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Comment by pierrefar | Hacker News Reader

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I always read the permissions requested by each app before installing. Some of the things I've seen are just obnoxious. My favorite are games that want full access to my contacts.

Also, there is a way to completely disable net access temporarily: APNdroid kills the wireless data over 3G/EDGE/GPRS and then disable wifi. This kills in-game ads but who knows what data the app stores up for future transfer.

To disable net access temporarily couldn't you just put it in airplane mode?

Yes but that also kills the voice connection.

yes

you could, but this is not good enough. A malicious app can collect data to send, store it, and wait until you slip up and accidentally give it internet access. Again, this is trivial stuff, no elite hacking required.

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