real ones, to carry out unauthorized transactions to customers\u2019 bank accounts.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-are-android-permissions\"><strong>What are Android Permissions?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>An app usually comes with in-built features to do its job. However, there are still a number of permissions it needs to interact with you and your device. For example, a scanning app that needs access to your camera will request your permission to access your camera. This permission is known as <strong>CAMERA<\/strong> and is in most cases a safe permission to grant. However, it would be questionable for a calculator app to ask for this permission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be wary of Android apps that request permission to your device\u2019s:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Audio<\/li><li>Location<\/li><li>Contacts<\/li><li>Camera<\/li><li>Calendar<\/li><li>Messages<\/li><li>Biometrics<\/li><li>Cloud storage (Read or Write access)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-extent-of-the-problem\"><strong>The Extent of the Problem<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysis of over <strong>148,000<\/strong> apps indexed on&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/\">BeVigil<\/a>, the world\u2019s first security search engine, showed that Educational apps, which account for 7.94% of the apps scanned, request for dangerous permissions more than any other category of apps. This is especially concerning, given that these apps are primarily used by children, who may not be able to discern the consequences of these permissions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/wUgEqnuGDQSLs0HdkarpGmQVVdqwmWPvdCagQHAh1aMCpcGu-V2VEPrN5feHjt1BOqCOHU4RglsE8iO4tZau4NxGKanl26h0vT9OdoPvpVzgf7KZqn8Do2XSBAtNtyHLfTylCP-7\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"411\" title=\"Chart\"\/><figcaption>Bar chart for apps with dangerous permissions by category<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the permissions categorized as dangerous, the most commonly requested one was <strong>WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE<\/strong>, with <strong>64.45%<\/strong> of the total apps requesting it, followed by <strong>READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, <\/strong>which was requested by <strong>50.67% of apps.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/bbKEYwrNpHPnuayNR-FOh0IDdL3z1o1HVO4UoLCxZg5uS_yppeTxUStTU0HbTKCIL1FdePw6QLNhhUZSHd7oLjo1xVwjD5w1IQo3G3JViEs3DuVesBEuAtPulooaf850IfcgNAcL\" alt=\"\" width=\"634\" height=\"392\" title=\"Chart\"\/><figcaption>Bar chart for most used dangerous android permissions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We also performed<strong> Permission Analysis For Android Malware Detection<\/strong> (PAMD) which is a method to evaluate the security level of Android applications based on their permissions by calculating the weighted averages. We found that <strong>1564<\/strong> of the totals app scanned had a Risk Score <strong>&gt;0.5<\/strong>. Moreover, we also found that children\u2019s gaming apps required a lot of unnecessary permissions like access to location, external storage, etc. Some apps with a high <strong>Risk Score <\/strong>and requiring strange permissions were: Temple Jungle Prince Run, City Construction Trucks Sim, and Fruit Link &#8211; Line Blast to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"some-dangerous-permissions-to-look-out-for\"><strong>Some Dangerous Permissions To Look Out For!<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>ACCEPT_HANDOVER<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Allows a calling app to carry on a conversation that began in another app.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This permission enables a call to be routed to an app or service that you may not be aware of. If it switches you to a service that uses your data allowance instead of your mobile plan, this might cost you money. It might also be used to capture discussions in secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\"><li><strong>ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Allows a background program to access a user&#8217;s location.&#8221;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You must additionally request either ACCESS COARSE LOCATION or ACCESS FINE LOCATION when seeking this privilege. Simply requesting this permission does not provide you with location access. This permission, by itself, will not allow Google to monitor you, as Google claims. However, even if you believe you&#8217;ve stopped the app and it&#8217;s no longer tracking your position, it may still follow you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\"><li><strong>READ_CALENDAR<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cAllows an application to read the user\u2019s calendar data.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The app would know where you\u2019ll be and when. If you make notes with your appointments, it\u2019ll also know why you\u2019re there. Add location information, and the app will know how you got there too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"4\"><li><strong>READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE\/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Allows a program to access external storage.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you grant the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, any data storage that connects to your devices, such as a microSD card or even a laptop, might be accessed. The READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission is implicitly given if you provide the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission. Using these permissions, the app can arbitrarily read\/write data to any location on your device.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"analysis-of-popular-apps-on-bevigil\"><strong>Analysis of Popular Apps on BeVigil<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that we have realized how dangerous granting random permissions is, let us survey how widespread these are on the Playstore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We analyzed popular apps on <strong>BeVigil: the world\u2019s first security search engine,<\/strong> and here\u2019s what we found.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a-leading-messaging-app-with-5b-downloads\"><strong>A leading messaging app with 5B+ downloads<\/strong>:&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dangerous permission<\/strong>: <strong>REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact<\/strong>: With this permission, the application can request to install external packages which may be harmful to your device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/fFSMmFblZfVUiiWzZqysH_HsknbFUpH0cqo5qkA05m7rSvwugziiOPFBPTr1EH5mb-2uhPBsxAS4NB6KeYpsmBpYt-sOg26CACSmCCbmRL1j9KyJVB2Gn7GBDAiiAsDTBatioaNi\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Leading messaging app\u2019s permissions\u2019 analysis on BeVigil<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"popular-social-media-platforms-with-over-5b-downloads\"><strong>Popular social media platforms with over 5B+ downloads:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dangerous Permissions: SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW<\/strong> and <strong>BATTERY_STATS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact: <\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>BATTERY_STATS<\/strong> allows an application to collect battery usage statistics from your phone. This permission is a highly unnecessary permission to be required by a social media platform.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-DbH3Nc3gpgewSbkpXRVuq5VbZLi5vhI1wEuZ_aWTprdtn41V_m9VqgUX8AfqC5syfY4Mt4Z3xK3gd4_GA4Vnk-OsMwua8wdw0Qteyiqlg857EeTr4b0cG3TJ6FutrRGJCf-sZrl\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Popular social media app\u2019s permissions\u2019 analysis on BeVigil<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mobile-web-browser-with-over-1b-downloads\"><strong>Mobile web browser with over 1B+ downloads:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dangerous Permission: GET_ACCOUNTS_PRIVELEGED <\/strong>and <strong>WRITE_SETTINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact: <\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>GET_ACCOUNTS_PRIVELEGED<\/strong> which allows the app access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service and <strong>WRITE_SETTINGS<\/strong> allows an application to read or write the system settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/9_rTREIe1F4ghh9CDOo-R-eIqzi6FfesGO-0y44L5jjtcXOWpNqOPj5HL2xW0PSyzOWVWrt8kJH5TraMoc-56QA8Xrt9S9d6wz1VYNj3hQg0PmIRd_RPRMQc39hCp3Y370CA9NCg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Mobile web browser app\u2019s permissions\u2019 analysis on BeVigil<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"emailing-app-with-1b-downloads\"><strong>Emailing App with 1B+ downloads:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dangerous Permissions: BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN<\/strong> and <strong>SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact: <\/strong>This app requests for the <strong>BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN<\/strong> permission which must be required by the device administration receiver, to ensure that only the system can interact with it. In Android, a screen overlay, often known as &#8220;Draw On Top,&#8221; allows one app to show content over another. This is made available by the Android app permission <strong>SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW<\/strong>. Because of its links to tap jacking assaults, this permission should be a source of concern to everyone. And, thanks to some Google adjustments, applications may now obtain that permission without the user&#8217;s awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/ugqZJ3kdCnZtMYBKlLP9TxoB7S-GzbYtjQnrzfEYor11WfYvQ_cFHvPqL32uGf3CyKi8-gm2_yus0VvQphSNw9JPcT2TzR54TyqK6d8irxBlBxYJe2ckJ142yKlz4hfI--NDw3HN\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Emailing app\u2019s permissions\u2019 analysis on BeVigil<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"using-bevigil-to-find-dangerous-permissions\"><strong>Using BeVigil To Find Dangerous Permissions<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are ever unsure about permissions requested by an app, you can use <a href=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/search\">BeVigil<\/a> to ascertain the severity of permissions and then make an informed decision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CloudSEK\u2019s BeVigil is the world\u2019s first security search engine that helps app users, cybersecurity researchers, app developers, and organizations identify vulnerabilities in the source code, exposed\/ hardcoded secret keys, and app permissions mitigate the risks in a timely manner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just follow these simple steps to appraise an app:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step1<\/strong>: Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/search\">https:\/\/bevigil.com\/search<\/a> and type the name of any app, whose permissions you are curious about. As you start typing the name in the search bar, a dropdown will display the list of possible results.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/rAIsKwkb4BuybCQzcFmqWHsjLYLBRkKlbPNZu7wnIjarMh7eYge4hzIE6qqYRprpXAJDq3Yrau3-kFvlUUbfD-62kriwVxtClKDHx2ES61xEaQ2r9l3gngvQGw3HBUX-uc7oZBFc\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>BeVigil Search Page<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Once you select the app, you will be redirected to the app\u2019s security report.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/y_AgOYM_OXu6xZQnTI-7FjgDVnKSYFpLgxVz6JiZYxcCoNOhhN-rVIBBVDqP4FquNpjg_Q4McYSLbyW3tCl3XsSKeltOcgQ83CiWs_y-LTSt7G03Kzqc9XAvUPMa53KHVOsalqI0\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>BeVigil report for the app<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: On the left, you will see a <strong>Summary<\/strong> panel, click on the <strong>Permissions<\/strong> option under <strong>About the app<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The permissions required by the app are color-coded according to the level of severity. On the right, you can find a bar chart that shows the number of permissions categorized by their safety level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/6yaawXFYka01enpYuYuo6nK9WF_tCHhBBpfnBQ8o6F2PUX8BhUrj1pyzZBqjPKpkYSpt1UmuBV7MOWLOYVO9sRtsZOiE-9duwYwUvxalIphWZm7DkS_yIjV3Us_lqeDbt4F1WLfa\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>BeVigil\u2019s App Permissions Section<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Click on any permission you want to find more information on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/uZ-6qfPJQHH-EPgqCZyy_zdOdb9WvFhedOWTKaCbfJaXPboRoOVOPXpV8ohRr-OgikMcfTomIwHDdynv8UuK4tmMp0cqIuTnRTcGdp0XVS0wkK1zivNXUqmDoWJpqIa9pyAtBF-O\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Information about the selected permission<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, by clicking the <strong>Additional Settings<\/strong> button, under the search bar, you will find many useful filters to enhance your search experience. One of them is the <strong>Permissions<\/strong> filter with which you can filter apps by specific permissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-184\" width=\"400\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image.png 810w, https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-246x300.png 246w, https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-768x937.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption>Permisison\u2019s Filter on BeVigil<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"protect-your-device-and-yourself\"><strong>Protect Your Device And Yourself<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Although many tech companies have started to acknowledge user privacy, Android permissions remain a grey area. This article covered only a small subset of the hundreds of permissions that modern Android apps utilize. Most users fail to understand the profound implications of these permissions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a user, the easiest way to protect your device and yourself from apps with these dangerous permissions is to be aware of all the permissions that an app requires. This way, you know exactly what you&#8217;re in for before downloading the app. A list of safe and dangerous permissions is available here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are nine categories of &#8220;dangerous&#8221; permissions on Android<\/strong>. Each of these risky permission groups has several permissions, and accepting one permission in a group automatically authorizes all of the other rights in that group. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Body sensors<\/li><li>Calendar<\/li><li>Camera<\/li><li>Contacts<\/li><li>GPS location<\/li><li>Microphone<\/li><li>Calling<\/li><li>Texting<\/li><li>Storage<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides the permissions listed above, Android contains <strong>administrator privileges<\/strong> and<strong> root privileges<\/strong>, which are the most harmful category of permissions Apps with device administrator access can change your system settings, modify your device password, lock your phone, or even permanently delete all the data from your device. Any program with root access may do whatever it wants, regardless of which permissions you&#8217;ve banned or enabled previously.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are, of course, going to be apps that genuinely require these permissions to function correctly. For example, it is reasonable for a fitness app to request the <em style=\"user-select: auto;\">Body Sensors<\/em> permissions and for a messaging app to request the <em style=\"user-select: auto;\">Contacts<\/em> permission. As a user, you must assess permissions based on the functionality of the app requesting them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"references\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inmobi.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/09\/understanding-android-users-worldwide\">https:\/\/www.inmobi.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/09\/understanding-android-users-worldwide<\/a><\/li><li>Giang, Pham &amp; Duc, Nguyen &amp; Vi, Pham. (2015). Permission Analysis for Android Malware Detection.&nbsp;<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.avg.com\/en\/signal\/guide-to-android-app-permissions-how-to-use-them-smartly\">https:\/\/www.avg.com\/en\/signal\/guide-to-android-app-permissions-how-to-use-them-smartly<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.online-tech-tips.com\/smartphones\/30-app-permissions-to-avoid-on-android\/\">https:\/\/www.online-tech-tips.com\/smartphones\/30-app-permissions-to-avoid-on-android<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/in.pcmag.com\/news\/134176\/android-malware-abuses-app-permissions-to-hijack-phones\">https:\/\/in.pcmag.com\/news\/134176\/android-malware-abuses-app-permissions-to-hijack-phones<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authors:&nbsp;Ashikka Gupta, Sudipta PanditEditor:&nbsp;Deepanjli Paulraj, Nithya Kurian Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing it, do you just select Accept to all permissions? &#8230; <a title=\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\" aria-label=\"More on Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[14,16,17,15],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps - BeVigil Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BeVigil Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/cloudsek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"649\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BeVigil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image-1.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cloudsek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cloudsek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BeVigil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BeVigil\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/815673cb0715af9f571f14d6ffc36a87\"},\"headline\":\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\"},\"wordCount\":1699,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R\",\"keywords\":[\"android\",\"data privacy\",\"malwares\",\"permissions\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Android Security\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\",\"name\":\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps - BeVigil Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"BeVigil Blog\",\"description\":\"Security disclosures, News and Guides\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BeVigil Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cropped-bevigil-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cropped-bevigil-logo.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"BeVigil Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/cloudsek\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cloudsek\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/815673cb0715af9f571f14d6ffc36a87\",\"name\":\"BeVigil\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b002b2a9b6222b970f73ce6beab539e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b002b2a9b6222b970f73ce6beab539e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BeVigil\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/author\/bevigil\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps - BeVigil Blog","description":"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps","og_description":"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.","og_url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/","og_site_name":"BeVigil Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/cloudsek","article_published_time":"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":649,"url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"BeVigil","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps","twitter_description":"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image-1.png","twitter_creator":"@cloudsek","twitter_site":"@cloudsek","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BeVigil","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/"},"author":{"name":"BeVigil","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/815673cb0715af9f571f14d6ffc36a87"},"headline":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps","datePublished":"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/"},"wordCount":1699,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R","keywords":["android","data privacy","malwares","permissions"],"articleSection":["Android Security"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/","url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/","name":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps - BeVigil Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R","datePublished":"2022-02-03T07:18:11+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-09T13:09:41+00:00","description":"Android is the leading mobile operating system in the world with over 70% of all mobile devices worldwide running Android as of July 2021. You can download almost any kind of app from the Play Store, but before installing, do you just select Accept to all permissions? The majority of people do. But what exactly are you consenting to? Certain permissions can allow an app, and the corporation that created it, to go as far as infringing your privacy. To prevent accepting these permissions, you must first understand what they are.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/dWpv-FKQo_KxIATJuF_AQHxCS50CNg5hz2JVtVbdiNLc5jdCbcceGcgUgtG_yWFMxQFMvazwrH6v-IH_HFzyDz_0hjPc1AvLLdb9lGWojD4bJlN2WSeyiHciRtcpcktCb2FpDq6R"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/dangerous-android-permissions-to-look-out-for-in-your-apps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dangerous Android Permissions To Look Out For In Your Apps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/","name":"BeVigil Blog","description":"Security disclosures, News and Guides","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"BeVigil Blog","url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cropped-bevigil-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cropped-bevigil-logo.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"BeVigil Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/cloudsek","https:\/\/x.com\/cloudsek"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/815673cb0715af9f571f14d6ffc36a87","name":"BeVigil","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b002b2a9b6222b970f73ce6beab539e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b002b2a9b6222b970f73ce6beab539e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BeVigil"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/bevigil.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/author\/bevigil\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevigil.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}